Tanya Waqanika

Waqanika comes from the village of Natumua, on Fiji's Kadavu Island. She first studied law at Bond University at Robina, Queensland in Australia and then obtained a Master of Business Administration at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. Married with four children, she is a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and of the High Court of Fiji. Waqanika started work in 1997 as a Legal Officer at the Fiji Prime Minister's Policy Analysis Unit. She then transferred to the Attorney General's Chambers. In 1998 she moved to the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority before taking a job with the Suva City Council as a solicitor and legal manager. In 2007 she was appointed Legal Manager at Fiji Television Limited, later holding other roles, including Head of Content and Local Production. In 2014 she was dismissed from the television company, at the same time as its CEO, as a result of disagreements about television rights to international rugby matches, which were related to the government's extension of the operating licence for Fiji TV. After her dismissal she established her own law firm.^[2][3][4][5]