Opinion: The Hub of the Pacific is back!

As we prepare for the budget, much attention is on the potentially painful measures that are in store, but YB wants to spend a moment applauding the clever politics that have gone into preparing the nation for what everyone recognizes MUST be a tough budget.

It would have been tempting to rush the process, as many including the former Minister of Finance, remember him??, were calling on Biman Prasad to do. Instead, he has taken a measured approach releasing first the World Bank/ADB reports that revealed the news we expected but hoped would be different i.e., spiralling debt and the desperate need to raise tax revenues. Then came the review committee that concluded the same thing. Then he travelled around the country presenting the facts again so that by the time he drops the “bomb shell” budget, it will be a bit of an anti-climax.

YBs prediction, in summary, VAT universal at 12.5%, corporate taxes to 25%, increases in excise duties on alcohol, no significant changes to personal income tax and an injection of significant funds to be distributed to those under the poverty line. We suspect there will also be significant trimming of the various loopholes and subsidies handed out to various sectors that were badly thought out in the first place resulting in major wastage. None of this should be a shock and will hopefully provide a stable base for sensible prudent economic management going forward. That means an end to the rapid fire and sometimes puzzling changes to economic policy.

Another critical feature will hopefully be that budgetary commitments to various ministries will be kept allowing the various arms of government to be able to get on with the business of enacting policy instead of waiting for the Ministry of Finance to release funds as and when they had the money or at the whim of the minister.

Now on to more positive news ….. If there is an area of government the coalition has excelled in, it is foreign policy. It is of course the PM’S area of direct responsibility and is something he is good at. For Fijians who haven’t travelled the region in recent years it maybe hard to appreciate just how HATED we were across the Pacific. We use that ‘hate’ term quite deliberately. To be honest there has always been a level of jealously and sometimes dislike of Fiji but there was always respect and it had never descended to ‘hate’.

Some of it related to issues like the University of the South Pacific but it was made worse by catastrophic decisions like the closure of our High Commission in Port Moresby and the arrogant way Fiji paraded itself around the world as the Pacific’s champion for climate change.

Our chief donors from Australia and New Zealand and through them the USA and other western nations represented by , what is known as the five eyes alliance (Australia, New Zealand, USA, the UK, and Canada were left battered and bruised by early expulsion of diplomats and a general move towards China. Later, as China became more aggressive, making big advances in the Solomon Islands and Kiribati, this turned to alarm. Rabuka’s pre-election declaration of a pivot away from China had encouraged them but it wasn’t until the coalition government took office that they began to hope that the tide was finally turning their way.

PM Rabuka’s early visit to Kiribati after only weeks in office seemed foolhardy considering how volatile the situation appeared in Fiji. It was however masterstroke showing ‘the five eyes’ just what a useful ally a solid stable Fiji could be, and resulted in a flood of moves to support the new government with amongst other things the USA accelerating the move of their regional aid office from Manila to Suva, Canada finally deciding to open a High Commission and Australia and New Zealand committing to additional funding packages. This list can go on a lot further and the impact particularly on Suva has been huge with rentals on high end properties going through the roof and the coffee shops filling with newly minted expatriates and their families.

The PM has followed this with a highly successful visit to Papua New Guinea and Samoa along with leading in regional meetings making it clear that where foreign policy is concerned it starts with the Pacific and that Fiji was ready to resume its role as the “hub of the Pacific”, this time with considerably more humility.

His recent appointment of Lenora Qereqeretabua as Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs is another clever move. While Lenora has no experience in this area her style and strong communication skills suggest she will excel at this new job. Speaking of strong women if rumours are true that Ro Teimumu Kepa is to be appointed as the new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom then this will both placate his SODELPA partners and result in very effective representation in that part of the world.

With these victories under his belt maybe the PM can now direct his attention to the nitty gritty of Government like dealing with a couple of YBs current gripes the latest being,solving the mystery of the disappearing civil servants. It seems strange that on the relatively rare occasions YB ventures into a Government Department, there is nobody there ?? This seems to be a particular problem on a Monday or Friday!!.