A new high-profile advisor of the French Polynesian government, Brigitte Girardin, has revealed that she has no contract yet and says claims about her salary are wrong.
The former French overseas territories minister, who has been travelling with a presidential delegation in the Austral Islands, made the comment after the opposition claimed last month that she was being paid 27,000 US dollars a month.
The government reacted angrily, saying the assertion was grotesque, but giving no other figure.
Mrs Girardin, who is to be a French Polynesian representative in both Paris and Brussels, says she won't want any special rules to apply to her but be paid commensurate to her experience and in keeping with the territory's rules.
The government says Mrs Girardin will help French Polynesia erase the huge debt which is the previous government's legacy to the territory.
