Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Viliame Gavoka says he supports Parliament’s decision to review the salary of parliamentarians.
“Personally for me, I want it done,” he said.
“The Parliament is central to our way of life.”
Mr Gavoka said in order for the Parliament to do its job, it must be ensured that it was equipped to do so.
However, he said while the “law states that the parliamentarians decide on what they want to get paid, I would rather have someone else do it.”
He said that the work on the proposed raise in allowances began in July last year and was proposed by a Canadian specialist provided by the United Nations – after comparisons were done to other jurisdictions.
“On many occasions now, I remember when I was in Parliament, and we’d asked the big accounting firms to do it but they refused as it is a job that nobody wants.
“Again this time, we asked people to express their expression of interest to look at the parliamentary wages and nobody wanted to do it.”
Mr Gavoka said that being a parliamentarian was a 24/7 job and that it did not end.
“Pay well and you get the best.”
Mr Gavoka said the MPs who would benefit the most from the salary changes were the Opposition members, not the Coalition Government.
“I hope one day people will look and see that we are not paid millions, and say let’s give them a break.”
