Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says the Government will put an end to an era of media oppression that was brought by the FijiFirst Government.
Rabuka said they are currently discussing new legislation that reflects more democratic values and media freedom.
While speaking in response to the President’s address in Parliament, Rabuka said that the Coalition Government is totally committed to allowing the people freedom of the press, allowing the nation, freedom of the press.
He said this included the review of the Media Industry Development Act (MIDA) of 2010.
“Citizens must be informed, Mr. Speaker Sir, about events and developments in society; otherwise, they cannot truly fulfil their democratic obligations to give their views and participate in governance.”
“An active and free press creates a progressive society. It is a self-correcting mechanism for a free and fair society. Admission of national wrongs is part of that. So is the ability to learn from one’s mistakes,” the Prime Minister said.
Rabuka said the Government will also look at the arrangement between the previous Government and one of the local dailies, who had been receiving a substantial amount of public funds for advertising for the last 15 years.
He added that “Government is interested in the connection between that money and the newspaper’s servile admiration of, and bias towards, the government of that era. It was no more than a propaganda act or a propaganda paper.”
