60 Minutes Covers The Chinese-Fijian Land Grab Scandal

Surely you remember the story of Nav Fox and Woody Jack, two Angourie locals who saved up all the pennies in their piggy banks to fulfill a childhood dream of owning land in Fiji. 

With the help of a local Fijian named Jonah, the boys bought a small parcel on the island of Malolo, where, if you climb the highest tree and use NASA-grade binoculars, you might be able to see Cloudbreak. They boys had planned to build a small, sustainable surf resort on the land.

Then came the Chinese, wielding heavy machinery and small metal rods to fend off intruders.  

Freesoul, a Chinese corporation with headquarters Fiji, had bought the lot adjacent to Nav and Woody and planned to build a multimillion dollar resort and casino on the land – not an ideal situation, but a common result of our free market system. AKA don’t hate the player, hate the game. 

The problem was, Freesoul decided to (illegally) cut a massive hole in the reef to facilitate entry to the island and they physically encroached on the Aussie boys’ land, going so far as to erect a fence through the middle of their parcel. 

The story has many twists and turns, but rather than reading (or re-reading) about it here you can catch all the juicy details above. If you’re able to stop yourself from laughing at the host’s manufactured tone for more than five seconds at a time, you might really get something out of this segment.