Policies
Bune is known for his outspokenness. In June 2005, he called on indigenous Fijians to prepare themselves to accept a non-indigenous Prime Minister, saying that the country was ready for it. On the other hand, he also said that it might be better to go back to being led by chiefs than continuing with leadership by commoners, whom he accused of retarding the country's progress. "I believe we should go back to having chiefs leading the country because two commoners have led the country and they have taken us backward," Bune said - a reference to Sitiveni Rabuka (Prime Minister 1992-1999 and Laisenia Qarase (Prime Minister since 2000).
Bune has strongly opposed the government's plans to establish a Commission with the power to compensate victims and pardon perpetrators of the 2000 coup. He has disputed government claims that most indigenous Fijians support the legislation, claiming that most have never been told any version other than the government's propaganda.
Bune has strong reservations about the government's promotion of economic growth on the basis of tourism, investment, and construction. The shift from an agricultural economy would only increase the country's import bills, he claims, as it will cause Fijian landowners to lose interest in farming their land. There were already signs of this happening, he said on 10 August 2005. The fact that milk was being imported was reflective of agricultural land lying dormant. Speaking in Parliament, he said that the government's appeal to potential investors, based on Fiji's high educational standards, widespread fluency in English, a ready labour force, and population of law-abiding systems, did not square with the truth. Muggings, rapes, and robberies, not to mention coups, were prevalent in Fiji, he said. Tourism had had a negative effect on indigenous Fijians, he said, with an increase in sexually related diseases and a breakdown of the traditional family unit. There was too much emphasis on money nowadays, he said, and not enough emphasis on life itself.
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Famous quotes containing the word policies:
“... [Washington] is always an entertaining spectacle. Look at it now. The present President has the name of Roosevelt, marked facial resemblance to Wilson, and no perceptible aversion, to say the least, to many of the policies of Bryan. The New Deal, which at times seems more like a pack of cards thrown helter skelter, some face up, some face down, and then snatched in a free-for-all by the players, than it does like a regular deal, is going on before our interested, if puzzled eyes.”
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“A nation’s domestic and foreign policies and actions should be derived from the same standards of ethics, honesty and morality which are characteristic of the individual citizens of the nation.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)