A number of Auckland’s Anzac Day services will not happen this year and will instead be merged with larger events around the city after consultation with police on security.
Armed police will be patrolling events and are working on security arrangements with RSAs and local councils.
RSA Auckland branch president Graham Gibson says there will be fewer services than the 84 services they had last year.
“We’re still working through it, so I don’t want to pre-empt anything.
“This is the greater area of Auckland and there’s a lot of services so we’re working through those very hard, we have been for the last seven days going through having consultation meetings and all that to work out what is the best and how it can be done.”
Mr Gibson said they would announce where the services are tomorrow.
Similar consolidated services are likely around the country.
Police have been providing an increased security presence since the 15 March attacks on two mosques in Christchurch.
Police assistant commissioner Mike Rusbatch has previously said there was no specific threat at Anzac Day services, but they would be providing a visible presence nationwide to reassure the public.
This story is republished under Kaniva’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
A couple who travelled to work in Australia from Tonga ‘imported’ a live-in worker from Fiji because they felt a servant was missing from their lives, a Queensland court has been told.
Isikeli Feleatoua Pulini and Malavine Pulini are on trial for human trafficking and forced labour offences in relation to allegedly bringing a woman to work in their Brisbane home for about $250 per fortnight from 2008.
The couple pleaded not guilty to the trafficking and forced labour charges in Brisbane District Court on Monday but pleaded guilty to harbouring an unlawful non-citizen.
In his opening address, crown prosecutor Ben Power told the court the woman lived hidden from plain sight, with neighbours oblivious of her alleged forced labour in suburban Brisbane.
Mr Power told the court the alleged victim had initially worked as a domestic servant for the pair in Tonga in the early 2000s, earning about $90 to $170 a fortnight.
But in 2006 Mr Pulini and Ms Pulini secured work in Australia as a civil engineer and public servant respectively.
Mr Power said the couple felt like there was something missing from their lives after their arrival, and allegedly arranged for the woman to travel to Australia twice on a tourist visa.
Upon the woman’s second arrival in 2008, the Pulinis allegedly took her passport and said they would use it to get her an Australian visa.
Mr Power said the woman feared asking for her passport back and it was not returned until 2013, after it had expired.
He said the woman felt depressed as the years wore on, allegedly working on call around the clock, before she escaped in 2016.
The trial is expected to continue for most of the week.
The New
Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal has ordered that a Tongan woman be
granted a residence visa.
The woman
arrived in New Zealand in 2011. She had been granted a limited general visa for
one month to enable her to visit one of her brothers here. She was pregnant
and gave birth to her son in June
2011. He is a New Zealand citizen by birth.
The son’s
father is a Tongan citizen with residence
in New Zealand. The appellant
applied for a further visitor visa in June 2011, but her application was declined. She has remained in New Zealand illegally
since then.
She married
another man in 2014, after giving birth to a child to him. The Tribunal was
told her husband was frequently violent to her and her young son.
Subsequently
she was granted a temporary protection order against her husband and a Family
Court order preventing the daughter’s
removal from New Zealand.
She later
moved to live with her brother and his family.
The Tribunal
was told the woman could not return to Tonga because she would have no means of
independent financial support there.
She had no
qualifications and little work experience. Her parents were dead and her
brother there could not provide her with financial support.
The Tribunal
was told the woman and her daughter were an integral part of her brother’s family unit in New Zealand. There was broad
family support for them in New Zealand.
The Tribunal
said that deporting the woman would clearly not be in the best interests of her daughter. Her daughter had only lived
in New Zealand and, as a New Zealand citizen, was entitled to enjoy the benefits of the New
Zealand education and health system.
The woman
had considered leaving her daughter in New Zealand with family members, but did
not want to be separated from her daughter.
The Tribunal
ruled that the woman had exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian nature
that would make it unjust or unduly harsh for her to be deported from New
Zealand.
“The
appellant has been living in New Zealand for eight years,” the Tribunal said.
“She has two
New Zealand-citizen children and her family members, to whom she is close, are
well-established here.
“Weighing
the adverse public interest considerations (the length of the appellant’s
unlawful status in New Zealand) against the public interest considerations favouring the
appellant remaining in New Zealand (her clear health status and good character,
and family nexus to New Zealand, and the best interests of her two New
Zealand-citizen children), the Tribunal is satisfied that it would not be contrary to the public interest to allow the appellant
to remain in New Zealand.”
Five
deportees from the United States will use their life stories to help other people.
The five men
are Muli ki Fai’ana Vehikite, Vivili Moala,‘Ila Mo’unga, Kahuni Latu and Latu
Liava’a.
The men will
work with the Dare to Dream Foundation, which has been registered with the
Registrar of Business and Societies in Nuku’alofa.
The
Foundation is waiting for a Certificate of Registration.
The
following people have been appointed to the board: Linda Tu’ihalangingie,
Pelenatita Kara, Dr. Veleveni Moala and
Meleane Fatafehi Tuakalau.
“Tonga has entered a stage whereby, one can seriously doubt the future of its future generation,” a spokeswoman for the foundation said.
“Juvenile
crimes as well as some juvenile social related issues have risen so high in the
last couple of years, with no clear solution in sight.
“Issues such
as drugs and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, early high school drop-outs and teen prostitution are just some of the most
pressing issues we face every day that directly affects the lives of our youth.”
The Foundation plans to offer troubled young people a six month boot camp to instill the core Tongan values of fefaka’apa’apa’aki (mutual respect), feveitokai’aki (sharing, cooperating and fulfilment of mutual obligations), lototō (humility and generosity) and tauhi vaha’a (loyalty and commitment).
“This will be the bedrock of any of the youth that will be undertaking our programmes,” the foundation spokeswoman said.
“No doubt,
they will come out more wiser, matured and be more responsible.”
“We want to
be sure that their self destructive behaviours are completely broken and they
have completely recovered and have healed emotionally.
“We don’t
want to fall into the traps of providing short term solutions with no real
permanent positive effects.”
Young people
who successfully complete the course will become members of the Foundation.
The
main points
Five
deportees from the United States will use their life stories to help other
people.
The
five men are Muli ki Fai’ana Vehikite, Vivili Moala,‘Ila Mo’unga, Kahuni Latu
and Latu Liava’a.
The
men will work with the Dare to Dream Foundation, which has been registered with
the Registrar of Business and Societies in Nuku’alofa.
The heir to
the Norwegian throne will inspect parts of Tonga affected by climate change
tomorrow.
Crown Prince
Haakon Magnus will visit the Western District after a meeting with Deputy Prime
Minister Semisi Sika.
The Prince
flew into Fua’amotu International Airport this afternoon on his first official
visit to Tonga.
His visit to
Tonga is the start of a tour of three Pacific nations, including Fiji and
Samoa.
The tour is
part of the northern European nation’s efforts to strengthen co-operation in
oceans, climate change, peace and security.
The Prince
is accompanied by Norway’s Minister of International Development Dag-Inge
Ulstein.
Crown Prince
Haakon and his delegation were welcomed by His Royal Highness Prince Ata, His
Serene Highness Prince Tu’ipelehake, Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Semisi Sika,
Secretary for Foreign Affairs Mahe Tupouniua and the Chief Secretary and
Secretary to Cabinet Edgar Cocker.
Crown Prince
Haakon will attend a reception hosted by King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau’u
this evening.
Crown Prince
Haakon was born in July 1973 and is heir to the Norwegian throne.
He is
married with two children.
He will leave
Tonga tomorrow for Fiji and then visit Samoa.
Fisheries
Norway has a
large fishing industry and has used its experience in this area to forge
alliance in the Pacific.
Last year Norwegian
fisheries minister Harald Nesvik asked Pacific island nations to help fight
fishing crime, such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Nesvik said
small island countries were highly vulnerable to transnational organised
fishing crime.
Last month a
team of Norwegian fisheries and aquaculture scientists visited the Pacific to investigate
areas of technical co-operation with Pacific Community members.
The
main points
The
heir to the Norwegian throne will inspect parts of Tonga affected by climate
change tomorrow.
Crown
Prince Haakon Magnus will visit the Western District after a meeting with
Deputy Prime Minister Semisi Sika.
The
Prince flew into Fua’amotu International Airport this afternoon on his first
official visit to Tonga.
For
more information
Norway’s Crown Prince arrives in
Tonga – first leg of a three-nation tour to the Pacific
This is the bizarre moment a barber set a customer’s hair on fire — on purpose — while giving him a haircut.
Footage shows the hairdresser ditching the scissors to use gel before using a lighter to set his hair on fire. The barber then used two combs to cut and style the flaming hair as the customer smiles nervously in the hot seat.
The strange styling technique, which was filmed at a salon in Chennai, south India, sees the hairdresser continue to brush the customer’s burning hair until the flame burned out after 12 seconds.
Apparently, the unusual technique has been growing in popularity across India over the past couple of years.
Customers are said to pay between $26 and $52 for the maverick haircut, with many salons offering the style without a license to keep up with growing demand, sources claim.
Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva is “in hospital but he is fine,” his media spokesperson Lōpeti Senituli told Kaniva news last night.
It is understood the 77-year-old was diagnosed with pneumonia and is recovering.
In a previous interview Hon Pōhiva said his routine check-ups with his doctors showed he was healthy but he sometime felt the burden of his duties for the country.
Hon Pōhiva, who will turn 78 this Sunday, said he was often attacked by the Opposition in Parliament accusing him of his health conditions and claimed he was not fit medically to continue on his job.
“Kou longo pe au. Kou tala ange mou taki taha o
tokanga’i ho’omou mo’ui. Kou sai pe au,” he said in Tongan.
This translates into English as: “I just kept silent.
I told them look after yourself. I am fine.”
He said he was happy that he was not diabetic or suffered one of the diseases which links to diabetes-related conditions.
In January last year he was admitted into Vaiola hospital in a “stable condition.”
At the time, a spokesperson said Hon Pōhiva has been moved to the hospital’s intensive care unit to avoid being disturbed by visitors who arrived to see him.
Acting Chief
Justice Cato has acquitted a man charged with reckless driving causing death.
Ngana
Tatafu Folau ‘Alovili wa charged
following an incident in late 2017.
The Supreme
Court was told that on September 23 that year ‘Alovili was driving a car which
hit and killed ‘Onesi Lino.
Police said
‘Alovili was speeding on Taufa’ahau road at Ha’ateiho and not paying proper
care and attention.
Witnesses said
‘Alovili was speeding and there was no other car on the road at the time.
One witness
said he saw the deceased get out of a vehicle in which he was a passenger and cross the road.
He said it was about five seconds between getting out of the car and when he was
hit.
Another
witness said the area was brightly lit. He said he saw car approaching and
because of the way it was moving he felt cared and ran out of it way. The witness
admitted to drinking kava but denied being affected by it.
Another
witness said he had been drinking vodka with Lino earlier in the evening and
had dropped him off so he could continue drinking with some other friends who
were going to pick him up.
After assessing
the evidence, Acting Chief Justice Cato said he thought it probable that Lino
had crossed the road and walked into the path of ‘Alovili’s vehicle.
He said he
accepted that it was possible that ‘Alovili’s vision of Lino crossing the road
had been blocked by a vehicle passing in an easterly direction shortly before
the impact.
“The fact
that there was no evidence of skid marks suggests to me also that the accused
had no opportunity to take any evasive action and this suggests to me that the deceased probably walked out
into the path of the accused’s car without pausing to look,”
the judge said.
He said the
witnesses who suggested there was no passing car were being asked to
reconstruct events that arose suddenly and it was highly unlikely they would be
able to give a reliable account on whether a vehicle had passed by, when their
attention would not have been focused on this.
“Because I am
left in a state of doubt on this point,
the Crown has failed to convince me that the impact was anything more than a
tragic accident as the deceased crossed the road,” the judge said.
“I cannot
find beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused in these circumstances materially
caused the impact. As such, the accused is not responsible for the
deceased’s tragic death and he is
acquitted of the charge of reckless
driving causing death.”
The Broadcasting Standards Authority has upheld a complaint against a presenter who described the Pacific Islands as leeches.
It found Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan’s comments were inflammatory, devalued the reputation of Pasifika people within New Zealand and had the potential to cause widespread harm.
The Authority (BSA) ruled she breached the good taste and decency and discrimination and denigration standards.
NZME Radio was ordered to pay $NZ3,000 in costs and to broadcast a statement during Wellington Mornings with Heather du Plessis-Allan, summarising the BSA’s decision.
Her comments came during a discussion about the prime minister attending the Pacific Islands forum in Nauru, when she questioned the use of the visit.
“I mean, it’s the Pacific Islands,” she said. “What are we going to get out of them? They are nothing but leeches on us. I mean, the Pacific Islands want money from us. We don’t need money from them.”
In a follow-up broadcast, Ms du Plessis-Allan attempted to clarify her comments saying: “[some] chap … from the Green Party said I ‘casually dehumanised our Pacific peoples’. Oh my gosh. Did I? Or did I say the Pacific Islands? I don’t know, confusing people with islands?”
In acknowledging the important role talkback radio plays in cultivating discussion and debate about controversial ideas and opinions, the BSA noted this “does not mean anything goes or that the host is able to offend without censure.
“[On] this occasion we found the severity of the comments and their significant potential to cause harm, through distress and denigration, justified the upholding of these complaints and the restriction of the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression. We consider that even in the talkback context these statements went too far.”
The BSA said Ms du Plessis-Allan was disingenuous in subsequently arguing that she had been referring to the Pacific Islands as leeches, rather than the people themselves.
“Countries are not just plots of land. They are the land and their people,” the Authority stated.
It noted the public condemnation of Ms du Plessis-Allan and acknowledged the Authority’s responsibility to reflect the values and attitudes of New Zealand.
This article is republished under Kaniva’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
Noble MPs did not walk out of Parliament in 2014 when Lord Tu’ivakano’s government moved to remove the powers of Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel to make elections in the king’s Privy Council.
The Nobles-led government also planned to put an end to the
Panel in the future.
Lord Tu’ivakano’s government also moved to remove the constitutional power of the king to appoint a commissioner for the Anti-Corruption Commission, which was being planned at the time, according to the Parliament’s record (minutes) numbers 21, 22 and 23 on August, 2014.
The government also submitted to the House a Bill to remove
the Attorney General from the king’s Privy Council and bring the position into the
cabinet.
Other noble MPs who were in the House at the time, including Lord Nuku , Lord Tu’ilakepa and Lord Tu’iha’ateiho described the move by the government as a “liliu faka’aufuli,” (absolute change) to the constitution.
According to the minutes the noble MPs supported the bills and the amendments submitted by the government.
However, they moved in the House for the government to meet the people and consult with them about the bills. Despite heated debates in the House the Noble’s motion to take the Bills to the people was rejected after a majority ballot.
The reasons
The then Minister of Justice, William Clive Edwards in his attempts to clarify the Bill for the Anti-Corruption Commission said this would made the Commission an independent body.
He told the House all the new Bills and amendments which had
been tabled in Parliament were to make sure these were executive roles which had
to be carried out by the government and not the Law Lords in the Panel.
In Tongan he said: “Ko e ngāue faka-executive kā ‘oku ‘ikai
ke ‘ave ia ki he kau Law Lords mo e kakai ‘oku ‘i tu’a ‘oku ‘ikai ke ‘i ai
hanau tu’unga he fonua ke nau tu’utu’uni. Pea ‘osi ko ia pea tau toki lele
holo. Ko e ‘ū ngaahi ‘uhinga ia. Pea nau fai ‘enautolu ‘o ngāue’aki e me’a ki
he ‘Ene ‘Afio ka ‘oku tau’atāina pē ‘a ‘Ene ‘Afio ‘ana.”
This translates into English as: “These are executive jobs and they are supposed not to be given to the Law Lords and people outside who have no role making decision in this country. After all, we do not know where to go. Those are the reasons. And they did it using what was there for His majesty, but His Majesty was free.”
Hon. Edwards said it had been several years since the
previous government attempted to set up the Anti-Corruption Commission, but
still had not happened.
Constitution review
report
The then Minister of Police, Siosifa Tu’utafaiva, told the
House these amendments were made after the government received a review report
from a Commonwealth sponsored Constitutional expert who reviewed Tonga’s
constitution.
According to Hon. Tu’utafaiva, the then Minister of Law believed there were clashes in the Constitution clauses and how they gave powers to the Panel to appoint the Attorney General, the Lord Chancellor, the Judges and Commissioner for Anti-Corruption Commission.
He said the review report supported what the then Minister of Law and Attorney General have come up with in regards to the constitutional problems the bills and the amendments had to deal with.
According to the Parliament’s minutes the Chair of the Whole House Committee said most of the noble MPs supported the Bills and the amendments to the constitution submitted to Parliament.
As Kaniva Tonga news reported last year, the review report which was conducted by Peter Pursglove said Tonga’s constitution was one the poorest in all the Commonwealth countries.
Conflict of interest
He said a conflict of interest existed because the Attorney
General sat on the king’s Judicial Advisory and Discipline Panel, which had the
responsibility of appointing him.
The Attorney General should be a Minister and member of both
the Legislature and the Cabinet, he said.
The Pursglove report was approved by the king and was given
to Lord Tu’ivakano government to work on it.
Homework for the Pōhiva
government
Hon. Tu’utafaiva told the House, according to the minutes they were running out of time as the next general election was about three months away. And Parliament only had 15 days before it was closed by the king, according to the then Speaker.
Hon. Tu’utafaiva told the House to expect the rest of the works for the Bills – including the recommendation by Pursglove – to be dealt with by the incoming government. Lord Tu’ivakano was ousted by the Pōhiva government in November 2014.
In a previous interview with Kaniva Tonga news, Hon. Pōhiva said his government was working on
the report as it was left in the cabinet by the previous government for them to
deal with.
The Nobles walk out of
Parliament
The government of ‘Akilisi Pōhiva undertook to continue
working on the Pursglove report and what had been passed on from the Lord
Tu’ivakano’s administration.
Some of the recent Bills they submitted to the House
including ones to remove the power of the Panel to elect the Commissioner for
Anti-Corruption Commission and Judges.
They were similar to the Bills submitted by the Tu’ivakano
government.
The Nobles, led by Lord Nuku and Lord Tu’ilakepa, insisted
these Bills should be subject to consultation with the public in face to face
meetings.
After the government conducted its own radio talk back show
public consultation and disagreed with the Nobles, the noble MPs and the
independent MPs walked out of the House.
Lord Tu’ilakepa became Acting Speaker of the House and used
his power to block the move by the government to table the Bills in the House.
The
main points
Noble
MPs did not walk out of Parliament in 2014 when Lord Tu’ivakano’s government
moved to remove the Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel from the king’s
Privy Council.
The
Nobles-led government also planned to put an end to the Panel in the future.
Lord
Tu’ivakano’s government also moved to remove the constitutional power of the
king to appoint a commissioner for the Anti-Corruption Commission, which was being
planned at the time, according to the Parliament’s record (minutes) number 21
on August 5, 2014.
