During the COVID-19 pandemic, Government’s top priority was to ensure no Fijian was left to starve.

In preparing the Financial Year 2022-2023 National Budget, Government will also work on areas to retain Fijians who are moving abroad for better work opportunities.

The Attorney General and Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed- Khaiyum said that at the moment, there was a huge demand from Australia and New Zealand for people in Fiji.

The A-G said that there was a shortage of people in certain areas in Australia.

“In Victoria, a few weeks ago there was a shortage of nurses and the waiting time at the public hospital was 24 hours so imagine going to the Nadi Hospital and waiting that long for the doctor or nurse to see you.”

“There are a lot of people in those countries who don’t want to work in that profession anymore.”

“They’re either scared or they have an alternative job.”

He said in that the long run, Fiji was losing good people.

“There was an advertisement in the papers a few weeks ago, Australian recruiting agencies were looking for chefs from Fiji with three years or more experience paying about $80,000 to $120,000 Australian in salary,” the A-G added.

“When we prepare the Budget, what we have to do as announced in the Revised Budget, is find areas where we have to retain people and that has an impact on how we formulate the budget too.”

Feedback: nicolette.chambers@fijisun.com.fj