Ioane Naivalurua
Ioane Naivalurua controls policing and communications as Fiji heads to the 2026 election. Former Police Commissioner. Former Independent. Now inside Cabinet.
People's Alliance · Parliament of Fiji
Major General Ioane Naivalurua is a Fijian politician, former Land Force Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, former Commissioner of the Fiji Police Force, and former Ambassador to China. He is currently Minister for Policing and Communications in the Rabuka Government, having crossed from opposition on 10 January 2025.
He is from Naselesele Village on Taveuni, in Cakaudrove Province. He was educated at Marist Brothers Primary School in Suva, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and the Australian Defence College. He also serves as President of Basketball Fiji and was awarded the FIBA President's Award in August 2023.
Naivalurua was elected to Parliament on 14 December 2022 as a FijiFirst list candidate, polling 1,221 votes (FEO Official Results). FijiFirst finished with 26 seats, the largest single-party share, but Rabuka's People's Alliance formed government in coalition with the NFP and SODELPA.
Following FijiFirst's deregistration in 2024, Naivalurua remained in Parliament as an independent. In August 2024 he emerged as the leader of a breakaway opposition bloc, the Group of 9, splitting from Inia Seruiratu's remaining opposition group.
On 10 January 2025 he was sworn in as Minister for Policing under Rabuka, alongside fellow Group of 9 members Viliame Naupoto (Immigration) and Mosese Bulitavu (Environment and Climate Change). Three others were sworn in as Assistant Ministers. In total, six of the nine G9 members crossed the floor to government. Political scientist Steven Ratuva described the reshuffle as a "power grab" that gave Rabuka the numbers to make his coalition partners dispensable ahead of the 2026 election (RNZ, January 2025).
On 3 November 2025, following a broader ministerial realignment, the Communications portfolio was transferred from the former Trade and Communications ministry to Policing. Naivalurua became Minister for Policing and Communications, taking on responsibility for Walesi, the national digital broadcast network.
On 17 August 2026, Naivalurua publicly confirmed that he would contest the 2026 general election under the People's Alliance Party banner, telling Fiji One News: "I am with PAP." The confirmation ended nearly two years of Independent status and brought him formally into the party led by Prime Minister Rabuka, in whose Cabinet he already served.
| Party | People's Alliance (confirmed 17 August 2026); former FijiFirst (2014–2024); Independent (August 2024 – August 2026) |
| Electoral basis | FijiFirst list MP, 2022. 1,221 personal votes. |
| In Parliament since | 14 December 2022 |
| Current role | Minister for Policing and Communications (10 January 2025 to present; Communications added 3 November 2025) |
| Career background | Land Force Commander, RFMF; Commissioner of Prisons (2007–2010); Commissioner of the Fiji Police Force (2010–2013); Chair, Post Fiji Limited (2007); Ambassador-at-Large (2014) and later Ambassador to China |
| Education | Marist Brothers Primary School; Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; Australian Defence College |
| Portfolio focus | National policing; counter-narcotics; communications infrastructure; Walesi; Police Act review |
Naivalurua oversees the Fiji Police Force, the National Counter Narcotics Bureau, the Ministry of Policing's administrative and policy cadre, and, since November 2025, the Communications portfolio including Walesi. The 2026-27 National Budget allocates $34.6 million to the Ministry of Policing and Communications, including $1.6 million for narcotics operations and the continued establishment of the Counter Narcotics Bureau, $4 million for the BusinessNOW building permits rollout, and $6.8 million to Walesi for nationwide digital connectivity.
The Fiji Police Force separately received $226.5 million in the 2025-26 Budget. The Counter Narcotics Bureau was allocated $1.9 million for its operational establishment in the same budget.
Drug enforcement dominates his public agenda. Naivalurua told Parliament on 26 May 2026 that Fiji Police and RFMF joint operations had destroyed 47,042 marijuana plants across 93 farms in the Northern Division, with 22 arrests. In the Central and Eastern Divisions, 68 people were arrested for possession of methamphetamine and other illicit drugs. He told Parliament in July 2026 that more than $4 billion worth of illicit drugs have circulated in Fiji over the past three years, with 2,400 drug-related cases recorded in the last year alone.
He co-hosted the first Pacific Police Ministers Meeting alongside Australia at the 2026 Pacific Transnational Crime Summit in Nadroga in May 2026, where he warned that 17 tonnes of illicit drugs had been seized across the Pacific in the first months of 2026, triple the previous rate.
On 5 August 2026, Naivalurua met Australian High Commissioner to Fiji Peter Roberts to review progress under the Vuvale Union and the Fiji-Australia Mutual Security Treaty. A multi-year work plan approved by Cabinet identifies transnational crime, including illicit drugs, as the treaty's largest area of cooperation. Under the plan, the Fiji Police Force is set for a major expansion in manpower, intelligence capability, and infrastructure. The treaty is expected to be tabled in both the Fijian and Australian parliaments in the coming weeks (Fiji Sun; PACNEWS, August 2026).
On 2 August 2026, closing the Duavata Northern Crime Prevention Carnival in Labasa, Naivalurua called for community-Government cooperation on drug and crime issues and pointed to the new Police Bill and the Counter Narcotics Bureau as the legislative and institutional platforms for that work.
Naivalurua's tenure has coincided with sustained public scrutiny of the Fiji Police Force itself. Officers within the Counter Narcotics Bureau have been prosecuted for drug-related offences, a point Naivalurua acknowledged in Parliament while supporting the 2025-26 Budget, describing the incidents as "deeply disappointing" but a "necessary lesson."
The Walesi corruption investigation remains with the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC). Walesi sits within Naivalurua's Communications portfolio. He confirmed the ongoing FICAC investigation in Parliament during Committee of Supply debate in July 2026 but did not disclose further details.
In July 2026, a senior police officer publicly alleged that police officers were using government vehicles to transport and sell drugs. Naivalurua's response was to say the allegations "must be formally reported to Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu before any action can be taken," and that the senior officer should first have used "proper channels."
The Walesi FICAC investigation remains active as at the publication date of this profile. Public allegations of police misconduct made in July 2026 have not, at the time of writing, been formally investigated. FPR will update this profile as either matter develops.
Naivalurua controls the two portfolios that most directly affect the security and integrity of the 2026 general election: national policing and communications. The election is now expected between late December 2026 and early February 2027. Whether the Fiji Police Force is seen to enforce impartially, and whether Walesi delivers reliable nationwide reach for election-related information, sits within his direct authority.
His political trajectory is also worth tracking. As leader of the Group of 9 who crossed to government in January 2025, Naivalurua is one of the ministers whose presence in Cabinet changed the numerical balance of the Rabuka coalition. On 17 August 2026 he confirmed publicly that he will contest the 2026 general election under the People's Alliance banner, completing his move from FijiFirst list MP through independent status into PA's electoral fold. Whether he stands on the party's constituency ticket or list, and how comfortably a former FijiFirst candidate is received by PA's grassroots, is now the open question.
The drug crisis is the defining policy test of his tenure. The gap between the scale he describes ($4 billion over three years; 17 tonnes seized across the Pacific in months) and the resources allocated ($1.6 million for narcotics operations in 2026-27) will shape both public expectations and opposition scrutiny in the run-up to the vote. The Fiji-Australia Vuvale Union work plan, with policing identified as the treaty's single largest cooperation area, changes that picture: how much of the promised Australian support for manpower, intelligence, and infrastructure materialises before the writ is issued is the operational question.
⚠ FPR welcomes corrections: editor@fijipoliticalreview.com
