A twice-bankrupt Australian who styles himself as an ‘admiral’ managed to secure talks with Fiji’s now-Prime Minister to seek backing for a “bogus” international rescue fleet, the ABC can reveal.
New South Wales man Peter Cowell, who poses in ‘admiral’ whites, claimed to have raised hundreds of millions in funding, but has never served in the navy and has left would-be supporters claiming they have lost thousands of dollars.
Mr Cowell did, however, briefly serve in the Army Reserves — but only on weekends.
The 62-year-old, who did not respond to requests for comment, has been peddling a “mercy ship” scheme called IntSAR, or International Sea/Air Rescue, for the past quarter of a century.
IntSAR was pitched as a 14-fleet maritime aid force, which would be headquartered in an island nation and render help to those in need.
Mr Cowell’s whereabouts are unknown but he is believed to be in Thailand or Western Australia.
Mr Cowell got into a room with one of Australia’s most important diplomatic partners in 2022, meeting with then Fijian opposition leader Sitiveni Rabuka, who went on to become the country’s prime minister.
Two other Fijians attended the meeting — Ajay Amrit, the High Commissioner for Fiji in Canberra, and retired Colonel Sakiusa Raivoce, a founder of Fiji’s People’s Alliance Party.
Another IntSAR representative, Joel, who did not wish to use his real name as he works as a defence contractor, also attended the lunch.
They discussed establishing a base of operations for a fleet of mercy ships in the region, according to Joel, who was involved intimately with IntSAR for four years before growing disillusioned.
Although IntSAR required an annual $25 million “donation” from “member nations”, the understanding was this would be waived if Fiji provided it with crown land to set up its headquarters.
“We did this pitch to a lot of people, really,” Joel said.
The meeting ended on a good note, according to Joel, although no promises were made.
Despite this, Mr Cowell secured another meeting in March 2023 after Mr Rabuka took power.
