Members of parliament in Solomon Islands have been given a pay rise on the same day tax was to be reinstated on their tax free salaries.
Photo: RNZI Koroi Hawkins
The Island Sun newspaper reported MPs were given a 3.5 percent pay increase effective from the beginning of this month by the Parliamentary Entitlements Commission.
The commission told the paper the increase was fair given that MPs missed out on one in 2016, the same year the commission gave the MPs tax free salaries.
The chairperson of Transparency Solomon Islands, Ruth Liloqula, said her organisation had crunched the numbers and the latest pay rise negates the tax.
"On the first of April they raised their salary and what they have done is they have raised their salary to a level where when the tax is removed [deducted] they would be getting the same amount as the tax free salary they were getting last year," said Ruth Liloqula.