MP for the two Niuas, Hon. Vātau Hui strongly criticised Vava’u 15 MP Sāmiu Vaipulu for proposing in the House that his constituencies should stop receiving TP$200,000 funding from Parliament.
Hon. Vaipulu also said the government had spent too much money on subsidising the shipping and aircraft travelling for the Niuas and gained nothing in return.
He also wanted to stop MP Hui from speaking on any other matters discussed in the House.
MP Hui said MP Vaipulu’s motion and comments were unwise and his people would not like to hear it.
He said it was a cabinet decision and the subsidy was legal.
The feud emerged during a two-day long debate in the House last month following a motion from the opposition bench asking the government to allow the nine noble MPs to receive TP$100,000 each from the constituency funding.
Only people’s MPs are allowed to access the funding, but the nobility want to get the same opportunity.
The MPs give the money to their constituency councils to help with community development projects.
During the heated debates Hon. Hui said he disagreed with the motion and did not want the nobles to access the funding. He then moved that the Chair of the Whole House committee put the motion into ballot.
However, he was countered by Hon. Vaipulu who asked the Chair to allow him to speak to Hon. Hui.
Hon. Vaipulu said the Niuas should be cut from its access to the funding because their population was small and a lot of money had been spent on them.
In Tongan he said: “’Eiki Sea, ko u fokotu’u atu, ‘uluakí, tu’usi ‘a Niua he ‘oku fu’u tokosi’i, fakamole lahi,…”
MP Hui attempted to respond to Hon. Vaipulu through the Chair, but Hon. Vaipulu said he did not want it.
The Chair told Hon. Hui the only way he could allow Hon. Vaipulu to speak was if he could say that he was making a correction to Hon. Vaipulu’s comments.
Hon. Hui then said he was correcting Hon. Vaipulu and the Chair allowed him to talk.
Hon. Hui said he would look for a copy of the cabinet decision for the Niuas’ subsidy, but as far as he remembered it was made by the former government in which Hon. Vaipulu was deputy Prime Minister.
The move to allow the nobility receive constituency funding was strongly backed by independent MPs including Hon. Vaipulu and Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni.
As Kaniva news reported last week, the Prime Minister said it was not fair for the nine noble MPs to receive the funding because it would set them apart from other nobles who were not Members of Parliament.
Hon. Pohiva said the distribution of the money among the 17 people’s MPs was justified as every constituency in Tonga would have the same opportunity to get a share from the funding through their MPs.
The debate ended after Lord Tu’i’afitu proposed to postpone it for further future discussion saying it was a matter for the Minister of Finance to consider in the government’s budget.
The main points
- MP for the two Niuas, Hon. Vātau Hui strongly criticised Vava’u 15 MP Sāmiu Vaipulu for proposing in the House that his constituencies should stop receiving TP$200,000 funding from Parliament.
- Hon. Vaipulu also said the government had spent too much money on subsidising the shipping and aircraft travelling for the Niuas and gained nothing in return.
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