COMMENTARY: Tonga is facing a financial crisis, with New Zealand and Australia propping up the kingdom’s budget.
The two donors are paying for more than 50 percent of the budget.
Tonga is still recovering from the effects of Covid-19 and the loss of income from tourism caused by Covid-19, as well as the aftermath of the Hunga Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai volcanic eruption and tsunami.
It has endured nine percent inflation, is paying more than NZ$40 million in fuel costs compared with last year and is about to start paying back China for its unsecured loan at a rate of NZ$28 million a year. The International Monetary Fund says Tonga’s overall risk of debt distress remains high.
Many Tongans are facing real economic hardship.
Despite this, Parliament decided to go ahead and give itself a pay rise using a controversial circular system that hid the identities of those who had voted for the backdated pay increase.
It was a slap in the face for voters and a sign that once again the Tongan government is completely oblivious as to how its actions appear to the people who elect them.
New Zealand pay cut
Instead of putting more money in their pockets, the Tongan government should have taken a leaf from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
When New Zealand was forced into a lockdown to deal with the emergence of the Covid-19 virus in 2020, thousands of people lost their jobs or lost income. In response, Ardern formulated a common sense response.
In April of that year Ardern announced that she and other ministers would take a 20% pay cut lasting six months to show solidarity with those affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
She said it was important for the government’s highest paid politicians to show “leadership and solidarity” with workers on the frontline and those who had lost their livelihoods.
“If there was ever a time to close the gap between groups of people across New Zealand in different positions, it is now,” the Prime Minister said.
Ardern and the New Zealand government showed how a government should behave in a financial crisis by cutting their pay, not increasing it.
It is a pity Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku did not follow their example.
Pastor ‘Aipolo
Our story last week about Pastor ‘Aipolo’s criticism of the MPs’ pay rise have generated overwhelmingly positive feedback from our readers.
Most people lauded Pastor ‘Aipolo, saying it was the responsibility of religious leaders to look after their sheep and to criticise the Parliament’s pay rise at a time when the cost of living and inflation was high.
They said this was a good application of what Jesus said in the Bible in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Opposition to the pastor’s comments came mostly from people who opposed the Democrats. They claimed the pay rise was legal and therefore justified. However, the Democrats said common sense was more important than following the law as laws were made by people. They said Tongan laws were amended from time to time because some of those laws were unjust.
