Fiji's self-declared Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, claims Australia's Defence Force chief threatened him in 2006.

Commodore Bainimarama says Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston threatened him in an early morning phone call made when the Fijian leader was recovering from a "heavy grog session" the night before.

"He says it didn't happen. Well, it did happen," Commodore Bainimarama told Sky News.

"He woke me up early in the morning to tell me 'don't ever do anything that will pit my troops against yours'.

"He made a threat. I said I really don't know where he was coming from and that was the end of the conversation."

Commodore Bainimarama's extraordinary claim comes ahead of the country's likely suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum for refusing to hold democratic elections this year.

Commodore Bainimarama says he has no intention to meet tonight's deadline, set by the forum, to announce democratic elections.

Commodore Bainimarama says Fiji's new election date of September 2014 was set after the President abdicated the constitution, so he will be sticking to that and extending the country's state of emergency.

"We want this calm to continue for a while," he said.

"The emergency regulation was brought entirely for the media censorship, to ensure that there's calm in the nation."

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says Fiji will be suspended from the Pacific Island Forum.

Mr Smith says the move will take effect from tomorrow and is the automatic consequence of Fiji's refusal to return to democracy.

"Given that Fiji has shown no intention to return to democracy and on the contrary has torn up its constitution, the effect of that resolution will be Fiji is automatically suspended from the forum and the meetings of the Pacific Island forum itself," he said.

Rudd rejects talks

Australia and New Zealand have both ruled out talks with Commodore Bainimarama.

Commodore Bainimarama wants to meet with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has flatly refused.

Mr Rudd says he has no intention of meeting with Commodore Bainimarama in the present climate.

"This is a bloke who just abolished freedom of the press in Fiji," he said.

"This is a bloke who just sent independent judges, including those from Australia, packing.

"This is a bloke who just suspended the constitution of Fiji.

"We invited Fiji to announce an election timetable within a reasonable timeframe. Not only did they not respond to that but they then went in exactly the reverse direction."

Suspension imminent

New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, says Fiji's suspension does not mean the door will be permanently closed on Commodore Bainimarama.

"I think he should expect that people are going to treat him with a degree of caution," he said.

"They know they can contact us if they want to contact us at any time.

"They've got my telephone number. I'm sure the same goes for Australian Minister Stephen Smith."

However academics, including the University of Auckland's Dr Hugh Laracy, are criticising the stonewalling.

"These people who are criticising him, I think are being naive and not recognising the practicalities of his difficult situation," he said.

Dr David Neilson from New Zealand's Waikato University says Commodore Bainimarama is being boxed into a corner he will find difficult to get out of.

"If we had taken his project at face value and given more constructive support to facilitate the re-establishment of a robust election system, we may have furthered the cause of a return to democracy more effectively then what we've done, which is basically to make it more and more difficult for that to happen as the regime gets bogged down with the effect of economic sanctions."