The number of New Zealanders dying from Covid-19 is likely to increase in the future.
The Ministry of Health said the rate of infection and hospitalisation rate was rising.
In contrast, the global trend showed the number of new cases to October 30 falling by 17 percent.
New Zealand had experienced two months of declining case numbers during August and September, after a peak in July.
Health Ministry figures for the week ending October 30, showed a 25.4 percent increase in cases compared with the previous week.
Wastewater testing and reported case rates used to monitor Covid-19 showed rates of the disease had been substantially increasing since early October, the ministry’s report said.
Wastewater testing indicated that the number of Covid cases was likely up to 28 percent higher than what was being reported.
The number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 had continued to fall in recent weeks. However, the Ministry said hospitalisation and death rates lagged behind changes in infection rates, and it was probable they would rise.
Pacific community
Māori and Pacific reported rates were rising, but continue to be lower than those of Europeans.
The seven-day rolling average of reported case among Māori was 37.9 per 100,000 population on 30 October, while among Pacific the number was 33.0 per 100,000 population.
The Ministry said it was concerned that this may be caused by under-reporting.
The Covid-19 related death rate for Māori and Pacific people was higher than for Europeans or other ethnicities (1.9 times higher for Māori, and 2.4 times higher for Pacific peoples).
The future
Meanwhile, calls have been made for the government to establish a permanent group of experts to deal with a future pandemic.
Otago University academic Philip Hill wants a pandemic response unit and a closer eye on disease around the world. He said this would help identify pandemic threats quickly and give New Zealand more time to prepare.
His call has been echoed by other academic experts.
Professor Hill said it was debatable whether New Zealand could have stamped out Covid-19 without a lockdown in those early months of 2020.
He said that New Zealand should have been able to avoid a lockdown if the country was as ready as the government said it was.
“Pandemic preparedness, at least for a virus with similar properties, should be regarded as a failure if a country requires a lockdown in the first six to 12 months,” Professor Hill said.
In 2020 Professor Hill was appointed to a government Covid-19 surveillance and testing strategy group.
A Tongan pastor has been lauded as a true prophet after he strongly criticised the Parliamentarians and government Ministers’ pay rise, which has been backdated to 2018.
Dr Sitiveni ‘Aipolo of the Assembly of God church said Parliament made the pay rise while inflation was high and people were struggling to meet basic needs.
The pastor said religious leaders’ failure to speak up when government leaders had been accused of making wrong decisions meant they were supporting wrongdoings.
He said the kingdom’s financial difficulty was not about money, but leaders’ lack of responsibilities.
The government’s use of a circular to solicit MPs approval of the pay hike rather than a debate before a face-to-face vote in the House had been called into question.
Parliament said the salary rise was legal and was approved through a circular which was distributed among the MPs. It said the circular was a legal means of communication approved by the House.
People speak through elections
Dr ‘Aipolo’s criticisms were made during a political campaign last week in Tongatapu to support the newly elected PTOA MP for Tongatapu 7, Paula Piveni Piukala.
Hon. Piukala was campaigning after his former rival candidate and MP Sangastar Saulala was unseated following a Court of Appeal decision dismissing his bribery conviction appeal.
It was Piukala who brought the bribery charges against Saulala.
Dr ‘Aipolo said the young people’s dancing and singing during Piukala’s campaign spoke about something deep in their hearts which they could not express.
“I wish to connect what is hidden in your heart tonight to the purpose of why we are here”, Dr ‘Aipolo told the crowd and listeners in Tongan in the speech which was also livestreamed on Facebook.
Dr ‘Aipolo said the children of today would ask in the future what did their parents do for them at present.
Election of a neighbour
The pastor then recounted the parable in the Holy Bible about the Good Samaritan.
He said Jesus was asked to confirm what he meant by the word “neighbour”.
Dr ‘Aipolo said Jesus told of a man who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho and was attacked by robbers on the way. He was badly beaten and left for dead.
The first person to pass the injured man was a priest, who crossed the road and continued walking.
The second person to pass the injured man was a Levite, a priest’s assistant. He also crossed the road and continued walking without helping the man.
The third person to come by was a Samaritan, a person from Samaria. The Samaritans were hated by the Jews. When the Samaritan saw the man, he took pity on him. He bandaged him and cleaned his wounds. He then put him on the back of his donkey and took him to an innkeeper, who he paid to look after him.
The parable ends with Jesus giving a commandment to go out and do the same as the Samaritan had done.
Dr ‘Aipolo told the audience and online listeners “we are here tonight to choose a neighbour”, implying that that neighbour was Hon. Piukala.
Don’t believe in that lie
Dr ‘Aipolo said Tonga was in deep trouble and a disastrous situation (“tu’unga fakatu’utāmaki”).
He said the kingdom’s problem was not a lack of funding.
“Do not believe in that lie”, he said.
“I can tell you we have enough money because they (Parliament) can backdate their pay rise to 2018 while we are struggling financially”, Dr ‘Aipolo said.
He said the Parliamentarians could do whatever they wanted.
“Apart from having their other allowances such as those for being members of government boards, they travelled overseas which means they received travelling allowances while at the same time we are struggling”.
He said the problem to which Tonga was heading was deep “loloto”, for which he received a round of applause from the crowd.
The pastor revealed during his speech how some of his close family members had chastised him because of his outspoken support for those who criticised government leaders’ wrong decisions.
“I do not care, and I am doing what I believe is right for me to do”, he said.
He then slammed his religious colleagues and community leaders saying the “silence of good people in the face of evil is evil in itself”.
Dr ‘Aipolo’s criticisms have been welcomed by the Tongan online community and regarded him as a true prophet who stood by the grassroots level referring to what Jesus Christ said in the Holy Bible about being a true prophet.
It reads: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognise them by their fruits”.
Critics believe most religious leaders and clerics’ strong involvement with the government’s controversial national fasting programme showed they had failed to independently speak out against the government when it made wrong decisions.
A Tongan family who have been unlawfully in New Zealand for about 20 years have escaped deportation.
Vaea Tangitau Veatupu arrived in New Zealand in November 2002.
His wife Seini Veatupu was already here before him since August 1997.
They have four children and the eldest held New Zealand citizenship while the couple and their three other children overstayed their visa.
The family attempted through various immigration consultancies to get the Immigration Minister approved their permanent resident visa application but to no avail.
They finally approached Koli Vanisi of Pacific Immigration Consultancy before the Immigration Minister decided to approve their applications.
Vaea said they were extremely relieved by the approval of their residence visas.
In approving their applications, the Minister wrote to Vanisi and said: “I have carefully considered your representations. I have decided to grant resident visa to Mr and Ms Veatupu and their children, Douglas, Margaret and Sharon under section 61 of the Immigration Act 2009, subject to them meeting health and character requirement for resident.
“Mr Veatupu should submit a residence application to Immigration New Zealand (INZ) within three months of the date of this letter. A copy of this letter must be included with the request Medical and police certificates must be provided”.
Tonga’s PTOA Party has again claimed victory in today’s electorate by-elections after three MPs had been unseated after Tonga’s Supreme Court dismissed their appeals over bribery convictions.
Piveni Piukala (L), Mateni Tapueluelue and Dulcie Tei
The results came after the Ha’apai by-election in September was won by another PTOA Party MP Mo’ale Finau.
Today’s preliminary results in two constituencies’ by-elections show PTOA and former Tongatapu 4 MP Mateni Tapueluelu and new PTOA MP for Tongatapu 7 Piveni Piukala had a commanding victory.
Tongatapu 6 was won by Dulcie Tei, the wife of convicted and ousted Deputy Prime Minister Poasi Tei.
The preliminary results had been announced at each poll station this afternoon after 4pm. It was reported that the official results will be announced later this evening by the Electoral Supervisor and Commissioner.
At PTOA headquarters and social media pages supporters were celebrating.
Tonga is expecting another by-election to replace former MP and Minister of Fisheries Semisi Fakahau who was also a PTOA MP. Fakahau died last week.
The MPs who had been unseated were: Tatafu Moeaki, Poasi Tei and Sangster Saulala.
All three had been found guilty of bribing voters in Tonga’s general election last year.
A big pay rise received by Tongan Parliamentarians this year has been met with controversy and its legality disputed.
The PTOA (Democrats) party has sought legal advice on Parliament’s back paying of a salary hike of four years from 2018 to 2022.
The PTOA said the pay rise did not comply with government regulations.
The government’s use of a circular rather than face-to-face voting in the House to see if MPs approved the pay hike has been called into question.
The Parliament said the salary rise was legal and was approved through a circular which was distributed among the MPs.
The Legislative Assembly’s Deputy Clerk, Dr Sione Vikilani, said the circular was a legal means of communication approved by the House.
“The circular was a means of communication and it could be used and any decision made through it is not illegal”, Dr Vikilani told Kaniva News in Tongan.
He confirmed the back pay had been paid out to members and staff of the House.
He did not respond to a question from Kaniva asking why a circular was used to ballot the pay hike and not a face-to-face voting in the House.
He also did not respond to our request to name the MPs who balloted for and against the motion for the salary increase.
We attempted to get the details of the pay rise and the amount paid to each Parliamentarian but to no avail.
Former PTOA MP and Minister of Police Māteni Tapueluelu told Kaniva News he had refused to accept the pay hike after it was approved.
He believed it was wrong for the Parliament to hire an independent consultant to advise on its pay rise.
The number of New Zealanders who have had a second booster shot is much lower than people who had a first booster shot.
Covid modeller Dr Emily Harvey said many people who were eligible for a second booster had received their last injection more than a year ago.
Dr Harvey told the New Zealand Herald that while protection from vaccination waned over time, the waning of protection against severe disease was much slower than for protection against infection.
“This means that any increase in vaccination and booster levels will help to reduce hospitalisation numbers.”
Dr Dion O’Neale from Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa said vaccination remained the best protection.
The group has been trying to predict what the next wave of the Covid-19 virus will look like in New Zealand, but said there was not enough information to predict exactly what would happen.
Nor was there any evidence to show what toll it is likely to take on the community.
There was no immediate evidence to suggest that the new variants of Covid that would probably feature in any third wave were any more severe than their Omicron predecessors.
Reinfections make up about 13% of cases. Researchers have suggested that people who were infected during the original wave in 2020 were more at risk now because their immunity would have diminished
Meanwhile, Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said the warmer weather did not affect the Covid variants most of concern because they were so infectious.
“They get a bit of a boost from winter when people are indoors more, but they don’t absolutely need winter conditions to spread,” Professor Baker said.
As Kaniva News reported yesterday, the two variants currently of concern are XBB and BQ1.1.
Professor Baker said XBB was driving the surge of infections in Singapore.
“That may be what we’ll see here,” he said.
FAKAMATALA FAKATONGA
‘Oku tō lalo ‘a e tokolahi ‘o e kakai Nu’u Sila kuo nau huhu malu’i pusita ua’ ‘i he tokolahi ‘o e kau pusita ‘uluaki.
Pehe ‘e he Mōtela ‘o e Koviti’ ko Dr Emily Harvey ko e tokolahi ‘o e kakai ne lava ke nau huhu malu’i pusita ua ne fakahoko ia laka hake ‘i he ta’u ‘e taha kuo hili’.
Ne fakaha’e Dr Harvey ki he New Zealand Herald lolotonga ‘oku holo e mālohi’ o ehuhu malu’i he ‘alu ‘a e taimi’, oku māmālie ange holo ‘ene malu’i ‘i he kakaha ‘a e mahaki ‘i he’ene malu’i ‘a e pipihi.
‘Oku ‘uhinga ‘eni ka fakalahi ‘a e huhu malu’i mo e pusitaa’ ‘e tokoni ia ke fakasi’si’i ‘a e tokolahi ‘o e kau tākoto falemahaki’.
Pehe ‘e Dr Dion O’Neale mei he Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa oku kei hoko pe ‘a e huhu malu’i ko e malu’i lelei taha ia mei he mahaki.
Oku feinga ‘a e kulupu ni ke vavalo’i pe ‘e fōtunga fefe ‘a e vailasi ‘o e Koviti ka hoko mai’ ‘i Nu’u Sila ni pea ‘oku te’eki ha fakamooni ko e ha e lahi ka tō he komiunitii’.
Na’e te’eki ha fakamooni leva ke ne fokotu’u mai ko e fōtunga fo’ou ‘o e Koviti ‘e lava ke ne langa’i ha toe aake hono ua mai ‘o e mahaki ‘e ala kakaha ange ia ‘i he ‘Omikoloni’.
Ko e peseta ‘e 13 ko e toe pihia. Pehe ‘e he liseesa ko e kakai ne pihia lolotonga ‘e ‘uluaki too’ i he 2020 ‘oku nau ala matu’utamaki ange he taimi ni koeuhi kuo holo ‘a hono ivi malu’i ‘imiunitii’.
Taimi tatau kuo pehe ‘e Palōfesa Michale Baker ko e ‘epitemolosisi mei he ‘Univesiti ‘o Otago ko e mafana ange ‘a e ‘ea ‘e ‘ikai ke ne uesia ‘e ia ‘a e ngaahi fakafotunga ‘o e Koviti koe’uhi ‘oku nau fu’u pipihi.
Nau ki’i alāanga ange mo e momoko ‘o ala mahiki ai ‘enau pipihi he taimi ‘oku nofo fale ai ‘a e kakai ka ‘oku ‘ikai ‘uhinga ia ‘oku nau fiema’u ke momoko e ‘ea’ ka nau toki mafola, ko e lau ia ‘a e Palofesa Baker.
Hangē ko e lipooti ‘a e Kaniva ‘aneafi’, ko e ongo fōtunga ‘e ua ‘oku fai ki ha ‘a e hoha’a’ ko e XBB mo e BQ1.1.
Pehe ‘e baker ko e XBB ‘oku tu’unga ai ‘a e mahiki ‘a e mahaki ‘i Singapore.
Mahalo ko e me’a ia te ala ma’u heni, ko ‘ene lau ia.
Elon Musk has become Twitter’s new owner, firing top executives he had accused of misleading him and providing little clarity over how he will achieve the lofty ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform.
Photo: AFP
The chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc has said he wants to “defeat” spam bots on Twitter, make the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users publicly available, and prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division, even as he limits censorship.
Yet Musk has not offered details on how he will achieve all this and who will run the company. He has said he plans to cut jobs, leaving Twitter’s approximately 7,500 employees fretting about their future. He also said on Thursday he did not buy Twitter to make more money but “to try to help humanity, whom I love”.
Musk terminated Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the social media platform.
Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escorted out, the sources added.
Twitter, Musk and the executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The US$44 billion (NZ$75bn) acquisition is the culmination of a remarkable saga, full of twists and turns, that sowed doubt over whether Musk would complete the deal. It began on 4 April, when Musk disclosed a 9.2 percent stake in the San Francisco company, making him its largest shareholder.
The world’s richest person then agreed to join Twitter’s board, only to balk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for $54.20 per share, an offer that Twitter was unsure whether to interpret as another of Musk’s cannabis jokes.
Musk’s offer was real, and over the course of just one weekend later in April, the two sides reached a deal at the price he suggested. This happened without Musk carrying out any due diligence on the company’s confidential information, as is customary in an acquisition.
In the weeks that followed, Musk had second thoughts. He complained publicly that he believed Twitter’s spam accounts were significantly higher than Twitter’s estimate, published in regulatory filings, of less than 5 percent of its monetizable daily active users. His lawyers then accused Twitter of not complying with his requests for information on the subject.
The acrimony resulted in Musk giving notice to Twitter on 8 July that he was terminating their deal on the grounds that Twitter misled him on the bots and did not cooperate with him. Four days later, Twitter sued Musk in Delaware, where the company is incorporated, to force him to complete the deal.
By then, shares of social media companies and the broader stock market had plunged on concerns that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, as it seeks to fight inflation, will push the US economy into recession. Twitter accused Musk of buyer’s remorse, arguing he wanted to get out of the deal because he thought he overpaid.
Most legal analysts said Twitter had the strongest arguments and would likely prevail in court. Their view did not change even after Twitter’s former security chief Peiter Zatko stepped forward as a whistleblower in August to allege that the company failed to disclose weaknesses in its security and data privacy.
On 4 October, just as Musk was set to be deposed by Twitter’s lawyers ahead of the start of their trial later in the month, he performed another u-turn and offered to complete the deal as promised. The Delaware judge gave him an 28 October deadline to close the transaction and avoid the trial.
‘Chief twit’
Since then, Musk has indulged the deal hype. He walked into Twitter’s headquarters on Wednesday with a big grin and carrying a porcelain sink, subsequently tweeting “let that sink in.” He changed his description in his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit”.
He also tried to calm fears among employees that major layoffs are coming and assured advertisers that his past criticism of Twitter’s content moderation rules would not harm its appeal.
“Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!” Musk said in an open letter to advertisers on Thursday.
Musk has indicated he sees Twitter as a foundation for creating a “super app” that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and ride hailing.
“The long-term potential for Twitter in my view is an order of magnitude greater than its current value,” Musk said on Tesla’s call with analysts on 19 October.
But Twitter is struggling to engage its most active users who are vital to the business. These “heavy tweeters” account for less than 10 percent of monthly overall users but generate 90 percent of all tweets and half of global revenue.
Musk said in May he would reverse the ban on Donald Trump, who was removed after the attack on the US Capitol, although the former US President Donald Trump has said he won’t return on the platform. He has instead launched his own social media app, Truth Social.
People are being urged to ensure they have been vaccinated and had had booster shots as experts predict a third wave of Covid-19.
Booster shots were critical in defending people from Covid, one expert has said.
Predictions of a third wave have been made as the number of cases has risen. There are 6000 cases in Auckland.
New Covid infections have jumped by more than 1500 cases in a day. On Thursday the Ministry of Health reported 3923 new Omicron cases across New Zealand. On Wednesday, October 26, there were 2410 infections.
This week the ministry reported 16,399 cases over the past week – an increase of about 2000 infections in seven days.
On Monday, there were 243 people in hospitals across New Zealand with the virus and six in intensive care. That number has risen since protection framework restrictions were lifted in September when case numbers were low.
The ministry also reported 41 deaths, including one person aged between 10 and 19.
While BA.4/5 remained the dominant variant across New Zealand, wastewater monitoring has recently detected a new subvariant BQ.1.1 in West Auckland, Rotorua and Porirua.
There is also a case of XBB, a recombinant variant that is made up of genetic material from two other subvariants.
Professor Michael Plank, who teaches mathematics and statistics at Canterbury University and models Covid, said New Zealand was likely to see a third wave of infections.
He said the country would follow the similar trends seen in Europe, and the question was not if there would be a new wave of infections, but how large it would be.
A third wave of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was likely to hit the country this year, epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said.
Professor Baker, from Otago University, said Singapore, whose experience of the pandemic has been similar to New Zealand’s, was also experiencing a steady rise.
“That may be what we’ll see here,” Professor Baker said.
Baker said it was “slightly worrying” to see cruise ships back in New Zealand waters with about 130 infected people on one ship that has berthed at Wellington.
However, with 10,000 people flying in daily from overseas, cases on cruise ships would make a relatively small contribution to the country’s Covid-19 toll.
Baker was concerned that many adults had not lined up for their booster shots.
“That’s really a critical step and still the best measure that people can take to protect themselves and it does help against these new variants as well.”
Covid-19 modeler David Welch said a range of different factors, including loosened restrictions, waning immunity and new sub-variants would affect the third wave.
It appeared the doubling rate was around three weeks and not rising quickly, which might mean the coming wave would be smaller and shorter than the second wave.
Review
Last week, the Government announced it would be winding down special powers that enabled it to order lockdowns, vaccine mandates and managed isolation and quarantine before the end of the year.
However, requirements for infected people to isolate – which Australia recently scrapped – along with masking mandates in health and aged-care facilities have been retained.
People are urged to ensure they have been vaccinated and had had booster shots.
The next review of remaining isolation and mask-wearing measures will take place by the end of November.
FAKAMATALA FAKTONGA
‘Oku kolea ai pē ‘a e kakai ke fakapapau’i ‘oku nau huhu malu’i mo booster he ko e fakafuofua ‘a e kau taukei ‘e ‘i ai ha toe ta’au hono 3 ‘a e Kōviti -19.Na’e pehē ‘e ha taha ‘oe kau mataotao ko e huhu booster ‘oku fai e fakafuofua lelei ki hono malu’i e kakai mei he Kōviti. Kuo fai ha fakafuofua ki ha toe takai tu’o 3 mai ‘i he ‘a’alu ko ‘eni ‘a e toko lahi ‘o e keisi ki ‘olunga. Ko e keisi ‘e 6000 ‘i ‘Aokalani. Kuo ‘alu e ma’olunga ‘o e kau puke fo’ou ‘o lahi hake he toko 1500 ‘i he ‘aho. Na’e lipooti ‘e he Potungāue Mo’ui ‘i he ‘aho Tu’apulelulu ha keisi Omicron fo’ou ‘e 3923 ‘i Nu’usila fakakātoa. ‘I he Pulelulu 26 ‘o ‘Okatopa, na’e ‘i ai e kau puke ‘e toko 2410.Na’e lipooti ‘e he potungāue ‘i he uike ni ha kau puke ‘e toko 16399 ‘i he uike kuo ‘osi, ko e hiki hake ia ‘aki ‘a e toko 2000 ‘o e kau puke he fo’i ‘aho ‘e 7.’I he Mōnite na’e tākoto falemahaki ai ha toko 243 ‘i Nu’usila ko e vailasi pea toko 6 he loki tokanga’i makehe. Kuo ‘alu hake toko lahi hili ko ia hono to’o ‘o e ngaahi tefito’i tu’utu’uni ‘o e fakataputapui ‘i Sepitema ‘i he taimi na’e toko si’i ai ‘a e keisi.Na’e toe lipooti ai pe ‘e he potungāue ha kau mate ‘e toko 41, kau ai ha taha ta’u 10 mo e 19. Lolotonga ko ia ‘a e kei mālohi taha ‘a e kalasi BA.4.5 ‘i Nu’usila, kuo fakatokanga’i ai ‘a e kalasi fo’ou ko e BQ.1.1 ‘i he fakatafe’anga vai ‘osi ngāue’aki ‘i he hihifo ‘o ‘Aokalani, Lotolua mo Polilua. ‘Oku toe ‘i ai mo e keisi ‘i he XBB, ko ha tuifio ia ‘a e kalasi ‘o fatu ai ha toe ki’i me’a mo’ui nei he ongo kalasi kimu’a.Na’e pehē ‘e Palofesa Michael Plank, ‘oku faiako fika mo Sitetisitika he ‘Univēsiti ‘o Canterbury, ‘e ngalingali ka fetaulaki ‘a Nu’usila mo e toe takai tu’o 3 mai ‘a e mahaki pipihi ni. Na’e ne pehē ‘e ala ke toe fou atu ‘a e fonua ‘i he hifonga tatau na’e fou ai ‘a ‘Iulope, pea ko e fehu’i ‘oku ‘ikai ko e hoko mai ‘a ha toe ta’au fo’ou ‘o e to’u mahaki, ka ko e ‘e fēfē hono lahi?Ko e ta’au hono 3 mai ‘a e kalasi Omicron ‘o e Kōviti – 19 ‘oku naglingali ke ne toe a’u mai ki he fonua he ta’u ni, ko e lau ia ‘a e mataotao ‘i he mala’e faito’o jko Palofesa Michael Baker. Na’e pehē ‘e Palofesa Baker mei he ‘Univēsiti ‘ ‘Ōtako, ko Singapoa kuo mahimangu ‘ he mahaki faka’auha ‘o tatau mo Nu’usila ‘ene toe ‘alu ke toko lahi ange. Na’e pehē ‘e Palofesa Baker , ” ngali ko e me’a ia te tau sio ki ai ‘i heni. “
KANIVA’S COMMENTARY: Former Senior Customs Officer, Paula Naitoko, 68, has been jailed for six years.
He was found guilty in the Supreme Court of importing 6662 grams of methamphetamine worth of TP$1 million from the United States in 2019.
Naitoko, who was nearing retirement age, was also found guilty of trying to smuggle guns and ammunition into the country.
Kaniva News makes absolutely no adverse comment on the sentence or doubts the seriousness of Naitoko’s crime.
One cannot help thinking, however, about the disparity between the future that awaits him and that being enjoyed by former Finance Minister Tatafu Moeaki.
As we reported in August, Moeaki was convicted of electoral fraud and subsequently lost his seat in Parliament, but went back on the government payroll as a project manager in the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Minster of Infrastructure Sevenitiini Toumo’ua said he was happy that the convicted fraudster was working for the Ministry.
He praised Moeaki highly and said the former Minister had the experience necessary to fill the role.
Like Naitoko, Moeaki’s case was serious enough to be heard in the Supreme Court.
However, it seems unlikely that Naitoko will receive such generous treatment from the government.
The difference in the treatment of the two convicted criminals by their former employer – the government – has outraged public opinion.
Some members of the public have been angry enough to demand Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku resign.
The government must treat all its former employees – whether they be Cabinet Ministers or Customs officials – the same. If the government is to provide employment and what appears to be immediate rehabilitation for those convicted of crimes, then surely everybody convicted of a crime should benefit from such generosity of spirit.
There is equity in how the law is applied. All are equal when they come before the bench. However, there must also be equity in how the government treats people. An equitable society is a peaceful and prosperous one. It is a just and principled society.
If the government does not treat people with equity, then it will set a bad example for the country. Do we want young people to grow up thinking that as long as they have the right connections, they can break the law and, apparently, be saved from any real consequences for their misdeeds?
People will form opinions based on how the government behaves. It is a lesson this government does not seem to have learned, despite the appalling example set by the previous administration in its handling of the Lavulavu case.
If a convicted drug smuggler’s only hope is that his family will be waiting for him when he is released, then why should a politician convicted of fraud and trying to cheat the electors expect to be welcomed back as if nothing has happened?
There is an old saying that justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done. So it is with government. The leaders of the country must not only behave honorably and with equity, they must be seen to do so.
