Croz Walsh's Blog -- New Zealand and Fiji: How Much Fairer They Could Be

                                             Go Local

Fiji has beautiful beaches and landmarks that are just sitting there in our back yards which tourists pay to visit. And yet we, the locals, don't even know the beauty of Fiji.

May I suggest that we go local and travel Fiji to the Yasawas and Mamanucas, to Vanua Levu and the Lau Group, to the Highlands of Fiji where we have little inns and stay at hotels along the Coral Coast and enjoy Fiji.

Go local next time you are thinking of going on a holiday. Your children will enjoy Fiji and get to appropriate the resources in our country. We have the museum, the National Archives, the various municipal offices in towns and cities who have old records of the towns and cities they look after. We have old churches, original native iTaukei sites, local farms, and ancient cemeteries all provide exciting glimpses into the past.

We could visit dairy and vegetable farms. Fish and prawn farms and the many manufacturers and see how things are d…

Grubsheet publisher Graham Davis writes about New Zealander Christopher Pryde, until recently the Solicitor-General and now the Director of Public Prosecution. # 101 WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTIONPosted on June 28, 2012 | 2 Comments “The guilty shall be convicted and the innocent shall be acquitted”, declared Fiji’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Christopher Pryde, in a recent address to the Fiji New Zealand Business Council. Stating the bleeding obvious – you’d imagine – except when doubts continue to be expressed about the independence and impartiality of the country’s judiciary. And especially when the most high... Continue Reading... REGISTER FOR EMAIL UPDATES Enter your email address:
ABOUT GRUBSHEET Welcome to a corner of cyberspace that challenges conventional assumptions and proffers the kind of opinions that infuriate the chattering classes. The difference between us and them is that our tongues are planted firmly in our cheeks. And unlike them, we th…

Part III (final) of Satendra Prasad's ideas.  Readers should not assume that the  publication of his ideas means that I necessarily agree with them. All thoughtful ideas and comments are welcome on this blog (as they are with the Constitution Commission) but I would prefer readers to comment on the special blog Fiji Political and Constitutional Forum www.fijipcforum.blogspot.com
FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICY 27. Enact into legislation that all fiscal and monetary budgets must be balanced. In other words no expenditure to be allocated if there is no source of funds. This has been done in province of BC in Canada and just recently the Democrats have joined forces in USA to enact a similar Legislation. This will force the elected governments to be more responsible and accountable.
GOOD GOVERNANCE 28. Enact Anti-corruption Legislation that includes the creation of Anti Corruption Tribunal headed by a Qualified Judge with team of qualified investigators including forensic team of accounts, IT…

A Reply published by The Fiji Sun Fr Kevin J. Barr
I was somewhat amused to see the remarks of Mr Nesbitt Hazelman in The Fiji Sun (25th June). They are a replay of an old worn out record by the CEO of the Fiji Commerce and Employer’s Federation (FCEF). The headline for the article should not have been “Wages Councils not Working” but “Wages Councils not Working as Mr Hazelman would like them to” i.e to the advantage of employers.
What seems to be forgotten (even by some employers) is that the Wages Councils are set up to protect the interests of the workers of the country – all of whom are currently earning wages below the poverty line. Of course the Wages Councils constantly try to be fair to employers and take due consideration of their views but they are there basically to protect the 60% of workers in the country who are in full-time employment.
The interests of employers and investors have been promoted in various forums. They were particularly promoted by the last two budgets…

Readers unfamiliar with the new format who are still having  problems reading the full post and comments are urged  to hover their mouse over PAGES (under the main heading) and read "How to use the blog".  The technical problems reported earlier seem to have been fixed except for iPads.  If you cannot access the blog in future, please send me an email at crozwalsh@gmail,com


WEEKEND READING. • Allen Lockington Column • Introducing the Director of Public Prosecutions • Wages Council and Mr Hazelman • Ideas on Constitutional and Electoral  Reforms Part III


AUSAID TO DOUBLE.  Whether or not it is a response to progress on the Fiji political front or not, the doubling of AusAid to F$66 starting next month is a very welcome move.  Most of the aid will go to health and education.


NEW CALEDONIA SNUBS MELANESIAN SPEARHEAD GROUP. New Caledonia’s pro-independence FLNKS movement says this weekend’s planned visit to Noumea by Fiji’s interim PM who also the MSG chairman has been cancelled b…

Part II of Satendra Prasad's ideas.  Readers should not assume that the  publication of his ideas means that I necessarily agree with them. All thoughtful ideas and comments are welcome on this blog (as they are with the Constitution Commission) but I would prefer readers to comment on the special blog Fiji Political and Constitutional Forum www.fijipcforum.blogspot.com
Note: The Native Land Trust Board is now called the Itaukei Land Trust Board


LAND REFORMS17. All current NLTB board to be sacked and replaced with competent professionals. Also review all middle and upper managers and regional managers and sack all incompetent, inefficient and or political/national activists and replace with competent professionals.
18. NLTB needs to be completely restructured, reorganized and streamlined like the rest of Govt. appointed Boards.
19. NLTB must be corporatised and such all owners made shareholders and should operate a business.
20. NLTB to open its Employment doors to all qualified Fiji p…