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Prestigious scholarship takes young Tongan tenor Manase Lātū to Royal College of Music

By
Philip Cass
-

Young Tongan tenor Manase Lātū begins studying at the Royal College of Music in London next month thanks to a major scholarship.

Lātū won the prestigious $20,000 Circle100 Scholarship.

The initiative to support promising young New Zealand singers has been running since 1996.

The judging panel was led by Director of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Programme at the New York Metropolitan Opera, Sophie Joyce.

Joyce told RNZ Concert said she was in tears listening to Lātū and praised what she called the ”intimate” quality of his singing.

She said that because singing was now so competitive, those who were going to succeed must have a hunger and drive and be prepared to sacrifice a great deal for their career.

Lātū graduated from the University of Auckland, where he majored in classical vocal performance. He has  been a member of vocal group Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir and is an alumnus of Auckland Chamber Choir and New Zealand Youth Choir.

Alongside his operatic involvement, Lātū has also been a member of The Shades, a group of four classically trained singers who perform operatic classics, Mariachi favourites, Pacific Island melodies and popular contemporary greats.

Her has sung in a variety of locations, from the Islander Hotel in Raratonga to the Christchurch law courts and the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Manase Lātū is from South Auckland and was educated at St Kentigern’s. He joined the high school choir in 2011.

In 2018 he was a Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist with New Zealand Opera and won the NZ Aria award.

“Representing my family and my little country of Tonga makes me incredibly proud,” he said at the time.

“Being the first full Tongan to win this prestigious award is just an indescribable feeling.”

“I am passionate to bring awareness to my Pacific Island and Tongan heritage through my music.”

Lātū described his father as a huge inspiration.

“Although he is not classically inclined, he loves to sing.”

The main points

  • Young Tongan tenor Manase Latu  begins studying at the Royal College of Music in London next month thanks to a major scholarship.
  • Latu won the $20,000 Circle 100 Scholarships were awarded in Auckland.

King disappointed commoner not chosen as PM after 2010 election, says new research

By
Philip Cass
-

King George V was disappointed when Lord Tu’ivakanō became Prime Minister in 2010, new research has claimed.

In her PhD thesis, Democratisation in Asia – Pacific Monarchies , former New Zealand High Commissioner to Tonga, Christine Bogle, said the king had hoped to see the first election under the new system come up with a commoner as Prime Minister, presumably to give additional legitimacy and democratic credentials to the reforms.

She described the Tu’ivakanō and successive Pōhiva governments as “lacklustre” and subject to unsuccessful attempts at a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

In August 2017, King Tupou VI dissolved parliament and called elections for November 2017 on the basis of a number of concerns about the government expressed by the Speaker.

Bogle described the king’s actions as “constitutional, but hardly democratic.”

Australia and New Zealand

In her thesis, Bogle highlighted the role of younger members of the royal family in pushing for the democratic reforms that were finally brought to fruition in 2010.

However, she also said Australia and New Zealand actively supported the slow move towards democracy at the beginning of the century.

Australia and New Zealand provided consistent support for political reform from the time Tonga announced its decision in 2005 to launch the National Committee for Political and Constitutional Reform.

While open promotion of democratic reform was not welcomed by Tongan authorities in the early part of the 21st century, years of exposure to Australia’s and New Zealand’s democracies had its effect.

Those countries encouraged human rights-focused NGOs within Tonga, as well as helping pay judges’ salaries over a number of years.

During this period Prince Tu’ipelehake emerged as a champion of political reform.

He kept in regular contact with New Zealand, Australian and UK diplomats.  The prince wrote formally to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer stating that Tonga needed both political and economic reform together, as they would “complement each other.”

He argued that “with the encouragement from the Australian government and the governments in the Commonwealth, the Tongan government may be persuaded to implement the necessary political reforms.”

Following the public service strike in 2005, the Tongan government agreed to Prince Tu’ipelehake’s proposal for a national consultative process on political reform.

Bogle said this provided an opportunity for New Zealand and Australia to support Tonga’s decision to democratise. Australia and New Zealand also helped fund the subsequent Constitutional and Electoral Commission.

“Tonga’s international environment has encouraged, rather than impeded, its transition to democracy, although Tonga has always proudly insisted on doing things on its own terms and following its own timetable,” she said.

The main points

  • King George V was disappointed when Lord Tu’ivakanō became Prime Minister in 2010, new research has claimed.
  • Former New Zealand High Commissioner to Tonga, Christine Bogle, said the king had hoped to see the first election under the new system come up with a commoner as Prime Minister, presumably to give additional legitimacy and democratic credentials to the reforms.

For more information

Former High Commissioner’s work highlights role of royal family in helping transition to democracy

Former High Commissioner’s work highlights role of royal family in helping transition to democracy

Democratisation in Asia-Pacific monarchies: Drivers and impediments. A study of Bhutan, Tonga, Nepal and Thailand

Videos show confrontation of Tongan woman accused of leading a ‘satanic’ cult; young woman appeared ‘possessed’

By
Kalino Latu
-

A Tongan cult leader in Australia has been accused of telling followers that a young woman has been possessed by Jesus’s spirit.

It appeared that the leader was trying to convince her followers that their prayer through her had been accepted by God and that God had shown His approval by manifesting His spirit through the young woman.

Videos believed to have been taken at a gathering in a room in Melbourne showed the young woman appearing act as if she was possessed.

A group of men, women and children attended what appeared to be an exorcism during which the woman attempted to drive out a supposed evil spirit from the young woman or urging the woman to witness how the spirit of God entered her.

A Tongan woman arrived at the gathering and confronted the leader, telling her to read the Bible to understand that God’s spirit did not enter a human body in this way.

She called the leader’s action “Satanic.”

The leader warned the woman that she did not know what she was doing.

The young ’possessed’  woman screamed and shouted in what appeared to be non-existent language including calling out words like mono – mono- sono- poono. She appeared to be struggling physically. 

She began to attack the woman who confronted the leader before she fell down on the floor and continued yelling.   

The incident has been caught on camera by a man who was stopped by the leader, but who continued on taking the video.

The video man and the woman who confronted the leader were overheard urging the gatherers not to believe in the leader and what she was doing.

At one stage the man was overheard saying the young woman was sick.   

He asked one of the men in the room whether he believed in what the leader has done in which the man agreed.

One of the clips has been widely shared on social media last night and this evening it has been viewed more than 100,000 times.

The incident has drawn public condemnation with online users calling the act as “barbaric,” from the “dark ages” and “uncivilised.”

Last year Kaniva News reported on Australian-based Tongan preacher, ‘Esita Smith, who claims she is God and who allegedly urged her followers to injure themselves.

The main points

  • A Tongan cult leader in Australia has been accused of telling followers that a young woman has been possessed by Jesus’s spirit.
  • It appeared that the leader was trying to convince her follower that their prayer through her had been accepted by God and that God had shown His approval by manifesting His spirit through the young woman.

For more information

Concerns mount as video, photos, emerge of bloody ritual led by Tongan cult leader who now claims she is God

Minister lashes out as woman who claims she is God’s messenger gains growing following

Former High Commissioner’s work highlights role of royal family in helping transition to democracy

By
Philip Cass
-

Research by a former High Commissioner to Tonga says that King George V played a vital role in Tonga’s transition to democracy.

The work by New Zealand diplomat Christine Bogle, said strong leadership of the democratisation process by His Majesty greatly helped a successful transition to democracy.

She said monarchs who used their charisma to promote and lead a move to democracy were a critical factor in whether a transition was successful, while securing the future of the monarchy for their heirs.

Bogle, who was awarded her doctorate by Victoria University in Wellington, served as High Commissioner in Tonga from 2008-2010.

Her time in Tonga coincided with the kingdom’s first democratic election and a major reviews of the constitution.

She is in Nuku’alofa this week to make a presentation about her doctoral thesis, Democratisation in Asia – Pacific Monarchies. Her work looks at monarchies in Bhutan, Tonga, Nepal, and Thailand.

None of the countries studied was colonised, despite strong influence from western empires, particularly Great Britain.

She said Tonga and Bhutan succeeded in reforming their governments and introducing democracy, while Thailand and Nepal followed different paths.

In her work, Bogle noted the role of younger, western-educated members of the royal family, who pushed for change.

“A younger generation of royals, educated outside Tonga, were quietly thinking about how to modernise the monarchy and make Tonga more democratic,” she wrote.

“Crown Prince Tupouto’a (later King George V) did not enunciate these ideas publicly while his father was alive, but shared his thoughts with close friends.

“His cousin, Prince Tu’ipelehake, brought them to parliament, proposing a nationwide consultation on political reform, known as the National Committee for Political and Constitutional Reform (NCPR), which got underway in 2006, partly in response to a lengthy public service strike in 2005.

“Before this, in late 2004, Tupouto’a had persuaded his (elderly and unwell) father to bring four elected members of parliament – something unprecedented in Tonga.”

After serving in Tonga, Bogle was appointed as New Zealand’s Ambassador to Mexico. She also served as Ambassador to Spain and held postings in Lima and Rome.

Following her diplomatic career she became head of the International Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.

The main points

  • Research by a former High Commissioner to Tonga says that King George V played a vital role in Tonga’s transition to democracy.
  • It said strong leadership of the democratisation process by His Majesty greatly helped a successful transition to democracy.

For more information

Former NZ diplomat presents thesis on monarchies moving to democracy in Tonga

Democratisation in Asia-Pacific monarchies: Drivers and impediments. A study of Bhutan, Tonga, Nepal and Thailand

All Blacks Rugby World Cup squad named

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By Radio New Zealand International

Coach Steve Hansen has unveiled the All Blacks team he believes can win its third straight Rugby World Cuptitle. See who made the team here.

The All Blacks team in alphabetical order is:

  • Beauden Barrett, Blues
  • Jordie Barrett, Hurricanes
  • Scott Barrett, Crusaders
  • George Bridge, Crusaders
  • Sam Cane, Chiefs
  • Dane Coles, Hurricanes
  • Liam Coltman, Highlanders
  • Ryan Crotty, Crusaders
  • Jack Goodhue, Crusaders
  • Rieko Ioane, Blues
  • Luke Jacobson, Chiefs
  • Nepo Laulala, Chiefs
  • Anton Lienert-Brown, Chiefs
  • Atu Moli, Chiefs
  • Joe Moody, Crusaders
  • Richie Mo’unga, Crusaders
  • TJ Perenara, Hurricanes
  • Kieran Read (c), Crusaders
  • Sevu Reece, Crusaders
  • Brodie Retallick, Chiefs
  • Ardie Savea, Hurricanes
  • Aaron Smith, Highlanders
  • Ben Smith, Highlanders
  • Angus Ta’avo, Chiefs
  • Codie Taylor, Crusaders
  • Matt Todd, Crusaders
  • Patrick Tuipulotu, Blues
  • Ofa Tuungafasi, Blues
  • Brad Weber, Chiefs
  • Samuel Whitelock, Crusaders
  • Sonny Bill Williams, Blues

Notable omissions:

  • Owen Franks, Crusaders
  • Liam Squire, Highlanders
  • Ngani Laumape, Hurricanes

Hansen congratulated the players named in the squad and offered his commiseration’s to those who missed out.

“Over the last couple of months we’ve spent a lot of time building our game, working on the individual skill sets we want and as selectors, taking the time to get really clear we wanted to put together from a selection point of view, for this team.

“Now we’re finally in a position to be able to put all our time, effort and thinking into what’s going to be an awesome challenge, doing something that’s never been done before and trying to win three world cups in a row. We know it’s going to be hard, we know it’s going to be tough and we know we’re going to have to earn the right to do it,” Hansen said.

On Owen Franks omission, Hansen called it a tough decision.

“He’s certainly shown true character, his professionalism both on and off the field has been magnificent over the years, he’s played over 100 Test matches, but unfortunately we as the three selectors, we believe the game requires us to have big mobile number one and number threes and in this case we just think the other guys are more so than he.”

Hansen said Franks was naturally disappointed when he called him to tell him he hadn’t made the squad.

Also missing from the squad is Liam Squire, who reportedly called Hansen earlier in the week to make himself available for the world cup.

“We had a phone call,” Hansen admitted.

“[It] was a really good phone call actually and discussed things and whilst Liam is playing really well for Tasman, is really enjoying his rugby, at the conclusion of the conversation it was agreed that he would make himself available if we required him as a replacement.”

Chiefs flanker Luke Jacobson was arguably the biggest surprise inclusion in the squad for the hotly contested No.6 jersey, but Hansen said his selection is justified.

“He’s a former under 20’s captain so he’s got good leadership skills, defensively he’s one of the best hitters in the game, he’s a good ball carrier and he’s just a smart rugby player so we think he’s got a big future.”

Hansen said the midfield was another tough choice given the form of Ngani Laumape and injury-prone Ryan Crotty.

“It’s one of those positions where five doesn’t fit four and whoever we left out was going to be disappointed and probably deserved to be in the team.

“In the case of Ryan, he’s got a lot of experience of being with the All Blacks, he’s in the team leader group, he’s a quality player, can play both second five and centre and those little things probably edged him ahead of Ngani.”

Pumice raft at sea after underwater eruption near Tonga

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By Radio New Zealand International

A large raft of pumice is floating in the Pacific after an underwater volcanic eruption near Tonga earlier this month.

Within a week the raft was twice the size of New York’s Manhattan.

Vulcanologist with GNS Science Brad Scott said the eruption was noticed by cruising yachties north of Tonga around 9 August.

NASA reported sailors in the area described a “rubble slick made up of rocks from marble to basketball size such that water was not visible,” as well as a smell of sulphur.

Dr Scott said sailors first saw rising steam plumes and then noticed the large masses of floating pumice.

“Quite commonly submarine volcanic eruptions produce pumice at the surface. It’ll poor out the pumice from the active vent for, you know hours, or usually in the order of hours, maybe even days in extreme circumstances.

“And they often are reported or can be seen from the satellites to be covering several square kilometres, to tens of square kilometres.”

Dr Scott said sometimes pumice rafts could be 10 to 50 kilometres long and they grew with time as the sea currents and winds spread them out.

He said the latest eruption was not uncommon for the Tongan area and there were also submarine volcanos close to the Kermadecs that were frequently active.

He said the source volcano was to the north west of Nuku’alofa and was in a similar location to a 2001 submarine eruption but there may be more than one active vent.

Dr Scott said the pumice may eventually wash up on the shores of Fiji, Australia and New Zealand.

Increase in suicides for Māori and teens, latest stats show

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By Radio New Zealand International

The number of people dying by suicide in the last year has been the highest ever recorded, with a sharp increase among teenagers and Māori, new figures show.

Chief coroner Judge Deborah Marshall has released the annual provisional suicide statistics.

They show in the year to 30 June, 685 people died by suicide, 17 more than the year prior.

The rate per 100,000 increased from 13.67 to 13.93.

They also revealed the number of teenagers dying between the ages of 15 and 19 increased from 53 last year to 73.

The Māori rate increased from 23 per 100,000 to 28, and the Pacific Island rate rose from 7.77 to 11.49. The rate for Europeans dropped slightly.

Ms Marshall said she extended her condolences to the families and friends of those who died in the past year.

She said the reasons people made such decisions were numerous and depended on many factors.

Ms Marshall said she was encouraged by suicide prevention initiatives taking place and conversations people were having.

In the year to June 2018, 169 people with Māori whakapapa died by suicide.

Since 2013, annually there has been a continual increase.

Māori Council executive director Matthew Tukaki said it was now the highest per head of population rates in the Western world.

“This is not just a crisis, it’s not just a tragedy, it is a complete failure from successive governments – and after all the hype and promise, this government has failed,” Mr Tukaki said.

“New Zealand has been without a suicide prevention plan since 2016. Although we have been promised something – nothing has emerged. The draft Māori Health Action Plan for 2020-2025 doesn’t mention suicide prevention and is scant on any detail at all.”

“There is no national suicide prevention strategy,” he told Checkpoint.

“Mental health is not the only things going on here. Suicide is also about people facing the daily struggles of life – relationship breakdowns, homelessness – all these different things that end in depression, anxiety and the ultimate sad decision around town.

“What we need to be doing is investing in an actual plan.”

He said he supported a zero target approach in the hospital system.

“No new Zealander should be entering a hospital system in New Zealand and still exit and still end up taking their life.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said these figures were disappointing and upsetting, but she was still ruling out introducing a suicide reduction target.

Ms Ardern said there’s no question that the suicide rate was too high, and the government had to put its all into turning that around.

However, she said there was no evidence a target would help achieve that.

“A target implies that we have a tolerance for suicide and we do not and that is why we made the decision that we will focus as a government and as a country on bringing that rate down,” Ms Ardern said.

“But for us, of course, the goal has to be no one lost to suicide.”

Ms Ardern said suicide was one of the biggest, long-term challenges the country was facing.

“We are moving quickly, but this is going to take time to create the kind of change that we need as a nation,” Ms Ardern said.

Health Minister David Clark told Checkpoint the government was taking mental health seriously by allocating $40m towards suicide prevention including bereavement counselling.

“We do have a suicide prevention strategy being finalised.”

Mr Clark said it would be released in the coming weeks.

Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson said it was a “horrendous” result.

“Over 680 deaths is just horrible,” he said.

“I know the human impact of these numbers, and the fact that these numbers continue to go up is just shattering.”

Te Rau Ora chief executive Dr Maria Baker said to combat the rising number of Māori deaths by suicide, the status quo needed to be challenged.

“Suicide is the most significant issue that is facing our particular community,” she said.

“The rate of Māori deaths of suicide has been severely disproportionate to the general public for a number of years.

“A movement by Māori has been really strong, and a call for Māori by Māori to challenge the status quo. We need to be conscious that this is not about mental illness – this has got to be a whole of society, a whole of the community, a whole of Māoridom approach to address what is occurring in our whānau, hapū, iwi.”

Le Va chief executive and clinical psychologist Dr Monique Faleafa said the increase in deaths for Pasifika people was “unacceptable”.

“The time for awareness has passed. We must be taking action and making sure every Pasifika person knows what role they can play in preventing suicide.

“For the people we have lost to this taniwha called suicide, we all pray and grieve with their families. They are in our thoughts and prayers and now they must be in all our actions.”

Where to get help:

Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.

Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357

Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.

Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202

Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7)

Youthline: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 (8am-12am), or email talk@youthline.co.nz

What’s Up: online chat (3pm-10pm) or 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787 helpline (12pm-10pm weekdays, 3pm-11pm weekends)

Kidsline (ages 5-18): 0800 543 754 (24/7)

Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254

Healthline: 0800 611 116

Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

PM Pōhiva defends his record on Tuvalu and West Papua; accuses former adviser of using biased sources

By
Philip Cass
-

Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva said the bravery of Tuvaluan people in fighting climate  change broke his heart and has called West Papuans “brothers and sisters.”

The Prime Minister was responding to comments made by his former media adviser and Tongan publisher Kalafi Moala.

Hon. Pōhiva was angered by accusations made by Moala in a Radio New Zealand report that the tears that he shed during the Pacific Island Forum Leaders Retreat in Tuvalu were insincere.

The Prime Minister denied that he was a hypocrite who had expressed “sympathy for people of another country while he cannot sympathise with those in his own nation who suffer from natural disasters.”

Clash

Moala and Pōhiva, who once campaigned for democracy together, have a tempestuous relationship.

In 2017 Moala used the front page of Taimi ‘o Tonga newspaper, which he then published, to call on Hon. Pōhiva to step down because of incompetence and accused him of making false promises of good governance and transparency.

In their latest clash, Hon. Pōhiva accused Moala of quoting people and newspapers in his article who he said were biased against him and his government.

He said Tonga Ma’a Tonga was financed by people who had petitioned the king to dismiss him and said  Kakalu newspaper had never published a single favourable story about him or his government.

Moala’s comments partly  referred to complaints of delays in reconstructing damage caused  by Cyclone Gita.

As Kaniva News reported recently, the Tongan government has said it is constrained  by strict guidelines surrounding donor money which is funding the reconstruction.

Tuvalu

The Prime Minister said he had not understood the impact climate change was having on Tuvalu until her went there.

“Prior to the visit I had heard the Tuvaluan Prime Minister, Hon Enele Sopoaga, tell me on numerous occasions, about the devastating impact that the climate change crisis was having on his country and people,” Hon. Pohiva said.

“I really did not believe that the impact of climate change on Tuvalu was any different from its impact on Tonga because I have also witnessed in Tonga how climate change and rising sea levels had eroded the coastline.

“What I did not appreciate until I got to Tuvalu was how tiny and low lying the Tuvaluan atolls were and how thin the layer of topsoil is and therefore the visual image of the devastation blows you away.

“But I was also moved by the resolve of the Tuvaluan people, especially the youth, who are determined to fight climate change and as their slogan goes, ‘Save Tuvalu, Save the World!’.

“It broke my heart. The tears I cried were sincere.”

Brothers and sisters

The Prime Minister also defended his stance on West Papua, describing the indigenous people as “our brothers and sisters.”

“We have witnessed in recent years how their human rights have been repeatedly violated,” he said.

“Representatives of the West Papua people have asked the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders for our help.

“The Civil Society Organisations of the Pacific and the Pacific Conference of Churches have urged the Pacific Leaders to support the people of West Papua.

“I think it is the right thing to do, and that is why I spoke strongly in favour of the people of West Papua.

“In fact the Pacific Islands Forum was set up at the first place because the colonial leaders in the South Pacific Commission refused to discuss the human rights of the colonised people of the Pacific Islands.

“The Forum had stood up in support of the rights of the Kanaks in New Caledonia and the people of Timor Leste.”

As we reported in July, West Papuan activist Rosa Moiwend called on Tonga to continue its support or her people’s struggle for independence.

She told Kaniva News it was important to support Vanuatu’s effort to prepare a resolution to have West Papua placed on the agenda of the United Nations Decolonisation Committee.

In 2015 the Prime Minister told the United Nations General Assembly that it should help West Papua, which has been occupied by Indonesia for nearly 60 years.

“Tonga does not condone the injustice, cruel violation of human rights and dignity and brutal treatment in West Papua,” Hon. Pohiva said at the time.

The main points

  • Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva said the bravery of Tuvaluan people in fighting climate  change broke his heart and has called West Papuans “brothers and sisters.”
  • The Prime Minister was responding to comments made  by his former media adviser and Tongan publisher Kalafi Moala.

For more information

Tonga’s PM accused of insincerity at Pacific Forum

PM defends delay in school reconstruction after Gita, saying funders have ‘very strict guidelines’ for release of money

PM defends delay in school reconstruction after Gita, saying funders have ‘very strict guidelines’ for release of money

Former adviser calls for Tongan PM to resign

Tonga urged to continue its support for West Papua’s struggle for independence at the UN

Tongan woman given home detention for false tax claims

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By Radio New Zealand International

A South Auckland woman has been sentenced to 11 months home detention for making false tax claims.

Lute Tonga Vailolo has also been ordered to repay $66,605.01 to Inland Revenue.

She plead guilty in the Manukau District Court on 22 August to a representative charge of providing false information which led to the refund claims.

Vailolo is the daughter of one of the seven brothers who run the Akoteu Nasaleti Trust and the Tongan Community Church of Hephzibah in New Zealand.

Some of the offending involved those two organisations.

Vailolo filed or assisted others in filing, 19 GST or income tax returns between June 2016 and January 2017, that were false.

Inland Revenue (IR) said she advertised her services to friends and families and on social media.

She charged fees for preparing some of the returns and in several cases changed people’s bank account numbers registered with Inland Revenue to her own account number for the claims to be paid into, it said.

IR spokesperson Tony Morris said Vailolo was trying to get money she knew she was not entitled to.

“She applied for refunds on behalf of the Tongan Community Church, the Akoteu Nasaleti Trust, someone who lived with her, various contractors or demolition firms, and other people she knew.”

“One claim for $15,641.48 was released by IR into the Tongan Community Church’s bank account. The account number was then changed to Vailolo’s account number for the second refund to be paid in to, but the second refund claim of $51,498.26 was not released by IR,” he said.

“Not all of the refunds she applied for were paid out – the total of false refund claims amounted to $212,785.87. It was only due to [an] IR investigation and intervention that the amounts paid out were limited to $66,605.01.”

“By making these false refund claims Vailolo was ripping off the tax system and taking the money needed for community services and facilities,” Mr Morris said.

She was ordered to pay reparation of $50 per week, plus $500 already paid at sentencing.

Man killed in Vava‘u crash named

By
Kalino Latu
-

Authorities have named a man who died after his car collided with a tree at Ta’anea.

The incident happened at around 6:45pm on Friday, August 23.

The deceased was Tafini Fanga’ata Tongia, aged 49.

Reports said his son and another passenger received minor injuries.  

Police said they are continuing to make inquiries into the circumstances of the crash

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