Update: 12.28pm A Pacific non-government organisation claims Australia and New Zealand's refusal to sign the UN declaration on indigenous rights undermines their positions in the region, reports Radio Australia.
The Pacific Concerns Resource Centre says it appears the two nations are still uncomfortable about the injustices indigenous people in their nations have suffered as a result of colonalisation.
The centre's Ema Tagicakibau says Australia and New Zealand are seen in the Pacific as the champions of human rights.
She has told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program it is disappointing they won't sign the UN agreement, which could be used as an advocacy tool to protect indigenous rights.
''How can it come in and tell us in the Pacific how to run our lives in terms of good governance and human rights violations here in Fiji, when it can not even practice at home what it preaches in the region and the world. So that is really a let down in the region,'' Ms Tagicakibau said.
Articles in the UN's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples include the recognition of the right for self-determination and the right to be compensated for the expropriation of traditional lands.
While the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia voted against the non-binding mandate, 143 member nations voted for the declaration.
