A coroner report says that authorities did not take the necessary measures to prevent the tragic murder of a Tongan mother in Auckland.
Toakase Finau (L) and Viliami Latu
Toakase Finau, 29, was murdered by his estranged husband, Viliami Latu, in 2021 before he took his own life.
As Kaniva News reported at the time, Latu also breached bail several weeks before the killing at his brother’s house.
Despite the breach, where he travelled to his ex-partner’s home, he was allowed to remain in the community subject to electronic monitoring.
While at his court-approved bail address, detectives believe he killed Finau before taking his own life.
Finau was the mother of their four children.
Reports at the time of their death quoted neighbours and others who shared a house with the couple at their former rental property in Ōtara, describing an abusive relationship where Finau was often seen with injuries, including black eyes, Stuff reported.
Others described Latu wandering the streets of Ōtara with a machete after staying up for days at a time.
The coroner’s remarks highlight potential shortcomings in the system, suggesting that more could have been done to protect this vulnerable individual from harm.
“Police, the justice system, the Department of Corrections, Oranga Tamariki, housing and health providers all interacted with this whānau and had concerns about family harm yet failed to prevent these tragic deaths,” Coroner Alison Mills said.
“Aotearoa New Zealand has an unacceptably high level of intimate partner violence. We have among the highest reported rates of family and sexual violence in the developed world.
“There is no easy fix to this problem.
“Toakase’s and Viliami’s deaths are an example of why a whole of government approach to family violence is needed. Their deaths are also an example of the consequences of the ‘gaps’ in services.”
President Biden has announced a series of pre-emptive pardons to safeguard individuals connected to the Jan. 6 committee and its witnesses.
Biden pardoned former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley; Dr. Anthony Fauci; members and staffers of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol; and Capitol and Washington police officers who testified before the committee.
The pardons extend to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, known for his leadership during a tumultuous political period.
This decision underscores the administration’s intention to shield these individuals from potential legal repercussions as partisan tensions continue to simmer in the wake of the Capitol riot.
The panel’s members were Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who was then a House member; former Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.; and current Reps. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.
The police officers who testified before the committee included Harry Dunn, Aquilino Gonell, Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges.
Just minutes before he left office, Biden also pre-emptively pardoned more members of his own family, including his two brothers and his sister, saying they had been subject to attacks “motivated solely by a desire to hurt me.” Biden was widely criticized last month for pardoning his son Hunter Biden, who was set to be sentenced on federal gun and tax evasion charges — something the former president had repeatedly said he would not do.
Trump reacted to the initial pardons of the Jan. 6 committee members and others in a text message to NBC News on Monday, saying, “It is disgraceful,” and claiming without evidence, “Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!”
The king is set to appoint Prime Minister-elect ‘Aisake Eke this morning, Wednesday, 22.
The announcement marks a significant development nearly a month following the recent Prime Ministerial election on December 24.
The announcement comes after Eke met the king at the Nuku’alofa Royal Palace yesterday.
This is the second time a meeting between His Majesty and Eke was made public, although no details of the meetings were provided, after a private meeting in New Zealand early this month.
The king’s Private Secretary, Sione Fifita, reportedly confirmed that the appointment schedule will be at 10am at the Royal Palace.
The press gathered outside the palace yesterday expecting the appointment to occur, but the event did not happen, piquing curiosity.
“Outside Palace grounds, no media allowed, no news of whether PM Designate was appointed by King or whether it was an audience” no press release or presser, the ABC Correspondent in Tonga Marian Kupu said on Facebook.
“PM designate has left the Palace after Secretary of Foreign Affairs Viliami Malolo left the Palace”.
The latest unofficial information circulating in the Tongan media has claimed that no nobility MP was nominated for the Cabinet.
The nominations are allegedly all People’s elected MPs and four ministers outside the legislature, including Crown Prince Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala, who will hold both the Foreign Affairs and Defence portfolios.
A US national has been charged with allegedly importing 2.2kg of cocaine into Australia using shampoo and conditioner bottles.
Cocaine was discovered in these shampoo and conditioner bottles. (Source: Australian Federal Police.)
The 33-year-old was spoken to by Australian Border Force officers at Brisbane Airport last month when drug detection dogs caught the scent of the possible presence of illicit substances in his luggage.
Officers noticed two 946ml bottles in his luggage, one containing shampoo and the other conditioner. A presumptive drug test was performed on both, and a positive result for cocaine was returned.
The combined weight of the cocaine was 2.2kg, which could have been sold as 11,000 street deals, worth an estimated NZD$972,000.
The man was charged with one count of importing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug. The offence carries a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment.
Australian Border Force superintendent John Ikin said the strong management of the Australian border by his officers would continue to frustrate organised crime.
“Criminals should be warned, there is no clever way to import drugs. You will be caught. ABF officers use every means at their disposal, including highly trained dogs, advanced technology and intelligence shared by partner agencies nationally and globally, to detect and deter the scourge of illicit drugs at our border.”
Australian Federal Police superintendent Natalie Scott said transnational organised crime syndicates viewed Australia as a lucrative drug market and tried a variety of methods to smuggle illicit substances into the country.
“While these syndicates try to prey on our communities to make money, the AFP, ABF and partners are committed to stopping illicit drugs from entering Australia and inflicting harm in our communities.”
The Land Court of Tonga has ruled that the Minister for Lands was incorrect in refusing to rectify a mistake made by his office on a land deed.
Justice Petunia Tupou KC and Land Assessor Faiva Tu’ifua ordered that the Minister cancel the deed of grant registered under the name of the plaintiff, Kiva Kaufusi.
He also ordered the Minister to cancel the land lease registered in the name of the first defendant, Andrew Clarke.
The Judges then ordered the Ministry to issue Kaufusi with a fresh deed of grant for his town allotment, including the disputed 2p, increasing the total area of his town allotment to 1r 20.2p.
He also ordered that the Ministry re-issue Clarke’s lease deed with the previous total area of 22.47p reduced by 2p.
The court was told that Kaufusi is the registered holder of a town allotment at ‘Utungake, Vava’u, best described under a deed of grant registered on Book 294 Folio 78 consisting of 1R 00p (lot 86).
Next to his town allotment is lot 87 which, at the time he registered his town allotment, was still part of Lord Tuita’s estate. Lot 87 consisted of a total area of 1R 0.47p1
Clarke is the holder of Lease No.8331 of the neighbouring land lot 87A on survey office Plan 4747B2.
Kaufusi applied to have his town allotment extended from part of lot 87. The estate holder agreed, and Kaufusi lodged his application for the extension with the Ministry.
The complaint concerns the area of 2p claimed to have been deducted by the Ministry from the area intended for Kaufusi’s extension and added onto Clarke’s lease by mistake.
Kaufusi then sought orders that the Ministry correct the area on his deed of grant to include the 2p, which was erroneously included in the Clarke‟s lease.
Unlike the Ministry, the Clarke has taken no steps to defend Kaufusi’s claim.
The Ministry denied it ever received an application from Kaufusi for an extension of 20.2p and, therefore, was not under any duty to hear from him when it granted the material 2p to Clarke.
It was maintained that the areas for Kaufusi’s town allotment, as well as Clarke’s lease, were correct, the court document said.
The Judges said that this case, amongst others, unfortunately, reveals how a simple application can create extreme consequences for all involved.
Appearance for the Ministry
Ms Haitelenisia Mankofua Penitoni and Mr Warrick Vea were in court as witnesses on behalf of the Ministry.
No other evidence of Kaufusi returning the deed was before the court. It is more likely than not that Kaufusi’s recollection of his meeting with Penitoni to return it for the correction is more accurate, the court document shows.
When Penitoni was shown the deed, she claimed to have issued it and asked if she had noticed that the area granted was 18.2p and not 18p. Penitoni said she had just noticed that for the first time.
Clearly, had she looked at the deed together with Kaufusi (as she alleged), who noticed the error when he received the deed, her attention would have been drawn to it there and then, the court was told.
During her evidence, Penitoni attempted to present a purely professional attitude in her dealings with Kaufusi. But her evidence confirms otherwise, the court document shows.
“She gave him her Facebook username, asked him for a card to call him, received lunch money and asked him for cigarettes”, it said.
The Judges said Kaufusi did everything he was required to do with assistance from the staff of the Ministry to have the 20.2p added onto his town allotment.
“I reject the suggestion that he failed to lodge his application when he was actively being assisted by Moa and Penitoni at the time”, Mrs Tupou said.
“I found the Plaintiff‟s evidence consistent and unshaken during cross examination. I found him to be a credible witness. Where his evidence differed from that of Ms. Penitoni, I preferred the Plaintiff‟s evidence. Mr Vea appeared to produce the documents held on the file after undertaking a search of the records for the purposes of this trial”.
US President Donald Trump issued pardons or commutations for more than 1,500 people convicted or charged in connection with the US Capitol riot four years ago.
Fourteen members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, two far-right groups, are among those whose sentences were commuted by the new Republican president as he took office on Monday.
Trump also signed an order directing the Department of Justice to drop all pending cases against suspects accused in the riot.
The executive action came shortly after Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the US inside the Capitol, which was stormed by his supporters on 6 January 2021 as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.
During a signing ceremony in the Oval Office on Monday evening, Trump displayed a list of the names of US Capitol riot defendants he said were receiving a pardon.
“These are the hostages, approximately 1,500 for a pardon, full pardon,” Trump said. “This is a big one.”
“These people have been destroyed,” he added. “What they’ve done to these people is outrageous. There’s rarely been anything like it in the history of our country.”
The proclamation says that it “ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation”.
According to Justice Department figures released earlier this month, approximately 1,583 defendants have been charged with crimes associated with the riot.
More than 600 have been charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing law enforcement, including around 175 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.
Capitol Police officers were attacked with weapons including metal batons, wooden planks, flagpoles, fire extinguishers and pepper spray.
The 14 defendants who had their sentences commuted – meaning they will be released, but their convictions will remain on the record – include Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.
Rhodes, a former US Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer, led a contingent of his militia members to Washington. They stashed weapons in a hotel room across the Potomac River in Virginia while participating in the melee.
Rhodes did not enter the Capitol but directed his members from outside, and was sentenced in 2023 to 18 years in prison.
Trump issued a blanket “full, complete and unconditional pardon” to all others who were involved in the riot.
They include former Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who was jailed for 22 years for seditious conspiracy over the riot.
Tarrio was not present at the riot, instead watching it on TV from a hotel room in Baltimore after being banned from Washington, DC, following an arrest for weapons offenses.
Tarrio’s lawyer said his client expected to be released, and in a post Tarrio’s mother said he would arrive home in Miami from a federal prison in Louisiana on Tuesday.
The move was swiftly denounced by Democrats as an attempt to re-write history.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was among the lawmakers forced to flee during the riot, called Trump’s actions “an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution”.
The former top Democrat in Congress said Trump “has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers” who had physically fought with protesters to defend lawmakers.
Before he was sworn into office, some Trump aides indicated that he would not issue sweeping pardons, but would instead review each conviction on a case-by-case basis.
Just days ago, Vice-President JD Vance told Fox News “if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.” He also said there was a “grey area” in some cases.
Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, called for a “case-by-case” review last week during her Senate confirmation hearing when asked whether Trump’s clemency decisions would include those who attacked police officers.
“I condemn any violence on a law enforcement officer in this country,” she said.
The Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson also recently called for individual case reviews.
Trump’s blanket order came the same day that Joe Biden used the final minutes of his presidency to issue pre-emptive pardons for his brothers and sister, as well as members of the US House of Representatives committee whose investigation into the Capitol riot concluded Trump was to blame.
The melee at the US Capitol, after a Trump rally nearby, lasted several hours. About 140 police officers were injured.
Lawmakers fled during the disorder and an unarmed female rioter, Ashli Babbitt, was fatally shot inside the building by officers.
The Justice Department launched a nationwide manhunt for suspects in its aftermath, which continued until today.
More than half the convictions have been misdemeanours, such as disorderly conduct or trespassing. Most convictions resulted in sentences of under one year in prison or probation, and most of those convicted have already served their sentences.
Trump previously called those prosecuted for the riot “political prisoners”, who posed “zero threat”.
Democrats describe the day as an attempted insurrection, and an attack on democracy itself.
Washington state Democratic Senator Patty Murray said in a statement: “It’s a sad day for America when a President who refused to relinquish power and incited an insurrection returns to office years later only to grant violent criminals a Presidential pardon or commutation.”
She also accused Trump of trying to “paper over the history and reality of that dark day”.
Meanwhile, supporters and family members of Capitol riot defendants have been waiting outside the jailhouse in Washington DC throughout the cold on Monday, for news that their love ones will be freed by Trump.
A number of those convicted or awaiting trial were being held at the jail, while others were serving sentences in federal prisons across the country.
“Freedom!” one woman shouted earlier, as Trump vowed to release what he refers to as the “J6 hostages” during his speech at the Capitol One arena.
People at the jail said that they expected defendants to begin leaving within hours of Trump’s action.
Derrick Storms, chief legal counsel for defendants in Capitol riot cases, told BBC News that he expects prisoners to be released from the DC jail before midnight.
A trainee electrician has been fined $10,000 by the New Plymouth District Court for unsupervised work that could have resulted in death.
Photo: 123RF
Bradley Carl Payne breached the Electricity Act 1992, when he installed conductors and fittings to a shipping container on a south Taranaki residential property while unsupervised in March 2022.
It resulted in Payne leaving an exposed live wire on a kitchen bench inside the container which gave the property owner an electric shock.
Judge Tony Greig found Payne guilty of two charges of doing unauthorised prescribed electrical work and one charge of negligently doing work in a manner dangerous to life.
“This type of negligent work just goes to show that carrying out prescribed electrical work needs expertise, training, and qualification, without which it can be even fatal,” said Duncan Connor, Registrar of Electrical Workers.
“All complaints about unauthorised and poor or dangerous work are taken seriously and investigated by the EWRB, who will not hesitate to prosecute those undertaking illegal prescribed electrical work.”
COMMENT: The US authorities, who have been fighting against one of the most dangerous Tongan gangs in the world for years, could count on President Trump’s mass deportation policies to refocus their target on Tongan Crip Gang’s (TCG) influence and operations.
The new policies give Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and other law enforcement agencies more power and funding. This situation may lead to an increase in the number of deportees from the United States to the kingdom, thereby complicating the nation’s ability to manage the sophisticated criminal activities associated with returnees who have already been repatriated to the archipelago.
The US incoming President Donald Trump has vowed to launch “the largest deportation program in American history” immediately upon taking office.
The policies target an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in the US, including roughly 500,000 with criminal records. Trump pledged to use the military and federal agencies to conduct the move.
His new guidance would prioritize criminals but allow anyone without legal status to be picked up, giving more discretion to ICE officers, Reuters reported in November.
The plan also focuses on deportations of people with final orders of removal, and there was a plan to end birthright citizenship as part of the crackdown, Aljazeera reported.
Statistics
A recent report by the Lowe Institute indicates that 1,010 Tongans have returned after facing criminal issues overseas since 1998, with the majority of returns occurring since 2010. The primary source of these returns is the United States, although New Zealand and Australia are significant countries for deportations.
About 30 Tongan nationals were deported from the United States each year. Between 2004-2012 between 22 to 38 people were deported annually, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics.
Most of the deportees are men and have usually done time for assault, robbery, burglary, theft and drug offences.
In 2018, the then Deputy Prime Minister Hon Hu’akavameiliku said about 400 Tongans had been deported from the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand.
A recent report by the Australian National University’s Department of Pacific Affairs says that “key problems around criminal deportations are a lack of support prior to deportation; poor information sharing; a lack of financial support for reintegration; and the diplomatic repercussions of deportation policies”.
The study by Henrietta McNeill says that “Most people deported to Samoa, Tonga and Cook Islands for criminal activity are males aged 25–35”.
TonganCrip Gangs
While many deportees linked their activities abroad to specific gang affiliations, the Tongan Crip Gang (TCG) stood out markedly in the United States, which also has a link to New Zealand.
The TCG is a Tongan American street gang active in the U.S. states of California, Utah and Alaska. One report estimated it has over a hundred members who mainly belong to the Mormon church.
The TCG’s notoriety includes burglaries, auto theft, selling drugs, home invasions, credit card fraud, bank fraud, federal fraud (theft of federal documents, passports, driver’s licenses), witness intimidation, insurance fraud, arson, impersonation of both state police and federal agents.
It also included prostitution, hacking, kidnapping, extortion by means of threat to reveal information about the private life of an individual, crimes against the elderly, crimes against Central American Communities and individuals associated with the MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha Gang), crimes against the disabled, mail fraud and murder.
In 2007, members of the Gang and the 18 Street Gang were indicted by a federal grand jury for criminal conspiracy in a plot to murder 33 members of a Los Angeles subset of MS-13.
Increasing crime activities
While some returnees regard their time in prison as a chance to re-think their lives and gain a different perspective, others have brought trouble to Tonga.
As Kaniva News reported previously, Tonga is in the midst of a methamphetamine crisis, and some deportees have gone back into the drug trade.
Former Prisons Commissioner Sione Falemanu previously said deportees have brought more crime to the kingdom and sparked a wave of robberies.
Research conducted by Tongan scholars in the United States has revealed that TCG significantly contributes to the entrenchment of gang life within the community, functioning as a angafakafonua, or a way of life. This concept embodies the integration of cultural identity and social behavior, suggesting that gang affiliation is not merely a choice but a lived experience deeply rooted in cultural practices and communal ties.
In her research on Tongan Crip Gang – A Tongan American Identity ‘Esiteli Hafoka found that a project known as the Salt Lake Area Gang Project (2017), aimed at attempting to resolve TCG criminal activities, garnered considerable attention from several key law enforcement and governmental agencies, including the United States Attorney’s Office, the United States Marshals Service, the Utah Department of Corrections, and the State Bureau of Investigation.
The agencies became increasingly concerned about the growing notoriety and influence of the TCG, recognizing the pressing need to address the complexities surrounding this gang and its implications for both the Tongan American community and public safety.
Hafoka also identified gang names and alliances in the Salt Lake area which affiliated with the TCG, such as Blood/Crip Gangs, Tongan Style Gang, Baby Regulators, and Rose Park Family under the “Tongan” heading.
Rehabilitation program
Several rehabilitation programs have recently been established in Tonga with the help of the Australian government to help with deportees.
This included the Foki ki ‘api (returning home), which involved some Tongans deported from the US to form Dare to Dream.
The group used their experiences of reintegrating into Tonga to help others in the same situation.
The tragic house fire at Kahana Lagoon Resort has resulted in a fatality.
As Kaniva News reported on Sunday, unconfirmed reports indicated that a person got stuck inside the restaurant at the time of the incident.
The resort was rented to Chinese businesses.
Reports claimed the deceased was a Chinese man.
Videos streamed from the scene and reviewed by Kaniva News depict harrowing moments as firefighters and emergency personnel carry the lifeless body from the charred remains of a building in the resort that was engulfed in flames.
The videos also show that the space for the firefighters and their engines to tackle the fire effectively was quite limited.
When the firefighters finally arrived at the scene, the flames had already engulfed a significant portion of the building, billowing thick clouds of smoke into the air.
However, they finally were able to contain the fire.
Scotland captain Tuipulotu has been ruled out of the Six Nations due to injury concerns.
This loss could significantly impact the team’s dynamics and performance in the tournament as they look to navigate their upcoming matches without their leader.
Tuipulotu was hurt in training last week, two months after he took over as Scotland’s captain in November.
He was said to have sustained a pectoral muscle injury during a training session with Glasgow Warriors last week, a statement said.
“Sione will undergo surgery this week and is expected to return to action before the end of the season,” it added.
The injury also casts doubt on Tuipulotu’s chances of touring Australia with the British and Irish Lions this summer, although he is expected to return before the end of the domestic season.
Flanker Rory Darge, 24, and fly-half Finn Russell, 32, will co-captain Scotland in his absence.
Capped 30 times since his debut in 2021, Tuipulotu has scored three Scotland tries and forms a dynamic midfield partnership with Huw Jones.
Lock Scott Cummings, 28, is also likely to miss the Six Nations with the arm fracture that forced him off during Glasgow’s game against Harlequins.
The withdrawals of Cummings and Tuipulotu take Gregor Townsend’s squad down to 36, but no additional players will be called up at this point.
Townsend’s side open their championship at home to Italy on 1 February.
