7 Apr 2011

Austerity plans include renting out Tahiti presidential palace

3:15 pm on 7 April 2011

The French Polynesian president, Oscar Temaru, has proposed renting out the presidential palace in Papeete as part of austerity measures.

Mr Temaru's new government, which was formed yesterday, has just held its first meeting in a room in the assembly complex.

He says savings have to be made and that applies to everybody.

Mr Temaru says he has several ideas about the palace's future use, including turning it into a training centre.

The palace was built over four years at a cost of almost 60 million US dollars and opened by the former president, Gaston Flosse, in 2000.