Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) chair and Tongan Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni is still waiting for Paris to approve a Pacific mission to New Caledonia.
Last month, the French Ambassador to the Pacific, Véronique Roger-Lacan, said President Emmanuel Macron was yet to sign a letter authorising a high-level PIF delegation to visit the French territory.
The PIF wants to send a Forum Ministerial Committee made up of leaders from the troika – Cook Islands, Fiji and Tonga – and Solomon Islands for the mission.
“I’ve have yet to receive any notification about any dates from Paris about us visiting New Caledonia. It’s very important for the Pacific Islands Forum to visit New Caledonia before the leaders meeting,” Hu’akavameiliku told RNZ Pacific on Monday.
Hu’akavameiliku said New Caledonia is a forum member so the Pacific family wants to see how it can help.
“So we can get better information and have a talanoa or talk to the various parties,” he said.
It has been almost three months since peaceful protests in opposition to a controversial constitutional amendment spiralled out of control and led to full-blown civil unrest in the French Pacific territory.
A formal letter was sent to Macron just over two weeks ago following talks with his representative on the sidelines of Japan’s Pacific Leaders Meeting (PALM).
The forum chair requested approval for four Pacific prime ministers to go to New Caledonia before the last week of August 2024.
But Roger-Lacan said hosting Pacific leaders while New Caledonia was in crisis mode would pose a security risk given the current political situation.
Forum secretary general Baron Waqa said in July that the PIF is, “truly concerned at what is happening in New Caledonia”.
By Lauren Crimp of rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission
A lawyer representing nearly 1500 midwives has told the High Court in Wellington the Crown must be held to account for breaking promises for better pay and contracts over nearly a decade.
The College of Midwives was leading the class action on behalf of Lead Maternity Carers (self-employed midwives) in a bid for “fair and reasonable pay” and a change in contract model.
It claimed previous governments agreed to reform but then never followed through.
During the first day of proceedings on Monday, the College of Midwives’ lead counsel, Robert Kirkness spent hours laying out the history of negotiations between midwives and the government, accusing the Crown of not honouring their legal obligations.
The battle dating back to 2015 included two legally binding settlement agreements – neither of which had been delivered on, he said.
For example, the government and midwives had co-designed a new funding model following the first settlement agreement in 2017.
A letter from the then director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield to the College’s lawyer revealed that was because officials felt such a bid had “no prospects of success”, Kirkness quoted.
Yet it had made a legal promise to do so, he argued.
“People should be kept to their contractual promises, that includes the Crown, and that applies when promises are made to LMC midwives as much as to anybody else.”
But the government had “repeatedly baulked” at fair pay, he said.
“And to be clear, fair pay is not a gift. It is payment for hard work, for high risk work, by LMC midwives,” he said.
Midwives had agreed to drop legal action and agree to mediation multiple times, said Kirkness.
“[The College] considered … that mediation offered the most efficient and effective way to achieve real and necessary change for LMC midwives.
“It’s clear they were wrong,” he said.
A Ministry of Health staffer had even apologised to midwives on behalf of the ministry for not keeping its commitments at the College’s conference for LMC midwives in 2018, he said.
But to this day the promises went unfulfilled, and midwives had no choice but to go to court, said Kirkness.
The Crown will briefly lay out its case on Tuesday, before cross-examining the plaintiffs.
Proceedings were expected to take six weeks.
‘It shouldn’t have to come to this’ – midwife
Midwife of 15 years Violet Clapham, who was at the high court to see the case opened, said it had been a long road to get to court.
“To be honest, it’s deeply upsetting, just the fact that we’ve been brought to this point of having to come to court to seek a resolution, and to have this government acknowledge the important contribution and the value of midwives in the community,” she said.
“It shouldn’t have to come to this point.”
It was not just pay and support midwives sought now, she said.
“[We want] respect from the government for the work that we do, and to value mothers and babies in our communities.”
The midwives’ case was “compelling” and could not be ignored, she said.
The All Blacks have confirmed that Ardie Savea will captain the side, with Scott Barrett ruled out for both tests against Argentina.
Ardie Savea, Harry Plummer Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Blues first five Harry Plummer has also been added to the squad after an injury to Stephen Perofeta.
Barrett injured a finger during the All Blacks 47-5 win against Fiji in San Diego, which required a surgical treatment after his return to New Zealand.
Assistant coach Jason Ryan made the changes public on Monday at the team’s base at the NZCIS campus in Upper Hutt.
Ryan said that the All Blacks have “definitely got to build up from where we left off pretty quickly” after three wins to start the season.
“Argentina bring a different intensity to the first three tests that we had…it should be a good contest, they’ve been playing really well,” Ryan said of Pumas, who split a series 1-1 with France and demolished neighbours Uruguay in their three tests so far in 2024.
“I think they’ve always been a passionate side, they play with energy and momentum. (Matias) Kremer and (Pablo) Matera are big around the breakdown.”
All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan at the Rugby World Cup semi-final against Argentina on 20 October 2023. Photo: Photosport / Andrew Cornaga
Ryan said that the focus now the squad had reassembled for the Rugby Championship was to adapt to challenge that the Pumas, Springboks and Wallabies would pose.
“You’ve always got to be evolving your game, week to week. We’re always trying to tweak things.”
As for what the biggest work on was after the two English victories, Ryan pointed to the breakdown.
“We learned a lot around our carry and clean game. We were really accurate around our decision-making, we’re looking forward to building off our scrum and set piece.
“We’ve got some good lads who made contributions in our loosies, our locks are a competitive area…yeah I think we’ve got a lot of confidence in everyone. It makes selection meetings a bit tastier.”
A Dargaville mother-of-eight found dead in circumstances police have described as “unexplained” texted him one word before she disappeared – ‘Help’, her grieving husband says.
Jo Sione-Lauaki, pictured with her husband Jared Sione-Lauaki. Jo was found dead on Omamari Beach in Northland on Friday in circumstances police have described as “unexplained”. Jared has spoken to the Herald about the death of his wife and the mother of their eight kids.
The body of Jo Sione-Lauaki, known affectionately to her family as “Jojo”, was found about 2pm yesterday between Omamari and Aranga beaches, a remote stretch of coastline about 35 kilometres north-west of Dargaville.
Her husband and father of their eight kids aged between 12 and 22 confirmed the 38-year-old’s death to the Herald tonight.
“She was the most loving mother that anyone could ask for”, Jared Sione-Lauaki said, his voice breaking.
“No one’s gonna replace her.”
The tragedy is the second to strike the family in less than two years after the couple’s daughter Jacinda Sione-Lauaki died aged 19 in a Christmas Eve 2022 car crash.
This afternoon, police announced they were treating Jo Sione-Lauaki’s death as “unexplained”.
A post-mortem was taking place in Auckland today, Detective Senior Sergeant John Clayton said this afternoon.
“Enquiries are ongoing into the circumstances leading up to her body being located.”
Sione-Lauaki was reported missing yesterday after she failed to return home Thursday night. Police later found her vehicle at Omamari Beach, with cordons put up and forensic examinations taking place.
Police hadn’t told him what they thought may have happened, but Jared Sione-Lauaki “definitely knew someone else was involved”, he said.
“Because I know my wife. She sent me a text that just said, ‘Help’, and my wife would never send me a text unless it was something very serious.
“Like if it was a dead battery or she got stuck at the beach, she would’ve explained herself. But to send ‘Help’, that caught my guts a bit.”
The dairy farm worker didn’t receive the text until he woke at 5.15am, but couldn’t tell when it had been sent because his phone had been on flight mode.
“I text, I rang, I text, I rang, I text, I rang.”
But there was no response.
Sione-Lauaki went to work but about 9.20am told his boss “Something’s not right … my wife’s missing, I need to go”, went home to pick up his daughter and began searching.
The 43-year-old wasn’t concerned before going to bed around 8.30pm or 9pm on Thursday night because his wife had told him she was going back to the beach, after visiting earlier in the day.
“That’s normal for her to do that sort of thing.”
Father and daughter searched the beach north of Baylys, but something stopped him from going as far north as his wife’s body was later found, Jared Sione-Lauaki said.
“I think that was my spirit telling me not to go find her my damn self. I don’t know how I’d deal with myself if I found my own wife lying there like that.”
The pair then reported Sione-Lauaki missing to police.
“I had this really ugly feeling in my gut.”
He was surprised his wife had gone to Omamari Beach, as the family usually went to Baylys Beach further south when they ran their own sharemilking business, and later when working for another farmer.
“Farm life is quite taxing and you don’t get much time off but any moment that we did get with our kids in the summertime, we usually spend it anywhere near the beach or the water.
“[Baylys] is where I thought she was going [on her second visit Thursday], because she told me she was going back there because she’d had a really awesome day out there with our dog.”
Sione-Lauaki visited Baylys Beach on Thursday with the family dog before returning home for the “school run” and going to The Warehouse to buy school shoes for their youngest child.
She then told her husband in their last conversation later that day that she was going back to the beach that night, he said.
She didn’t take the dog the second time.
“I have no clue why she went to Omamari, because we never went to that side, ever.”
He understood her body was found above the high tide line, but he wasn’t sure if she’d been in the water before she died.
If she had, it wouldn’t be normal.
“I’ve been with that lady 21 years .. and she’s never set foot in the freaking ocean water ever. That’s why I know something’s not right.”
He’s a member of Black Power, but they didn’t have any enemies, Jared Sione-Lauaki said.
“We’re not all a**holes, we all have hearts and emotions and it’s not everything that you see on telly … when I was out in the community I always smiled, I can mingle with just about anybody, regardless of who I am.
“It didn’t matter if it was opposition or anything like that, I’ll still give them the same love and respect as if they were my family or my brothers.”
Police told them late this afternoon Sione-Lauaki’s body was being released tonight, he said.
He expected she’d be returned to Northland tomorrow, when he and his kids would go to the funeral home to dress her, before bringing her “home” ahead of an eventual funeral and cremation.
“And then the ashes will be split between all of her children, and me.”
The couple were born and bred Aucklanders, but Sione-Lauaki – whose maiden name was Panapa – was Ngāpuhi and her marae was Ahikiwi north of Dargaville, Jared Sione-Lauaki said.
He’d remember his partner of 21 years and wife of “seven or eight” years as “loud, bubbly and very, very, very stubborn” as well as “vibrant and beautiful”.
“She loved her kids, [and] she loved me, regardless if I was a bit of a bastard.”
* Police want to hear from anyone who saw a woman wearing a green puffer jacket north of Omamari Beach between 8pm on Thursday August 1, and 10am yesterday (August 2). They should call police on 105 and reference the file number: 240803/9062. Information can also be shared anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
As the Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) kicked off in Suva today, Tonga’s Finance Minister, who is also the chair, says it is important to seize opportunities for growth.
Photo: AFP
PACNEWS reported over the next two days, the ministers will focus on key economic priorities, including technology, connectivity, and the digital economy.
Tiofilusi Tiueti pointed to the ongoing impact of the pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and climate change.
“The global economic outlook remains uncertain, with lingering pandemic effects, geopolitical tensions disrupting supply chains, and rising inflation. Climate change continues to pose an existential threat to our Blue Pacific Continent,” he said.
He also reflected on the devastating eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai more than two years saying it had caused loss and damage equivalent to 36 percent of Tonga’s GDP.
The minister used this as an example of the harsh realities Pacific nations face, and why building transformative resilience is not a choice, but a necessity.
Tiueti praised the Pacific community’s support for Tonga in the aftermath of the eruption but acknowledged areas for improvement in collective response.
He also pointed out the potential of technological advancements and ocean resources for driving economic prosperity.
“Technological advancements offer innovative solutions for climate adaptation, financial inclusion, and sustainable development. The vast ocean resources of the Pacific offer significant opportunities for unlocking economic prosperity,” Tiueti said.
He spoke about the labour mobility schemes, saying over 50,000 Pacific Islanders are now working on these schemes, and while the remittances are important, domestic economies are languishing.
Fiji’s Finance Minister, Biman Prasad, a former professor of economics, cautioned that international economic headwinds remain a concern.
He pointed to the COP29 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, later this year as a key event for the region.
“Pacific Economic Ministers are hoping to work towards a foundational framework that will allow Pacific countries to access critical climate finance for our development and to address the fundamental challenges posed by climate change,” he said.
Population decline
A Pacific researcher and economist, Steve Pollard, said economic ministers needs to consider the impact of dramatically falling populations in parts of the region.
While much of the Pacific has seen little or no population growth for many years, over the past ten years in the Federated States of Micronesia, Steve Pollard, said the population has dropped 30 percent, and in the Marshall Islands it’s 20 percent.
Both countries have open access to the United States.
While Pollard said the issue is not new the ministers should be considering the impact this loss has on the countries’ ability to achieve development goals.
“It’s not something new, it’s been underway for some time. I just fear that I’m looking into the future,” he said.
“What is there developing within the country to hold these people in the country, and as an economist I see the economics of it, and I the lack of growth and therefore the affordability for self-financing social development.”
A Tongan gang member gets home detention for road rage assault.
Viliami Tonga headed to the Rebels gang pad in Otahuhu to join a convoy going to Taurima Reserve for a planned fight at Point England, New Zealand.
Tongan singer Dinah Jane Milika Ilaisaane Hansen
On the way from Otahuhu, a driver accidentally merged into the convoy, leading to a violent confrontation at a red light.
The court was told Tonga struggled with his mother’s death and joined Fitus, an Auckland-based gang with ties to the Rebels Motorcycle Club.
He was on a residency visa and wanted to apply for a New Zealand citizenship. He requested discharge without conviction, but this was denied.
The defendant grew up in Tonga and came to New Zealand 12 years ago.
He was also worried about his employment prospects and what not getting citizenship might mean for his desire to move to Australia eventually.
Tongan family multimillion-dollar business in Auckland
A Tongan family in Auckland, New Zealand, has been hailed for their business success.
The family’s business All Stone & Rock has won a multimillion-dollar contract to provide stonework around Auckland Airport.
Visitors to Auckland will see the company’s stonework around the airport precinct, depicting the volcanic landscapes of Tāmaki Makaurau.
The Tagi family’s success is a long way from when the family of 11 was crammed into one bedroom of a state house in Sandringham, Auckland.
“We had some very tough times in the early days,” Lemeki Tagi, 64, told the Herald. “But I always had faith and believed that good things will happen if you work hard.
“When I arrived in New Zealand, the only job for Pacific Islanders was unskilled labour. I had a dream that one day I could start a construction company—and I still have that dream.”
While the airport contract All Stone & Rock won in December 2022 will change the company’s finances, it will not change the values of this family-run business.
The company’s vision and tikanga goes back almost three decades.
Tongan songstress Dinah Jane Hansen’s Ocean Song
Tongan singer Dinah Jane Milika Ilaisaane Hansen has shared her spiritual and cultural experiences following the recent release of her new Ocean Song.
The 27-year-old has described the song as “The Ocean is Calling”
She thanked her hundreds of thousands YouTube followers for supporting her “personal prayer to my ancestors”.
She said: “When I was writing this song in Bali, it started out as a love song. But as it continued to flow, like water, it evolved into something more personal. This one is for the culture”.
Hansen auditioned as a solo artist for the second season of The X Factor and later became a member of Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.
After selling millions of records and parting ways, Hansen is now riding solo and smashing goals.
She was raised in Santa Ana, California, and is the daughter of Gordon Hansen and Milika Amasio.
She is the oldest of eight children and grew up with over 24 family members in her home.
The student who has been accused of staging a Facebook post to compliment her for returning a missing wallet with TOP$1,000 allegedly belonging to the Free Wesleyan Church President, has come forward.
(L-R) Mele Havea, Leona Funganitao and President Dr Tevita Havea. Photo/ Facebook
Leona Fungatao, a student at Liahona High School, shared a photo of herself with President Dr Tevita Havea and his wife this evening, after she had been accused of not telling the truth.
She seemed apologetic, but stop short of admitting that the post was apparently fake.
The meeting comes after the controversial post apparently portrayed Dr Havea as writing to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints’ Liahona High School principal, thanking him for Funganitao’s honesty.
According to the post Dr Havea allegedly said they were at one of the restaurants in Nuku’alofa.
Unbeknown to him and his wife, his wallet fell off before the girl who was at the scene at the time discovered it and returned it to him, the post read.
The wallet allegedly contained TOP$1,000, and the President reportedly gifted the girl $100, but she did not accept it.
The post praised the girl for having the courage to share her spiritual experience about the Mormon Church and the Lord Jesu Christ with the couple during the alleged handover of the wallet.
“She was so brave kene share kiate kimaua fekau’aki mo e ‘Alo ko Sisu Kalaisi mo ‘ene ongoongolelei kae pehe kihe fakalelei a Kalaisi”, the post read.
The post ended with Dr Tevita Havea’s name as signatory.
It has been widely shared on Facebook which racked up hundreds of reactions and shares.
Commenters on Facebook had a variety of reactions to the discovery, ranging from the wary to the wondrous.
“Wonderful words from the President of FWC church,” one said.
“We need students like this girl”, said another.
Some, however, were suspicious and questioned the post’s authenticity, saying it did not reflect the type of logical writing the President normally had.
Kaniva News reported this morning that the President told local reporters he did not write the post.
He said he was thankful that the post was attempting to send out a good message to the community.
“But I did not write it, and my wife and I have never been to a restaurant as shown in the post,” he said.
After the president denied the post, Funganitao reportedly insisted on Facebook that she stood by her post. She also agreed to go live on Facebook with the President to prove her side of the story.
However, she suddenly posted a photo of herself with the President and his wife, Mele Havea, later this evening.
The caption accompanying the photo provided no further details about their meeting, except to say that the issue had been resolved.
It implied that she had finally confirmed that she had mistaken Dr Havea for the person she meant.
Bishop Michael Gielen has announced the name of Christchurch’s new Catholic cathedral.
The building is currently being constructed on the Barbadoes Street site of the original Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
The older cathedral opened in 1905 but was demolished in 2020 after irreparable damage in the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
The replacement will be called the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament – Te Hāhi Matua o te Hākarameta Tapu Rawa.
Bishop Gielen said people spoke of the pain of losing the previous cathedral after the Christchurch earthquakes, and how retaining the name would provide some comfort for them.
“In recent weeks, people’s voices have been raised in support of this choice. They spoke of a long and treasured history of churches and the cathedral of the same name, in which they and their forebears received the sacraments, professed their love for a spouse and farewelled loved ones.”
The cathedral before it suffered major earthquake damage. Photo: Heritage New Zealand
In a letter read at Masses this weekend, Bishop Gielen said the two-month journey to the announcement of the name was designed to help him “better understand the heart of the people”.
The Blessed Sacrament signifies a central tenet of the Catholic faith – that Catholics receive the Body and Blood of Christ, in the form of bread and wine, at Mass. Bishop Gielen said Catholics’ affection for the name, which has been attached to multiple churches and a cathedral in Christchurch, was evident among the more than 2000 responses to a shortlist of possible names.
“Your heart, expressed through a desire for the name Blessed Sacrament, has won my heart,” he wrote.
“Our path towards a new cathedral will take many years, but this is another important milestone on our way.
“As discussions loom about the design of our cathedral, that work will have the Blessed Sacrament – that source and summit of our faith – at its centre.”
It will be the first new Catholic cathedral in New Zealand in 120 years.
The President of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga (FWC) has reportedly denied a claim that he lost his wallet and posted a status on Facebook thanking a student for returning it.
FWC President Tēvita Koloa’ia Havea. Photo/Facebook
The online community has responded with a mix of emotions and suspicions about the post.
It appeared to show that FWC President Dr Tevita Havea was writing to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints’ Liahona High School principal, thanking him for educating an excellent and honest student.
The post claimed the President and his wife were at one of the restaurants in Nuku’alofa.
Unbeknown to the couple, the president’s wallet fell off before the girl who was at the scene at the time discovered it and returned it to the President, the post read.
The wallet allegedly contained TOP$1,000, and the President reportedly gifted the girl with $100, but she did not accept it.
The post praised the girl for having the courage to share her spiritual experience about the Lord Jesu Christ with the couple during the alleged handover of the wallet.
“She was so brave kene share kiate kimaua fekau’aki mo e ‘Alo ko Sisu Kalaisi mo ‘ene ongoongolelei kae pehe kihe fakalelei a Kalaisi”, the post read.
The post ended with Dr Tevita Havea’s name as signatory.
It has been widely shared on Facebook which racked up hundreds of reactions and shares.
Commenters on Facebook had a variety of reactions to the discovery, ranging from the wary to the wondrous.
“Wonderful words from the President of FWC church,” one said.
“We need students like this girl”, said another.
Some, however, were suspicious and questioned the authenticity of the post, saying it did not reflect the type of logical writing the President normally had.
However, the President reportedly told local reporters this morning he did not write the post.
He said he was thankful that the post was attempting to send out a good message to the community.
“But I did not write it, and my wife and I have never been to a restaurant as shown in the post,” he said.
