Unity Fiji vows to cut ministerial salaries and slash government spending

Unity Fiji leader Savenaca Narube has declared that a future Unity Fiji government will reduce ministerial salaries and tighten controls on government spending, accusing the current administration of waste, excessive travel, and financial mismanagement.

“Unity Fiji intends to reduce the salaries of Ministers,”Mr Narube told supporters at the party’s annual general meeting in Vunimono, Nausori last week.

Mr Narube outlined several cost-cutting measures the party plans to implement if elected, including:

• reducing the size of Cabinet, which he said was the largest in Fiji’s history
• cutting overseas travel allowances, which he argued the current government “promised to do but have failed to deliver”
• reducing the number of ministerial trips abroad
• lowering national debt without reducing funding for health, education and infrastructure

The former Reserve Bank Governor said the impact of unchecked spending was far-reaching and harmful to ordinary Fijians.

“When the President, Prime Minister, and Ministers travel abroad frequently, they are not just wasting our money, they are directly increasing the debt that our children will pay. When Ministers increase their pay, they are not just being insensitive to our struggles, they are saying that their interests must come first. When the Government sends sixty people to the COP conference half-way around the world, they are not just going for a ride, they are depriving many villages from building seawalls to protect their lives.”

Mr Narube warned that the consequences of such decisions extend into everyday life.

“My point is that their actions have much deeper ramifications than what many people think.

“Don’t make the fatal mistake that I am exaggerating. I am not. What is happening goes well beyond politics right into our homes, dinner tables, the classrooms, and our collective future.”