Asenaca Caucau

Adi Asenaca Coboiverata Caucau-Filipe (commonly known simply as Adi Asenaca Caucau) is a Fijian Cabinet Minister, who has held the Women, Social Welfare, and Poverty Alleviation portfolios since 2001.

Parliamentary speech, 28 July 2002 (and aftermath)

• "A priest warned me that we must keep a careful and guarded watch over fellow Indo-Fijians because they are like weeds. They tend to push to grab and take over the land and the nation. (Era dau sugusugu vanua). I really appreciated the meaning of the words "sugusugu vanua" because this is what we, the indigenous people (i.e. taukei) have proven and believe is the design of the foreigners (vulagi)".

• "I am simply stating a fact and it was not meant to be racist" - reaction to subsequent calls for an apology.

Opening address to the Pacific Regional Media Training Workshop on "Women's Issues, Women's Voices," January 2005

• "There seems to be a lot of love-hate relationships in Fiji today, between so many and the media, simply because there are so many negative reporting and a serious lack of understanding on journalists' part on working on reports or their stories. I am actually hoping for more from the Fiji media and the region, we need a whole lot more positive reporting."

• "I ask the media to concentrate on positive things rather than just doing the rounds on rape, incest, molestation on women."

Parliamentary speech, 9 August 2005

• "A key strategy towards restoring stability is developing targeted approaches to poverty reduction across different sectors coupled with the specific social provisions for the poor and the most vulnerable groups in society."

Statement about beggars, 7 November 2005)

Source: Fiji Sun

• "We invite them here to learn basic skills and we have even paid for them to do courses at TPAF because that’s what they said they wanted to do. But after that they just move back on the streets and amongst them are some who are renting out their houses."

• "The young people will think that begging is okay and if you are finding difficulties you can just go on the streets and beg."

• "Some of them pretend to be disabled or lie that they are orphans just to be able to get sympathy and money. So for the beggars it should not be an issue any more, they should be taken off the streets."

Miscellaneous quotes

• "All over the world people are dying of poverty but that is not the case here in Fiji because the beauty about Fiji is that people are always ready to help those in need."

• "There are only a certain number of people who are begging. These are the same people and the assumption that begging is increasing is in fact wrong because it is the same people who keep moving about."