{{Infobox officeholder | name = Farley Chavez Augustine | office = Chief Secretary of Tobago | image = Farley Augustine 2017 (cropped).jpg | caption = Augustine in 2017 | term_start = 8 December 2021 | term_end = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1985}} | party = Tobago People's Party | other_party = Progressive Democratic Patriots (until 2023) | birth_place = Speyside, Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |last1=Ramdass |first1=Anna |title=Getting to know Farley Chavez Augustine |url=https://trinidadexpress.com/news/local/getting-to-know-farley-chavez-augustine/article_57c073e8-5aed-11ec-aaf6-cf7f7551656b.html#google_vignette |newspaper=Daily Express|date=11 December 2021 |access-date=19 June 2024}}</ref> | predecessor = Ancil Dennis }} {{short description|Tobagonian educator and politician (born 1985)}} '''Farley Chavez Augustine''' (born 1985) is a Tobagonian politician and educator serving as the current Chief Secretary of Tobago, the island's head of government.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SECRETARY |url=https://www.tha.gov.tt/divisions/office-of-the-chief-secretary/ |website=Tobago House of Assembly |access-date=19 June 2024}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/> He holds the additional executive role of secretary for finance, trade and the economy.<ref name="auto"/>
==Early life== Augustine was raised in Speyside. He attended the University of the West Indies before returning to Tobago to become a high school teacher.<ref name="auto1"/> ==Political career== In the December 2021 Tobago House of Assembly election, the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) party, which had declared Augustine to be its candidate for Chief Secretary, won a majority in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).<ref>{{cite web |last1=CRUICKSHANK |first1=Jermaine |title=A Tobago dream come alive |url=https://trinidadexpress.com/newsextra/a-tobago-dream-come-alive/article_c69b989e-5753-11ec-9363-e78745f6ab70.html |newspaper=Daily Express|date=7 December 2021 |access-date=19 June 2024}}</ref> Augustine was thus named the Chief Secretary in 2021. In 2023, after a conflict with the PDP's leader, he formed his own party, the Tobago People's Party, to which most members of the THA defected.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nicholas |first1=Stephon |title=Tobago People's Party launched: 'We are at war' |url=https://newsday.co.tt/2023/08/14/tobago-peoples-party-launched-we-are-at-war/ |newspaper=Trinidad and Tobago Newsday |date=14 August 2023 |access-date=19 June 2024}}</ref>
In 2024, the opposition Tobago Council of the People's National Movement accused Augustine of accepting bribes. Augustine denied these charges.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nicholas |first1=Stephon |title=Chief Secretary: 'I've never received kickbacks' |url=https://newsday.co.tt/2024/03/14/chief-secretary-ive-never-received-kickbacks-2/ |newspaper=Trinidad and Tobago Newsday |date=14 March 2024 |access-date=19 June 2024}}</ref>
==Personal life== Augustine is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.caymancompass.com/2023/08/30/caymanian-elected-president-of-adventist-laymens-inter-american-division/|title=Caymanian elected president of Adventist Laymen's Inter-American Division|date=August 30, 2023|website=Cayman Compass|access-date=April 29, 2025}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Augustine, Farley Chavez}} Category:Living people Category:1985 births Category:Progressive Democratic Patriots politicians Category:People from Tobago Category:Leaders of political parties in Trinidad and Tobago Category:Political party founders Category:Tobago People's Party politicians Category:University of the West Indies alumni Category:Trinidad and Tobago Seventh-day Adventists