Helping Fiji enhance legislative review processes

Sarah Mansfield, Western Victoria Member of the Legislative Council and John Pesutto, Member for Hawthorn in the Legislative Assembly took part in the seminar arranged by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Office in Fiji. 
 
‘So one of the things we did was just explain how our system works here in Victoria,’ Dr Mansfield said. 
 
'We had then a great discussion about what happens in Fiji currently and identified some of the challenges that I think we all face when it comes to really undertaking robust bill analysis,’ she said. 
 
The twinning of the Parliament of Victoria and the Parliament of Fiji is part of Australia's Pacific Parliamentary Partnerships program, which focuses on building parliamentary capacity through professional development, training and equipment.

The project is supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), which also supports the work of UNDP in Fiji. 
 
The partnership, established in 2014 after Fiji's return to democracy, provides support for Fiji's parliamentary members and staff in areas like legislative processes, committee work and community engagement. 
 
John Pesutto said that the processes followed by Victorian MPs were so well established as to become second nature. 
 
‘It's the structure and the tradition that's been built up over generations in the Victorian Parliament and is part of parliaments around our country that, again, are part of our DNA now. For a new democracy, where in Fiji you've got a constitution that's only 13 years old, you are giving them valuable insights into how they can maximise the benefit of committees,’ he said. 
 
Both MPs also found common challenges across the two parliaments. 
 
‘There are a lot of things that we share in common,’ Dr Mansfield said. 
 
'A big challenge is how do we ensure that the community have meaningful input and can have a say over legislation, provide feedback to the bills that are coming before Parliament. And I think that's something that we all grapple with,’ she said.