A Fijian cabinet minister’s
attempt to have an “honest” discussion about salary
increases for members of parliament due to their various
traditional and community commitments has divided
opinions.
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s fisheries
and forestry minister Alitia Bainivalu took it upon herself
to “talk openly about the salaries we receive as government
ministers” on her official Facebook page on Wednesday
morning.
In the lengthy post, Bainivalu said that
while the topic of salary increases for MPs was sensitive,
“many people may not fully understand the financial
expectations that come with holding public
office”.
Fijian MPs voted to give themselves a significant
salary increase in May 2024, with backbenchers receiving
a 138 percent pay rise, bumping their base salaries from
FJ$50,000 up to FJ$100,000.
Cabinet ministers had
their salaries standardised upwards of
FJ$200,000.
However, they subsequently voted in April
2026 to pull back those gains by implementing a mandatory 20
percent pay cut across the board largely
due to the economic pressures of the global fuel
crisis.
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This reduction brought cabinet ministers
down to the current FJ$160,000 rate and ordinary MPs down to
FJ$76,000.
But Bainivalu said in Fiji’s “culture of
giving, helping and supporting one another”, particularly
within the iTaukei community, despite their higher salaries,
“contributions add up very quickly”.
“So when people
look at a minister’s salary, they often see the amount we
earn, but they don’t always see the financial obligations
and expectations that come with the position,” she
wrote.
“A significant portion of what some of us earn
can end up going straight back into our communities through
these contributions.”
Bainivalu said she was not
stating that ministers deserved higher salaries because they
attend community events.
“I will never pretend that
the financial challenges faced by politicians are the same
as those faced by families living from one payday to the
next. I believe in supporting our churches, villages,
schools and communities.
“I will continue doing so
whenever I can.”
She said that people were entitled to
believe that ministers “are paid too much” and “to demand
accountability”.
“I know that nothing I say today will
ever be enough to justify the increase in our salaries as
government ministers, especially when so many of our people
are struggling to make ends meet.
“And I’m not asking
you to agree with me, defend me or even sympathise with me.
All I’m asking is that you try to see things from my side,
even if it’s just for a moment.”
She added that
sometimes there were realities and responsibilities that
ministers had that people did not see from the
outside.
The national minimum wage in Fiji is FJ$5 per
hour (approximately NZ$4), with close to 50 percent of the
population living in poverty.
This means that an
ordinary MP in Fiji earns over 600 percent more than a
full-time national minimum wage worker doing a standard
40-hour
week.
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