The Peoples’ Coalition Cabinet held its 18th meeting this year.
The decisions made at the meeting of Cabinet include the following:
1. Re-establishment of the Great Council of Chiefs
Cabinet approved the following legislative changes required to reinstate the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC):
amendment to the iTaukei Affairs Act 1944 to provide for the re-establishment of the GCC; and
amendment of section 15 of the iTaukei Trust Fund Act 1944 to enable the funding of the GCC under the iTaukei Trust Fund.
The draft amendment Bills will be presented at the next Cabinet meeting for review before they are tabled in Parliament.
2. Agreement between the Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations and the Volunteer Service Abroad – New Zealand
Cabinet approved the execution of an Agreement with Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) New Zealand (NZ).
Operating since 1962, VSA is the volunteer development programme, funded by the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) as part of the Aotearoa NZ Aid Programme.
VSA operates under five broad thematic areas as follows.
Business and Economic Growth;
Health and Wellbeing;
Education;
Environment and Climate Change; and
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Security.
The cooperation agreement will allow the Fijian Government to engage VSA volunteers to provide technical assistance to community projects as well as larger scale initiatives of Government Ministries.
The National Employment Centre (NEC) will oversee the VSA programme under the Agreement.
3. Top-Up for Final Sugarcane Payment for the 2022 Season Crop
Cabinet approved the provision of $8.2 million to top-up the final cane payment for the 2022 season crop.
Cabinet approved the release of $8.2 million to top-up the payment by $5.00 per tonne which will increase the final payment to $6.12 per tonne, and further increase the total cane payment for the 2022 crop-season to a historic record of $91.38 per tonne.
Under the Master Award, sugarcane farmers are paid in five instalments. The first payment known as delivery payment is made during harvesting, the second payment is usually made in January after cane crushing stops, the third payment is made in March, the fourth payment in May, and the final payment also referred to as “wash-up” payment, is made in October.
The final payment for the 2022 season-crop will be paid to cane farmers before 31 October 2023.
4. Growth Re-set
Cabinet approved a new phase of economic reforms to be undertaken by the Coalition Government – the Growth Re-set Package.
This will build on the work that has already begun through national consultations through the National Economic Summit, the Fiscal Review Committee, Investment Facilitation Committee and Budget development processes.
The Growth Re-set Package will focus on legislative reforms for investment rules, short and long-term immigration, energy generation, environment and planning laws, foreign land ownership.
The Growth Re-Set Package complements the work of the Investment Facilitation Committee established by Cabinet earlier this year to examine business processes.
The first phase of the Growth Re-set package will focus on issues identified by businesses and investors as impediments to economic progress.
These are as follows:
the immigration and work permit process. We intend to ease access to Fiji for skilled professionals on short-term assignments and to speed up the processing of long and short term work permits. We also want to look at better ways to use the skills of non-citizens already in Fiji and available to us.
investment in land, buildings and infrastructure. We intend to ease the significant red tape constraining foreign and domestic investment in land, buildings and infrastructure, including the Land Sales Act, the foreshore lease process, environmental impact assessments and town and country planning rules and processes. These processes will need to include our urban populations and our resource owners.
foreign investment regulation. While there has been some improvement in the regulation of foreign investment, we need to look for further simplification in the current Investment Regulations.
electricity and energy sector reform. We must urgently address challenges for investor access to electricity and to ensure we meet our energy needs in the next 10 years, refocusing in particular on our renewable energy targets.
These changes will be implemented through a Steering Committee to be co-led by the Ministries of Finance and Trade and includes members from the private sector members experienced in delivering projects to conclusion.
Progress will be coordinated and monitored through the Ministry of Finance’s Strategic Planning Office.