Police are appealing for help to find an Onehunga man in connection with an aggravated robbery incident that occurred on December 2 in Onehunga.
29 year-old John Fisiitali is likely to be carrying a weapon and members of the public were advised not to approach him.
Anyone who knows where he is or how to locate him should contact Detective Constable Jeffrey Brown on 021 191 3023 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Female pub goers have been advised to take trusted friends with them when they go to pubs so that they can watch each other’s drinks.
The warning came after New Zealand Police said they had received report of two incidents of drink spiking this week.
Two women drank only small amounts of alcohol, but both suffered spiked drink side-effects, like dizziness, memory loss and numbness. One of them was violently ill the next day, Police said.
Makalita Kolo, a Tongan staff at Mangere Electorate Office, said women should go with friends they trusted to pubs and parties so they could look out for each other’s drinks, especially when some of them were on dance floor or away from where their own drinks are.
“Don’t accept drinks offered by people you don’t know,” Kolo said.
“Be vigilant and be safe this Christmas.”
Detective Sergeant Gary Milligan of Palmerston North police warned the city’s party goers to keep an eye out for drink tampering over the New Year’s Eve festive season.
He urged people to buy their own drinks, be wary of accepting beverages from strangers and watch their drinks being poured at the bar.
“If your drink looks cloudy, changes in colour or doesn’t taste right, then don’t drink it,” he said.
Another Police spokesman said it only took a minute or a second to drop in an aspirin-sized pill, some powder or a few drops of liquid into a drink.
“If you are in a noisy pub or club or at a party you probably wouldn’t notice, especially if you have been drinking,” the spokesman said.
“The effects of these drugs can start in 10 to 20 minutes – you could feel dizzy, sleepy, uninhibited, relaxed and open to suggestion.
This is when you can be at risk of rape and sexual assault. Later, as the effects peak, you might be unconscious and not able to defend yourself or even remember what happened.”
The main points
Tonga’s Rugby Union board has terminated its contract with its interim CEO Talanoa Fuka Kitekei’aho.
The post is occupied for the moment by former ‘Ikale Tahi captain and interim President Fe’ao Vunipola, who is acting as executive chairman while the Board advertises the post for a second time.
Tonga Rugby Union Board member ‘Āminiasi Kefu said Kitekei’aho had failed to prove to an interview panel last Friday that he possessed the expertise and skills the panel was looking for.
The panelists included former ‘Ikale Tahi and business owner Pēseti Maʻafu, Tonga’s former Attorney General and Minister of Law, ʻĀlisi Taumoepeau, businessman John Paul Chapman, Tonga’s Acting Attorney General, ʻĀminiasi Kefu, Bruce Cook from Rugby World Cup and Vunipola.
Kefu told Kaniva News the post was advertised in the middle of the year, but the interview was postponed after a
request from outgoing President ‘Epeli Taione to leave it until after this year’s Rugby World Cup tournament.
When the interview was conducted on December 16, Kitekei’aho was the only applicant left on the list after the other applicants withdrew, Kefu said.
The panel submitted a report on its findings to the Board on December 18 saying Kitekei’aho did not possess the general competence they were looking for in somebody who was going to fill the role of CEO for the Rugby Union, Kefu said.
The board unanimously approved the panel’s report, Kefu said.
Kitekei’aho was given a one-month payment in advance after his post was officially terminated according to Kefu.
The main points
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The by-election for Tongatapu 4 electorate will go ahead despite an appeal by disqualified MP Mateni Tapueluelu.
Tapueluelu was found by Chief Justice Owen Paulsen to have breached Clause 65 of the Tongan Constitution because he registered himself to run for Parliament while he had an outstanding court debt.
Tonga’s Acting Attorney General, ‘Aminiasi Kefu, told Kaniva News this morning (December 22) he received Tapueluelu’s appeal of the judicial decision against him yesterday afternoon. It was registered at the Supreme Court’s Registry Office on Friday 18, six days after Mr Justice Paulsen issued his findings.
However, Kefu said the registration and submission of the appeal at Supreme Court last week could not stop the Speaker of the House from declaring Tapueluelu’s disqualification as an MP and applying for the processing of a by-election to elect a successor.
“Section 6 of the Legislative Assembly Act stipulates that a by-election must be processed [once a member was disqualified] and there is no part of that section that says section 6 must be suspended if there is an appeal,” Kefu said in Tongan.
Kefu said Tapueluelu has already been stripped of his salary and other entitlements he received as an MP.
He said Tapueluelu could only continue to obtain his salary and Parliamentary entitlements if the Court of Appeal ordered a stay of execution of the Supreme Court decision.
The Acting AG said Tapueluelu submitted his appeal together with an application to stay the execution of the judicial decision declaring his election was unconstitutional.
Kefu said the only time the effect of Section 6 of the Legislative Acts could be deferred was when the Court of Appeal ordered a stay of execution. This was the only decision that could stop the Speaker of Parliament and Election Commissioner from beginning the process of holding a by-election.
Kefu said there were two Court of Appeal sessions each year. The next session will be in March 29, 2016. Thatʻs when Tapuelueluʻs appeal will be heard.
Tapueluelu however can apply for stay of execution in January next year and such application could be brought before the Lord Chief Justice, Kefu said.
He said a decision on Tapuelueluʻs appeal should be made before the Legislative Assembly resumed in May next year.
The Acting AG also said he advised the Parliament’s Chief Clerk to hold processing of the by-election until any decisions on Tapueluelu’s appeal was heard. But he said it was entirely up to the Chief Clerk and Speaker of the House to make their final decision on it.
The Chief Clerk of Tonga’s Legislative Assembly did not respond to our request for comment.
The main points
A Tongan-New Zealand born woman who ran away from school to go swimming has become the first Pacific Islander to become a member of the University of Auckland Law School Staff.
Helena Kaho, 34, who graduated with a BA, LLB (Honours) and LLM (Honours), was appointed an Assistant Lecturer at the Auckland Law School this year.
Kaho, who is the eldest of four children, said she found the Tongan culture she inherited from her Tongan father an obstacle and did not want to deal with it, but eventually she came to regard it as her fortune.
Helena’s father came to New Zealand in the 1950s and went to St Stephen’s Maori boarding school. He met her mother in the late 1960s.
“I have a sister and two brothers, but I’m the oldest in my family,” Kaho said.
“We were raised in Auckland and didn’t visit Tonga until we were older.
“I got into law because I wanted a challenge.
“I didn’t like school and didn’t try hard to reach my potential, so it wasn’t till I was older and had my children that I realised I wanted to go to university.”
She said she wasn’t sure whether or not she could do it, but she “dreamed big and then I set goals and focused on achieving them.”
“I chose law because I knew it would be a challenge and I have always been interested in criminal law – that what I thought I’d be doing.
“Plus I wanted to impress my dad,” she said, laughing.
Kaho spent less than two years in Tonga, where she attended Tupou High School together with a cousin.
“I didn’t do too well there, didn’t pay much attention, didn’t really understand enough Tongan to make sense of classes, although a lot of them were in English and the teachers also often spoke Tongan,” the mother of four said.
Kaho remembered vividly how she started wagging school with a friend to go swimming at Vuna wharf.
“Needless to say I got in a lot of trouble when we were found out (can’t hide much in Tonga!) and then I was enrolled in correspondence from NZ.”
“I had to go up into the library at Tupou High to complete my work every day.
“I found it really boring and I just used to stare out the window, sketch stuff and wish for time to pass faster so I could go home and that was how I got through my fifth form year.”
Culture shock
Kaho found the Tongan culture a big problem. She knew very little about it and her Tongan family members mainly spoke to her in English, and it was difficult for her to pick up Tongan.”
“So when I went to Tonga, it was like a total immersion experience, where I experienced Tonga first hand and pretty much unfiltered!” she said.
“I’d describe it as a huge culture shock. At first, I hated it, and I clashed with everyone, my dad’s family, teachers, everyone. I couldn’t wait to return to NZ.”
Paid off
It wasn’t until a few years after she returned to New Zealand that she realised how lucky she was, and how much the Tongan culture influenced who she was.
“I feel blessed that I had that experience because I understand Tongan culture so much better as a result,” she said.
“My siblings haven’t lived there and they can’t speak Tongan, and I know that this has meant that they don’t have that same connection with Tonga that I do.
“To some extent we feel like outsiders – not proficient in Tongan culture, not understanding how things work and protocols.
“We used to feel uncomfortable and so stay away from Tongan events.
“I was able to get past that to a certain degree with my experiences – although I am not fluent in Tongan, I can understand enough to hold a conversation.
“I have researched traditional Tongan culture, our own family history and I can say that I have some understanding of both worlds – Tongan and palagi. I see positive and negative things about both.”
Her work
Kaho said she always thought about the role culture played in how people interpreted the world and how they reacted to what was happening around them.
“Because of this, I especially have a lot of compassion for our young New Zealand-born Tongans,” she said.
“I can see the struggles they go through in negotiating two (or more) cultural worlds, as well as generational gaps between themselves and their parents and that’s one of the reasons I’m interested in youth justice.
“Our laws and legal system are a product of our culture in NZ, although this is not how law is usually portrayed.
“For this reason, the interplay between culture and law and how and where our legal system takes account of ‘other’ cultures is also an area of interest for me.”
The main points
For more information
Helena Kaho is the first Pacific Islander to become a Law School academic
Juggling study and kids (Auckland University)
Studying the law pays off for busy mother (Western Leader)
The Tongatapu 4 electorate has been declared vacant and Tonga’s Attorney General, ‘Aminiasi Kefu, has declared that a by-election must be called.
The seat was held by MP Mateni Tapueluelu, but the electorate’s Parliamentary seat was declared empty after the Supreme Court ruled that Tapueluelu had outstanding court debts when he ran as a candidate for Parliament.
This breached Clause 65 of the Tongan Constitution, which says that nobody can be elected if they have not paid their court fines on the day they submit their nomination paper to the Returning Officer.
Local media reported last week that Tapueluelu has appealed the court ruling, but Kefu said this morning (December 21) he had not received the appeal and therefore the seat was currently vacant.
Kefu said the: “Tongatapu 4 seat is vacant.”
According to Section 6 of the kingdom’s Legislative Assembly Act, when a seat is declared vacant, the Speaker (in this case Lord Tu’ivakano) will issue a writ for an election. It says the Electoral Commission will work with the Speaker to fix the time and place for the election:
The Attorney General told Kaniva News the court ruling was enough to declare Tapueluelu’s election was void.
Kaniva News understands all appeals against any judicial decisions in Tonga must first be registered at the Supreme Court Registry Office. Copies of the appeals must then be delivered to the Attorney General’s Office for processing.
Kefu said Section 6 of the kingdom’s Legislative Assembly Act accorded with Clauses 23 and 76, which he said the Act strengthened the constitution.
The constitution made it clear that it was the responsibility of the Speaker of the House to declare any disqualification of any MPs and apply for processing of a by-election to elect a successor.
Appeal
Tapueluelu can appeal the court decision after it was made on December 12.
New Zealand-Tongan based Barrister and Solicitor Sione Fonua said he believed that while Kefu’s interpretation of the legal situation was technically correct, Tapueluelu’s legal team could appeal and apply for a stay of execution.
If a stay of execution was approved by the court, Tapueluelu would remain a Member of Parliament until the Court of Appeal made a decision on his appeal.
Fonua said this would depend on whether the Court of Appeal agreed to hear the appeal.
The legal situation
The following are the passages from Tonga’s Constitution and Legislative Assembly Act concerned with a person’s eligibility to be elected or retain a Parliamentary seat.
Section 6 of the kingdom’s Legislative Assembly Acts:
“If any representative shall die or shall resign his seat or shall cease to be qualified for election under clauses 23 and 65 of the Constitution or be unseated in accordance with clause 66 of the Constitution or the provisions of the Electoral Act, his seat in the Legislative Assembly shall thereupon become vacant and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly shall issue a writ for the election of a successor. The Electoral Commission in consultation with the Speaker shall thereupon fix the time and place of such election and the person elected thereat shall hold office for the balance of the term of his predecessor.”
Clause 76 of the Constitution on by-elections:
“Upon the death or resignation of any representative of the nobles or of the people and when a member is deprived of his seat after impeachment, the Speaker shall immediately command that the nobles or the electors of the district which he represented shall elect a representative in his place. But the Legislative Assembly shall have the power to sit and act although its number be not complete.”
Constitution clause 23:
“No person having been convicted of a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment for more than two years, shall hold any office under the Government whether of emolument or honour nor shall he be qualified to vote for nor to be elected a representative of the Legislative Assembly unless he has received from the King a pardon together with a declaration that he is freed from the disabilities to which he would otherwise be subject under the provisions of this clause. (Act 8 of 1961.)”
Constitution clause 66:
“Any person elected as a representative who shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Assembly to have used threats or offered bribes for the purpose of persuading any person to vote for him shall be unseated by the Assembly.”
Constitution clause 65
“Representatives of the people shall be chosen by ballot and any person who is qualified to be an elector may be chosen as a representative, save that no person may be chosen against whom an order has been made in any Court in the Kingdom for the payment of a specific sum of money the whole or any part of which remains outstanding or if ordered to pay by instalments the whole or any part of such instalments remain outstanding on the day on which such person submits his nomination paper to the Returning Officer: Provided that no person holding an office of emolument under the Crown shall enter the Assembly except the Ministers, and the Governors. (Substituted by Act 8 of 1978.)”
Correction: Earlier on we refferred in this story to Section 6 saying it was Section 6 of the kingdom’s Electoral Acts. This was not correct. We should say it was Section 6 of Tonga’s Legislative Assembly Acts.
The main points
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A 65-year-old woman from Ngele’a in Tongatapu has been arrested on December 10 following Police investigation in relation to Tongan passports forgery.
The woman was charged with two counts of forgery and knowingly dealing with forged documents contrary to sections 170, 171 and 172 of the Criminal Offences Act, Telesia Adams, Police Communication and Media Oficer said.
“The Accused was released on bail on 11 December 2015 and will appear at the Magistrate’s Court on Monday 11 January 2016″.
“Deputy Police Commissioner Viliami ‘Unga Fa’aoa confirmed that four accused persons have been charged so far in relation to the passport investigation and are now pending trial in courts. The Police are likely to lay more charges as the investigation continues”.
“The Police will not be making any further comments as the matter is now before the Courts”, Adams said.
Lord Chief Justice Owen Paulsen will deliver judgement on the Lavulavu case next month.
Failed parliamentary candidate Dr Viliami Uasike Latu lodged a complaint against former Minister for Infrastructure Hon. ‘Etuate Lavulavu alleging corruption and illegal campaigning in Tonga’s 2014 General Election.
Three weeks’ of hearings concluded in Tonga’s Supreme Court in Neiafu, Vava’u, yesterday.
Mr Justice Paulsen reserved his decision until January.
Hon. Lavulavu, who is also MP for Vava’u 16, was stripped of the Infrastructure portfolio by Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva, who also imposed a fine on him earlier this year.
The Prime Minister’s actions came in the wake of a move to impeach the Minister. Lavulavu remains Tourism Minister.
Yesterday the trial heard final submissions from Hon. Lavulavu’s witnesses.
Prominent commercial farmer Sione Lisala from Leimatua and Chairman of Leimatua Women’s Development Group and Leimatua Grower’s Association gave the closing depositions on behalf of Hon. Lavulavu.
Lisala told the court that he lived next door to Dr Latu’s house in Leimatua and was related by blood to both Dr Latu and Hon. Lavulavu.
Lisala said in his evidence that everybody in Leimatua was a member of the association, which approached the Minister for help in marketing and sourcing funding for the growers’ body
Lisala answered every question firmly in support of Hon.Lavulavu during questioning by Clive Edwards, who appeared for Dr Latu.
Edwards appeared to struggle during the cross examination.
Edwards argued that for Hon. Lavulavu to represent the Vava’u Road Council was unlawful according to documents and files submitted to court by the registration office in regard to the association.
The plaintiff subpoenaed the registration file for Vava’u Road Works Council from the Ministry of Labour and Commerce and also summoned its Principal Assistant Registrar, Maiseni Fukofuka to give evidence in court.
Siosifa Tuutafaiva, who acted for Hon. Lavulavu, asked Fukofuka if the Vava’u Road Work Council was still registered under the Ministry of Labour and Commerce. Fukofuka agreed that it was.
Mr Justice Paulsen asked Fukofuka to clarify the process and how the registration forms and other documents were filed when received by the registration office.
Fukofuka said there were discrepancies in the way the Ministry of Labour and Commerce office of registrar kept records.
The court was told there were differences between different copies of the registration of the Vava’u Road Council submitted to court by the defendant and those submitted by the plaintiff.
The respondent’s evidence showed the Vava’u Road Council documents were stamped and marked as received by the Ministry of Labour and Commerce in 2010, but that this was missing from the Ministry of Labour and Commerce file submitted to the court yesterday.
The main points
For more information
Lavulavu trial continues this afternoon, but blood ties make it hard for witnesses (Kaniva News)
PM punishes Lavulavu to work without pay for 5 months (Tongan Parliament)
The Child Poverty Monitor Report 2015 makes for very bleak reading, Labour’s MP for Manukau East Jenny Salesa says.
“It illustrates the reality in South Auckland, where entrenched hardship is severely affecting many children’s health, education and future prospects.
“The hike in the number of Kiwi kids living in poverty is a disgrace – 305,000 children, up 45,000 since last year.
“Poverty rates for Pacific and Māori children are consistently higher than for Europeans. Around a third of Māori children and 28 per cent of Pacific children live in poor households, compared to an average of 16 per cent of European children.
“Nearly 148,000 children are going without the basic things they need in life.
“And three out of five children living in poverty are living in “persistent poverty” – that is, they will live that way for many years, if not their whole lives,
“Far too many continue to live in cold, damp, mouldy homes, which trigger respiratory or infectious diseases. Their parents sometimes cannot afford to pay for medicines. This has led to significant increases in the number of children hospitalised with poverty-related health issues – now around 40,000 children per year, Deborah Morris-Travis reported early in 2015.
“I agree with Duncan Garner’s recent comments that the sheer cost of housing is a major driver of child poverty.
“Poor health and education outcomes are made worse by overcrowding, which is endemic in areas like Ōtara and Ōtahuhu because of spiralling rents in Auckland’s crisis-ridden housing market.
“About 16 per cent of children live in overcrowded conditions. Māori, Pacific and Asian children – the majority demographic of my electorate – are reported to be significantly more likely than European children to live in a crowded house. Almost half of Pacific children live in crowded homes.
“We are now seeing homeless children. The recent CAB report on emergency accommodation need highlighted the lack of options for those pushed out of rented homes with nowhere to go. Too many young children are living in cars without access to basic hygiene requirements let alone a bed.
“The Government’s scattergun approach is not making progress bringing down New Zealand’s OECD-leading rates of child poverty.
“It must take child poverty seriously before it gets any further out of hand, ruining the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and damaging this country’s future.
“Lifting low incomes is very much part of the solution as is a commitment to regular measurement and concerted action on the results.
“It is heartening to see the Children’s Commissioner’s #itsnotchoice campaign attracting great public support and I hope this can be leveraged to dismantle the causes of child poverty.
“The future of our children and our country is of the utmost seriousness to Labour. As Labour Party children spokeswoman Jacinda Adern has said, we will take on the production of the Child Poverty Monitor every year and would publish the results at every budget,” Jenny Salesa says.
An exhibition of acrylic painting by a South Auckland-based artist has been described as “unique,” “beautiful” and “new” according to a leading Tongan art scholar and academic.
Benjamin Works, who is of Tongan and Scottish heritage, showed his work at the Mangere Arts Centre in a public exhibition entitled For the King and Country, that ran from October 16 to November 21.
Works mainly painted on board using red and black acrylic paints. The colours are particularly used in Tongan material arts and fine arts.
Professor Hufanga ‘Okusitino Mahina, an acclaimed art scholar and artist in his own right, said the two acrylic colours were prominent in the arts of kafa kula (red sennit) and kafa ‘uli (black sennit) and kele ‘umea (clay) and vaitohi ‘uli (black ink) used in pottery and koka’anga (ngatu making).
Professor Hufanga said Works’ art portrayed the same conflicting, but beautiful, ideas that were embedded by Tongan artists in the past when decorating their wooden weapons such as clubs, arrows and bows.
They were also found in the Tongan music instruments such as tukipitu (hitting the bamboo on the ground so it can produce sound), blowing mouth-organs, drumming and blowing fangufangu (nose flutes).
According to Professor Hufanga, Works has successfully transferred these ideas into his paintings such as The Guardian, The Explorer, King and Country, Sign of Times and Ikai ke tapu (Not Taboo).
Professor Hufanga opened Work’s exhibition by blowing the fangufangu. This was followed by an opening speech by the Director of the Mangere Arts Centre, James Pinker.
The main points
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