DOCUMENTS CONTAINED in previously unreported submissions to the Queensland Supreme Court last year - uncovered by Hong Kong based-journalist Michael Wray - reveal how Australia tried to use the Moti affair to control events in the Solomon Islands.

And they provide an insight into covert Australian operations in the region, albeit in this case badly botched.

The declassified documents show a deliberate effort to discredit Julian Moti as Solomon Islands Attorney-General in 2004 after Australian officials became aware of plans to appoint him as the Solomons' top legal officer.

Australia sought to sink the appointment by getting the fFederal police to revive child sex allegations against him.

The documents back support claims that Australia engaged in a calculated strategy to derail Mr Moti's political career because of concern he would damage Australia's interests in the Solomons.

The saga surrounding Mr Moti soured Australia's ties, especially with PNG.

A diplomatic cable marked ''secret sensitive'' from Patrick Cole, Australia's then high commissioner in the Solomons, warned that Mr Moti had a reputation for questionable dealings, held ''anti-Australian'' attitudes and ''would likely be a very difficult proposition for us in steering SI [Solomon Islands] and bilateral legal matters''.

Mr Cole had earlier warned of the plan to appoint Mr Moti as Attorney-General and said, ''Naturally I am trying to block it,'' before seeking further information about sex charges against Mr Moti in Vanuatu.

A court in Vanuatu had dismissed the charges but Mr Cole reported ''scuttlebutt'' in the Solomons legal fraternity that Mr Moti had escaped after making payments to the girl's family. He went on to urge the Australian Federal Police to shed further light on the case.

Mr Moti was also said to oppose the Australian-led peacekeeping force that landed in the Solomons in 2003 to restore law and order.

The revelations will reverberate around Pacific islands nations, which will see them as showing a clumsy attempt by Australia to interfere in the internal affairs of the Solomons.

Writing in the Melbourne Age, Michael Wray details payments made by the Australian government to the alleged victim in the case and her claim to an AFP officer ''all this was to put in the government of your choice in the Solomons.''

Source: ‘Australia tried to stifle Moti career’ by Daniel Flitton, The Age, 13 November 2010

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