The French Polynesian government has reacted angrily to a televised opposition claim that a new French advisor is being paid 27,000 US dollars a month.
The claim was made by the opposition leader, Oscar Temaru, after the government hired a former French overseas territories minister, Brigitte Girardin, as an advisor and representative for the territory in both Paris and Brussels.
The government says Mr Temaru's assertion is grotesque, however its statement gives no other figure.
It says Mrs Girardin will help French Polynesia erase the huge debt which is Mr Temaru's legacy to the territory.
It accuses him of having done nothing for the people and being busy with the decolonisation issue as his new toy.
The government says Mr Temaru is parading around to deliver counter-truths about French Polynesia abroad and creates hate and division within society by proffering racist comments of a gravity that the government condemns with force.
