 In May, Bainimarama told Australian reporter Graham Davis that, unlike Australia and New Zealand, the Chinese authorities were "very sympathetic and understand what’s happening here, that we need to do things in our own way".In June 2009, the Fiji Democracy and Freedom Movement, an organisation founded in Australia to campaign for the restoration of democracy in Fiji, sent a petition to the Chinese embassy in Canberra, asking China to "withdraw support for the military regime".At the same time, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith asked China "not to use [its] contacts with Fiji to undermine efforts to pressure Fiji to hold elections".