Abstract
The assistance mission is seen as Australian meddling, not help.
THE unprecedented ousting of Patrick Cole, Australia's high commissioner to Honiara, this week has attracted strong condemnation in Canberra.
It is, however, a telling sign of the bitter political conflicts that have been taking place in the Solomon Islands since the Regional Assistance Mission's arrival in July 2003 and the ambiguous but pivotal role that Australia and its representatives have played in this potentially explosive mix.
Cole was accused by Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of meddling in Solomons domestic politics by talking too much to the opposition and expressing concerns about the integrity of a commission of inquiry into the April riots in Honiara.