Update: 6:29 pm – While speaking during the 2017/2018 National Budget debate, Bainimarama did not hold back any punches and said that every budget is an election budget.
He says that with the budget, they have kept the faith with the people from the young to the old.
Bainimarama also says that they are not fixated on short term political gain.
He also says that he will go into the next election with the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum by his side and 49 other candidates.
Bainimarama says that when the Fijians will put their trust in the FijiFirst again in 2018, it will be because each year the budget has built on the achievements of the last.
The Prime Minister says the opposition is not getting the bigger picture.
Bainimarama says with this budget, they have put more money into the pockets of ordinary Fijians than at any other time in our history.
He says that they have done it by raising the income tax threshold from $16,000 a year to $30,000 a year.
The Prime Minister says this means more money in peoples’ pockets to spend as they choose and as they use that spending power to buy more goods and services, the positive effect multiplies.
He also says that no one would like to see the basic hourly pay rate for unskilled workers rise more than him.
Bainimarama says in the budget, they have taken it from $2.32 to $2.68 an hour.
He says the sectorial wages in other areas have also been increased.
He says raising the minimum wage too much would actually result in a loss of jobs, as well as higher inflation.
The Prime Minister says the government has also provided assistance to relieve some of the cost of living pressures on ordinary people ‑ the free schooling, increased subsidised electricity tariffs, free water, the free medicine, the subsidised bus fares and all those things that were not the current government took office.
Bainimarama also says that they are increasing the pay of civil servants because they want to make a career in government service an attractive option for a lot more gifted Fijians.
He says now that they have the base salary and the structure sorted out, going forward, pay rises will be dependent on individual performance‑based assessments.
Bainimarama stresses that non‑performance will not be tolerated.
-Fiji Village
