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Pacific Nations Cup: Fiji and Tonga make changes for Teufaiva Park clash

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Iliesa Tora of rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

Teufaiva Park is ready to host the Flying Fijians and ‘Ikale Tahi as both sides have named their match-day 23, with changes made to their starting XVs for Friday’s Pacific Nations Cup battle.

Packing down...the Flying Fijians forwards. Photo: FRU

Packing down…the Flying Fijians forwards. Photo: Fiji Rugby

Fiji flew into Nuku’alofa early on Wednesday morning and went for a test run at the matchday pitch straight after lunch, before announcing their team.

Tonga trained out at the home of the Vaini Doves in the village of Vaini, situated between the city of Nuku’alofa and the Fua’amotu International airport.

Flying Fijians assistant coach Aaron Mauger revealed there were injuries that has forced positional changes plus the recruitment of new hands during the week.

Star winger Selesitino Ravutaumada is in Australia undergoing surgery.

Young Naitasiri hooker Kavaia Ragivetaua is also out, with North Harbour prop Penaia Cakobau called up, alongside Fijian sevens rep Ponipate Loganimasi as injury covers.

Fijian Drua flyhalf Isaiah Washington-Ravula has been moved to fullback, former Waratahs rep Vuate Karawalevu moves to wing and Mesake Vocevoce jumps in at lock forward – the three being major changes from the team that defeated Manu Samoa 42-16 in Suva two weeks ago.

Mauger said they have had a good review of their last game as they look forward to Tonga.

“There were lots of things we thought we did well against Samoa in the first PNC game, and there were lots of little things we think we could tidy up, so last week gave us a good opportunity to work on our game and prepare for this game,” the former Moana Pasifika mentor said.

“The squad is fit.”

Mauger said Tonga will not be easy at home, as past games have proven.

“It’s been a long history, lots of close fought battles, and you know, the guys who have come to Tonga and played here have acknowledged how tough it is to come and play Tonga in Tonga,” he said.

“We’ve acknowledged all those chapters. But really for us we’ve focused on our own game as well, like really growing our game and where we want to take Fiji and rugby, trying to take to the next level, and sort of building over the next few years.”

He said they are heartened by the support of local Fijians in Nuku’alofa, who have been anticipating the team’s arrival.

The Flying Fijians last played in Tonga in 2017, during the PNC that year.

The 'Ikale Tahi forwards soaring into the skies in this lineout move as they prepare for Fiji. Photo: TRU

The ‘Ikale Tahi forwards soaring into the skies in this lineout move as they prepare for Fiji. Photo: TRU Photo: Tonga Rugby Union

Tonga builds foundation

Tonga, on the other hand, returned home from Apia on Saturday, following their 43-17 loss to the Samoans.

While head coach Tevita Tuifu’a and his assistant Nili Latu have not recorded a win in their first three Test matches in charge so far this year, the Tonga Rugby Union said the development phase is focused on the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Chief executive officer Aisea ‘Aholelei said on Wednesday the two coaches and the new squad are building their foundation and they will go out and give their best against Fiji.

“It’s very important if you’re building a house to make sure that the foundations are firm first and foremost.

“Different teams, different organisations, have different types of foundations, and that’s what we’re trying to do here for the Tonga Rugby Union and the ‘Ikale Tahi.

“At the same time, what kind of foundation that suits Tongan rugby. And a lot has to do with culture, as I was saying before, that we are a Tongan team, and we know what is best for our team, the Tongan way.

He said it was important to look forward to the next Rugby World Cup.

“We are trying to close those gaps in performance, but at the same time, you can’t go past trying to get the foundations right.

“This is probably the most important time for us and the hardest part of working and putting all our efforts into it and hopefully things will flourish once 2027 comes around.”

‘Ikale Tahi head coach Tu’ifua told The Fiji Times in Nuku’alofa they are looking for a win this Friday at home.

He said the game is important for them to win.

“Competition wise it is so important to win this game moving forward for the knockout next week,” he told the newspaper.

“Secondly, it is the anniversary between Fiji and Tonga so it can be a history-making for our group, and it is vitally important that we perform well.”

Countering Fiji’s speed and physicality is something they have been working on.

“We are looking at our defence and execution as well as our discipline,” he said.

“Fiji will play their Fijian style of rugby with a bit of physicality and conditioning wise as well. The biggest threats from the Fijians have always been their speed and their offloads.

“Possession is so important, so we can’t give away any possessions or penalties.”

Big Ben Tameifuna has been retained as captain with the coaches also opting for changes.

Tough number eight Lotu Inisi and brother, winger Fine are also retained, after impressive outings last week, where Lotu scored a double.

The match kicks off at 3pm.

Fijian fan Jonetani Baisagale, who lives in Nuku'alofa, with Flying Fijian number eight Albert Tuisue in Kolomotu'a, Tonga on Thursday after the team's captain run. Photo: Jonetani Baisagale

Fijian fan Jonetani Baisagale, who lives in Nuku’alofa, with Flying Fijian number eight Albert Tuisue in Kolomotu’a, Tonga on Thursday after the team’s captain run. Photo: Jonetani Baisagale Photo: Jonetani Baisagale

If Tonga wins by 27 points that will throw the Pacific pool open, with the top two teams then decided by points average.

But a Flying Fijian will see them and Manu Samoa advancing into the semi-finals in Tokyo next week, with Tonga meeting Canada in the play-off for fifth and sixth.

The teams:

‘Ikale Tahi lineup: 1 Jethro Felemi, 2 Solomone Aniseko, Ben Tameifuna (c), 4 Harison Mataele, 5 Onehunga Kaufusi, 6 Tevita Ahokovi, 7 Tupou Afungia, 8 Lotu Inisi, 9 Aisea Halo, 10 Patrick Pellegrini, 11 Samuel Tuitupou, 12 Fetuli Paea (v/c), 13 Fine Inisi, 14 Esau Filimoehala, 15 Nikolai Foliaki (v/c); Reserves – 16 Penisoni Fineanganofo, 17 Salesi Tuifua, 18 Brandon Televave, 19 Paea Fonoifua, 20 Sosefo Sakalaia, 21 Siaosi Nai, 22 Tyler Pulini, 23 Latu Akauola

Flying Fijians lineup: 1 Eroni Mawi, 2 Tevita Ikanivere (c), 3 Samuela Tawake, 4 Mesake Vocevoce, 5 Temo Mayanavanua, 6 Ratu Mele Derenalagi, 7 Elia Canakaivata, 8 Albert Tuisue, 9 Frank Lomani, 10 Caleb Muntz, 11 Epeli Momo, 12 Adrea Cocagi, 13 Iosefo Masi, 14 Vuate Karawalevu, 15 Isaiah Washington-Ravula; Reserves – 16 Mesulame Dolokoto, 17 Haereiti Hetet, 18 Peni Ravai, 19 Ratu Leone Rotuisola, 20 Kitione Salawa, 21 Peni Matawalu, 22 Inia Tabuavou, 23 Ilaisa Droasese

Norman Kirk’s Tongan tapa cloth unveiled in its new home

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Jimmy Ellingham of rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

A Tongan tapa cloth presented to prime minister Norman Kirk has come out of storage to show off its full beauty.

The intricate patterns of the tapa cloth, which Sesi Mausia says could be older than 50 years.

The intricate patterns of the tapa cloth, which Sesi Mausia says could be older than 50 years. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham

Fifty years to the day after Kirk’s state funeral, another ceremony was held in Palmerston North on Wednesday.

A couple of dozen people turned out to remember Kirk and unveil the special piece of Pacific art in its new home, in city MP Tangi Utikere’s electorate office.

It was a gift from Kirk’s private secretary Margaret Hayward.

“In those days – this is in the 1970s – there was no person to curate any gifts at parliament,” she said.

“Parliament was very backward because no extra money was spent on anything.”

This included the carpet. Hayward recalls the threadbare floors people had to avoid tripping on.

“When notables like prime ministers and leaders of the opposition were given gifts, they were sometimes not able to be put up in their homes.

“They didn’t know what to do with them, to be quite frank. Mr Kirk used to hand them to staff and say: ‘Could you do something with this or could you look after this?’.”

Hayward has looked after the tapa cloth for 51 years. Kirk received it at the South Pacific forum in Apia, Samoa, in 1973.

“I never actually saw it presented to him. It was probably in one of the sessions.

“When I saw Tangi and showed it to him he said it’s definitely Tongan. He picked it in one. It’s so big and it’s taken so much work that it would just be criminal, I think, if it was lost.”

Hayward initially hung it on the wall of her place in Wellington, but when she moved she did not have a space big enough, so lately it has been in storage at her Kāpiti Coast home.

She recently asked if parliament had a Pasifika room where it might hang, but it does not.

Margaret Hayward, left, says she was delighted to learn of the cloth's history from Sesi Mausia.

Margaret Hayward, left, says she was delighted to learn of the cloth’s history from Sesi Mausia. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham

Utikere – who is of Cook Islands heritage and a Labour MP like Kirk – said he would take it and put it on display.

Hayward said she was delighted to learn the meaning of the intricate patterns on the tapa cloth, which stands about 2×4 metres and depicts a Tongan shield, doves, trees and lions.

She worked for Kirk for eight years until his death, aged 51, on 31 August 1974. It shocked the nation.

He had won office in a Labour landslide in 1972 and in two years was racing through his policy agenda on the home front and abroad.

His government recognised China and protested French nuclear testing in the Pacific, although New Zealand was facing uncertain economic times.

His last public appearance was in Palmerston North, opening a school.

Kirk was firmly of the working class, building his Canterbury family home brick by brick.

So it is likely he would have appreciated the artistry that went into turning the bark of mulberry trees into a tapa cloth.

Reverend Sesi Mausia – who blessed the cloth in Utikere’s office on Wednesday – said the work that went into creating them was immense.

The plants were grown, cut down, and their skins pulled off and dried. After a couple of weeks or a month they are soaked in water to soften, then beaten and stretched to become a piece of tapa.

Then the pieces are joined together and the pictures hand drawn.

Mausia said the cloth Kirk was given could be a lot older than 50 years, judging by its style, and it made her as a Pasifika woman feel welcome, offering a silent greeting.

Tangi Utikere says he's honoured to have the cloth hang in his office.

Tangi Utikere says he’s honoured to have the cloth hang in his office. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham

Utikere said he looked back at Kirk’s focus on education, support for trade unions and the importance he placed on security in the Pacific – so he was delighted to have a marker of the former prime minister so close.

“It’s pretty special, and learning the history and provenance today makes it even more so.”

The ceremony on Wednesday was held 50 years to the day of Kirk’s state funeral in Wellington, which Hayward said was an unforgettable occasion.

“The thing about Mr Kirk is he never thought anyone really cared very much about what he did. I kept thinking if he could have been there he wouldn’t have believed it.

“The Queen sent Prince Charles out and that was very nice too. A whole lot of things happened that day that were mind-blowing.

“There was a wonderful Māori choir. It was absolutely fantastic – very moving.”

St Vincent de Paul to open first shop in Tonga

By
Kaniva Staff
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By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

St Vincent de Paul organisation in New Zealand are sending a container load of clothing, household utensils and medical goods to their sister organisation in Tonga.

Nuku’alofa

The Tonga branch is being supported to open its first ever shop in the Kingdom in September.

Last week, St Vincent de Paul in Porirua sent 41 banana boxes of goods to Auckland to be shipped to Tonga along with donations from other chapters around the country.

St Vincent de Paul twinning coordinator Arthur Schultz says the Tonga shop initiative is the first of its kind for St Vincent de Paul and is an integral part of a three-year strategic plan to help them with their work and support for families in need in the kingdom.

Mr Schultz says they are also sending pallets of medical equipment to support their sister organisation in Samoa.

He spoke with RNZ Pacific reporter Grace Fiavaai Grace who began by asking how they decide what to send to the islands.

‘Significant concern about influence China has’ – security expert on PIF Taiwan communique bungle

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Don Wiseman, of rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

Last week’s Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ summit ended dramatically when China demanded the conference communique be changed to eliminate a reference to Taiwan.

China's Ambassador to the Pacific, Qian Bo, takes questions from the media in Tonga.

China’s Ambassador to the Pacific, Qian Bo, takes questions from the media in Tonga. Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Lydia Lewis

The document had made a reference to the Forum reaffirming its relations to Taiwan, which has been a development partner since 1992.

But the Chinese Ambassador to the Pacific, Qian Bo, was furious and the document was rewritten.

RNZ Pacific asked Massey University lecturer in security studies, Dr Anna Powles, what she made of all of this.

(The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.)

Anna Powles: I think for a start, it isn’t actually surprising the way in which China, through its Special Envoy, Qian Bo, reacted to the inclusion of section 66 which reaffirms the 1992 agreement between the Pacific Islands Forum and Taiwan as a development partner. I don’t think it’s particularly surprising that China did react that way to the inclusion of it in the communique, given their own sensitivities.

However, it does raise serious questions about the level of influence that external actors have on the Pacific Islands Forum.

Don Wiseman: The pressure on the Forum over Taiwan goes back a long way. I can remember going to Forums 20 years ago, and the Taiwanese meeting would always be held off site, and a significant way off site. It’s just remarkable that the Forum itself would buckle so easily.

AP: Look, I certainly do agree. I think this raises some very serious concerns about the way in which an external partner, such as China, is able to really seek to disrupt the status quo, and by that, I’m referring to Taiwan’s relationship with the Pacific Island Forum, because it does effectively sit within the regional architecture as a consequence of the 1992 agreement. It also reflects the way in which China is seeking to utilise Forum processes in order to squeeze Taiwan even further.

Taiwan now has three allies remaining in the Pacific, that’s Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, and that has significant consequences. Going forward, for a period of time, the Pacific Islands Forum has been able to keep China at bay when it has sought to push the Forum to adopt a One China policy, or in Beijing’s term, a one China principle. And the Forum has been able to push back on the basis that that it has a number of its members recognise Taiwan, but as the numbers there are dwindling, that becomes increasingly more difficult.

Now, of course, Solomon Islands has been key to all of this, because Prime Minister [Jeremiah] Manele raised the issue of Taiwan being a development partner, because of Taiwan being a non-sovereign country, and this really speaks to concerns, key flash points, that we can see down the track.

One of which obviously is the fact that Solomon Islands will be hosting the Pacific Islands Forum next year, which raises questions around Taiwan and the ability of Taiwan to participate, and Prime Minister Manele did not answer that question when asked at the press conference last week in Tonga.

But it also raises questions around, as part of the review of the regional architecture, there is a tiered approach that will be adopted. Tier one are the other strategic partners – so those countries that partner with the Forum, and tier two, which refers to the broader range of entities. The question here is: where does Taiwan fit between tier one and tier two? Those questions will certainly need to be answered.

DW: One of the odd things is the amount of aid that has come from Taiwan for the Pacific, particularly for countries like Nauru, over the years. Millions and millions of dollars that rescued that country before it discovered the value of having detention camps on the island, and got a heap of money from Australia, but they needed Taiwan to pay for everything. It’s just astounding that now these countries can blithely forget about that. And the most zealous of all of the new friends is, it would seem, Kiribati.

AP: Indeed, across social media, has certainly been a topic of conversation about the way in which Taiwan, as you say, so recently a partner to Kiribati, to Solomon Islands, for instance, is effectively being sidelined in these attempts to really strip Taiwan of its status in the region. It’s worth noting too that at the Forum last week Taiwan and the Forum signed another agreement with additional funds going from Taiwan to the Pacific Islands Forum. Taiwan is a development partner in the region, and has been for a long period of time.

These efforts to strip Taiwan of its status and to effectively disrupt and reshape the status quo within the regional architecture are deeply concerning, and the Pacific Islands Forum certainly need to really invest in ways to better manage these types of crises going forward, whether that be through establishing some forms of guardrails for instance.

Or even as part of the proposed Ocean of Peace declaration. But there really do need to be some serious discussions about how to better manage this because the dangers are that it could reinforce the divisions felt between the North Pacific and the rest of the Pacific. The Solomon Islands, as I said, is hosting the Forum meeting next year.

But then in 2026 Palau will be hosting the Forum meeting. We certainly do not want to see those splits that led to the Micronesian members seeking to withdraw from the Forum re-emerging, again, as a consequence of these geopolitical plays.

DW: What do you think will happen at this point? I mean what are they saying for instance, in Canberra or Washington about what happened the other day?

AP: The perspective is that China has effectively gotten its way by having the section 66 removed from the communique. The Secretariat [of the Forum] itself has stated that it was an error that that version of the communique went up online – that it was not the agreed communication. There’s still a lack of transparency around the processes, the process by which this took place.

DW: It is actually odd that that reference was there. Taiwan has been an associate since 1992 but in various communiques, I can’t remember any reference to Taiwan before, but someone, somewhere thought it was a good idea to put it in there.

AP: Exactly. And so that it isn’t clear in my conversations with people in the region. It certainly does seem that that was an error, possibly coming out of conversations that were had at the leaders’ retreat, perhaps. Then the decision was made to insert that. But certainly I can’t imagine that there would have been consensus across all leaders to have that inserted into the communique, given Solomon Islands and Kiribati have both been fairly strong on Taiwan’s position within the regional architecture. It is surprising.

I do think it’s worth noting that the 92′ agreement was in the 1992 Forum communique, which was actually held in Solomon Islands. There is a degree of synchronicity here. But also there are concerns around the way in which the Forum is sufficiently robust and able to withstand these types of pressures that we have seen over the past few days from China, and obviously there will be a great deal of concern in Canberra and Wellington about this.

But I would say, for Pacific countries, and you would know this very well, Don, there have been long standing concerns about the level of influence that a range of actors have had over the Forum agenda, including Australia and New Zealand.

This isn’t necessarily new, but it is certainly no less concerning, particularly when we see footage of Special Envoy Qian Bo having a conversation with Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, who assures him the communique will be corrected. So again, significant concern about the degree of overreach and influence and access that China has into the Forum processes.

MSD bans ‘deceptive and underhanded’ use of fake social media profiles

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Phil Pennington of rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) will permanently ban staff from using fake profiles on social media sites to spy on beneficiaries in fraud investigations.

no caption

The Ministry of Social Development has taken years to implement a policy on using fake social media profiles. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

RNZ inquiries have revealed the ministry secretly used the fake profiles for years, before suspending the practice in 2021 when parliament was asked about it.

But a policy that bans the practice only fully kicks in from next month.

“We accept that the policy has taken considerable time to finalise,” MSD told RNZ.

Internal papers show the ministry knew by 2017 that the use of fake profiles was a “misleading” practice, and that it was breaking social media platforms’ own rules, but judged the risk was worth it to get hold of personal information.

“This practice does not currently break any New Zealand laws,” said a 2017 report newly released to RNZ under the OIA. “Currently the MSD Acting Security Intelligence Manager accepts the risk of using fake profiles to hide the identity of the analyst.”

But by 2021, independent reviewers were telling the ministry the practice “can be viewed as deceptive and underhanded”.

“The use of pseudo or skeleton social media profiles is of particular concern,” they said.

They found the controls were “ineffective” – not all the information gathered online of people who were not targets was being blurred out, which appeared to be “unnecessarily invasive and a potential intrusion of privacy on the general public”.

The papers showed the ministry paused the practice in June 2021, after a question in Parliament was asked about pseudo profiles.

It had already been using the fakes for years by then.

The practice persisted throughout the course of several inquiries and a 2018 crackdown across the public sector, aimed at rooting out dodgy information-gathering practices. This came after other agencies were caught using private spy firms to surveil the public.

Around this time, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment was criticised over training its staff to use fake social media personas in immigration investigations.

But the Ministry of Social Development carried on with the practice.

A public inquiry in 2019 found MSD had acted improperly and breached people’s privacy in gathering data without them knowing – but it failed to mention the use of fake personas.

RNZ has asked the Office of the Privacy Commissioner – which carried out the inquiry – if it knew about the practice.

The 2019 inquiry found that up to two-thirds of all investigations did not turn up evidence of fraud.

The ministry kept the use of fake personas secret from clients and the public.

“We inform clients of information we gather, and this is covered on the Work and Income website Privacy Notice. However this Privacy Notice did not include reference to the use of pseudo profiles for gathering information from social media that was stopped in 2021,” spokesperson George van Ooyen told RNZ.

The fake profiles came to light in an American researcher’s work this year, but it did not go into details.

Van Ooyen said MSD accepted that the 2021 internal assurance review by Ernst and Young had highlighted that “our practice wasn’t up to standard”.

The review said: “Ineffective controls within the intelligence unit over the use of social media for information gathering purposes not only poses an unmitigated privacy risk for the ministry, but also a significant reputational risk.”

Van Ooyen said it was important to note the social media info gathering was “passive”, as analysts merely logged in with the fake profiles and did not interact with others.

Only publicly available information was harvested with the fake profiles, and analysts were told not to go “fishing” for beneficiaries other than the target, the papers said.

They suggest the ministry was using fake profiles for years without any social media guidelines, which it first introduced in 2017.

Analysts were using “discreet online persona … to mitigate the risk of leaving a footprint behind, and potential identification by the person they are looking into”.

“Skeleton” profiles had fake names and fake email addresses but “no profile picture will be used, no pages liked and any interaction with comments/likes will not happen”.

“This will make sure the profile does not mislead anyone further than already necessary,” the 2017 guidelines said.

“Analysts will not engage in misleading behaviour to collect private information. Thus, they are not collecting information through a manner that is deemed unlawful, unfair or unreasonably intrusive.”

The fake personas were used to varying extents across five popular platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter and LinkedIn.

“We are currently breaking the terms and conditions for the different platforms when using a false account,” its 2017 guidelines said.

But since it only risked deactivation of a profile if it were caught, the risk was “worth taking as the payoff of the information gathered would outweigh” it.

In 2018, the Public Service Commission – spurred by a public outcry – issued stricter guidelines, demanding agencies have policies and be transparent about how they gathered personal information.

It has taken MSD until now to come up with a policy. This was circulated internally in July, to be implemented by October.

Van Ooyen said the delay was due to the pandemic and having to focus on the wage subsidy scheme.

“This was a very substantial programme of work,” he said.

The new policy still allows investigations to use social media, but MSD must identify itself. It can no longer use profiles on Facebook.

MSD told RNZ it did not use fake personas for its investigations into Covid-19 wage subsidies.

The newly released papers also show that MSD moved in 2022 to find out if it was complying with the public sector guidelines on information gathering issued four years before, with an independent review finding that it largely was by then.

Woman died in Waikato Hospital because cardiac alarm volume was turned down

By
Kaniva Staff
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By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

A woman who suffered a heart attack died in Waikato Hospital because no one heard her alarm going off.

Waikato Hospital

The woman died in Waikato Hospital’s emergency department. Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers

The 84-year-old, who had been living in an aged care facility, was admitted to the hospital’s emergency department (ED) with severe chest pain in February 2023.

While waiting for a cardiology assessment, the patient was put on a bedside cardiac monitor.

She later went into cardiac arrest, but it took ED staff several minutes to notice her monitor alarm had been activated.

The patient was found unresponsive and resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.

A coroner’s inquiry into the death found the alarm volume had been turned down to an inaudible level. The inquiry was unable to determine who lowered the volume.

Coroner Ian Telford did not accept Health New Zealand (HNZ) Waikato’s claim earlier intervention would not have changed the outcome. HNZ Waikato said the patient had an extensive cardiac history.

But Telford said the death may have been prevented if the patient’s arrhythmia was detected and treated quicker.

The inquiry also found the patient had not been checked on for two hours before she died.

Telford said not being seen by a nurse for over two hours in a critical care setting like ED was not acceptable.

“At the time of the critical event, the nurse-to-patient ratio that night was lower than the ratio recommended by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the College of Emergency Nurses New Zealand.”

However, Telford said he could not determine if increased staffing would have made a difference.

“Put simply, even if there were more staff on duty, they may have all similarly failed to hear or see the monitoring devices alarm.”

He recommended alarms for critical events in the hospital be audible and easily distinguished from other alarms.

He said frequent non-critical alarms were distracting and resulted in “alarm fatigue”.

He also called for medical and nursing staff to be appropriately trained on using the monitoring system.

He said HNZ Waikato had taken steps to ensure future patient safety, and therefore did not refer the case to the Health and Disability Commission.

But short-staffing continued to be an issue for Waikato Hospital.

A patient who spoke to RNZ from their hospital bed said they had waited more than a month for cardiac surgery.

Last week, another patient waited more than 16 hours in the hospital’s ED with suspected internal bleeding only to be referred back to their GP.

And on Friday more than 600 nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants, students, and administration staff walked off the job at the hospital over recruitment concerns.

Patients queue from before dawn to see doctors at low-cost South Auckland clinic

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Luka Forman of rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

Dozens of unwell or injured people desperate to see a doctor are queuing for hours outside a South Auckland clinic every morning.

Tiu Tuitara, right, a patient at Local Doctors Otara, with Dr Silva Ponnampalam.

Tiu Tuitara, right, a patient at Local Doctors Otara, says it is a long wait to see doctors like Silva Ponnampalam, left. Photo: Luka Forman

Local Doctors Otara is part of the Very Low Cost Access scheme, which subsidised GP appointments in communities with the greatest healthcare issues, and the greatest need.

It charged a co-payment of $19.50 – which is significantly cheaper than many general practices or urgent care centres in Auckland, where appointments typically cost more than $60 per visit.

Staff at the clinic had reported people queuing for hours before it opened, even through the winter.

Local Doctors Otara is owned by Tāmaki Health, which has more than 40 GP surgeries and clinics throughout New Zealand. Its chief executive Lloyd McCann told Checkpoint the daily queues to see a doctor were “a sign of desperate times”.

“We’ve unfortunately been having queues develop outside our clinic where people come in the early hours of the morning to get a place as far to the front of the queue as possible to ensure they are seen by our doctors and nurses so they can get the healthcare they need.”

The lines were starting as early as 6.30am, and staff were opening up soon after they arrived, he said.

“Our teams will generally get in quite early as well – our doors formally open at 8am but the teams will generally get in by 7am, 7.15 to get prepared, to ensure that we can get patients in by a quarter to eight.

“But the fact remains people are queuing up – obviously these are the winter months as well – from as early as 6.30 in the morning in some instances.”

Patient Tiu Tuiatara said he had heart problems and needed to see his doctor regularly.

“I have to wait [outside] for like an hour and a half. It’s a long queue before you get in here, and then you wait for another three or four hours.”

On Monday, Tuiatara waited at the clinic for about three hours to be seen for a different issue with his ankle.

He said he lost count of the number of people waiting outside the clinic.

“There’s too many of us – I don’t count because I just want to get in here. But it is long, it is a long wait.”

He was worried about what would happen if he could not a see a doctor regularly.

“My blood pressure is very high. And with this pain it doesn’t help. I’ve got a heart problem – I don’t think [my doctor] wants me to get a heart attack. I don’t want myself to get a heart attack too.”

His doctor, Silva Ponnampalam, said she seeing the queue outside her clinic every morning made her very sad.

“I’ve seen even people with children wait there… sickness will get worse, there are people with COPD, asthma, so many things. Exposed to the cold that will get worse.”

McCann said the clinic was seeing patients with a range of ailments, with respiratory tract infections much more common in the winter months, as well as workplace injuries, he said.

The numbers were growing month by month, and it was not uncommon to have 20 to 30 people turning up early on a Monday morning, he said.

The reception and waiting room at Local Doctors Otara, where patients often queue before dawn to be seen by a doctor or nurse.

The reception and waiting room at Local Doctors Otara, where patients often queue before dawn to be seen by a doctor or nurse. Photo: Luka Forman

“It is safe to say that healthcare need is increasing. While we’ve always had people struggle to get access to primary care, what we’re seeing is that our patients are presenting with more complex needs.

“Patients have multiple co-morbidities as well – so that often takes longer to work through the number of health challenges they do have. So the situation is getting worse.

“Our teams don’t want this to be occurring but it is a sign of how desperate people are to get healthcare.”

As a VLCA (Very Low Cost Access) practice, it received additional funding given the high-needs population it served, which in turn meant lower up-front charges for patients.

“I think it again speaks to the inadequacy of funding generally for primary care and for general practice. But certainly the organisation has always been focused on low-cost, high-access [care] and that is something we continue to focus on because a number of the communities we serve have the highest health need given their co-morbidity status and a number of other social determinants of health.”

The underfunding of GP services was a political issue that had been “decades in the making”, he said.

“There is no doubt that primary care is a component of the sector that has been hugely underinvested in for a number of years.

“This is not a current government, or a previous government problem – it’s a problem that’s been decades in the making, where funding hasn’t kept up with increasing demand, increasing complexity, and increasing health inflation.

“If we are to invest more… what we will see over a period of time … is a better functioning health system for everyone.

“Because if we are able to detect illness and disease earlier, if we are able to invest more in the preventative component of health, it will mean we will save downstream on the more costly interventions that generally take place in hospitals.”

New ‘gay’ chief justice sworn in after king refused to sign CEDAW in fear it would allow ‘same-sex marriages’

By
Kalino Latu
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Malcolm Leslie Bishop KC has been sworn in for a four-year term as Tonga’s new Chief Justice.

Tonga’s new Chief Justice Malcolm Leslie Bishop (L) sworn in in Nuku’alofa. Photo/PM Office

He is now the Lord Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and President of the Land Court of Tonga.

“Hon Malcolm Leslie Bishop KC took his oath this morning in Cabinet, as the newly appointed Lord Chief Justice”, said the Prime Minister’s Office.

The event was witnessed by the Honourable Hu’akavameiliku, the Prime Minister, and members of the Cabinet.

The appointment of Mr Bishop from Wales, UK, has faced strong criticism due to his sexual orientation.

As Kaniva News reported last week, Senior Tongan lawyer Clive Edwards Snr alleged that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, such as Mr Bishop, may be breaching Tonga’s laws prohibiting sodomy.

Mr Edwards also expressed concerns about Mr Bishop’s ability to remain impartial in court cases involving sodomy over which he would preside.

In 2021, Tonga’s then Chief Justice, Mr Michael Whitten, sentenced an 18-year-old teenager to 42 months imprisonment after sodomising a 14-year-old boy.

CEDAW

The controversy surrounding the appointment of the new Chief Judge arises about a decade after protests had been staged against the Akilisi Pōhiva government’s decision to ratify CEDAW.

ABC Radio reported that the King of Tonga finally decided to withdraw the government’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

“There has been a strong reaction from churches and members of the public against CEDAW, over fears it could lead to abortion and same sex marriage in the conservative kingdom”, it said.

“King Tupou VI has met with his privy council and issued a memorandum saying that he never authorised any of his Ministers to sign or ratify CEDAW and he has instructed his ministers to annul Tonga’s signature or ratification of the CEDAW Treaty”.

The king also said the government’s move to ratify CEDAW was “unconstitutional”.

The King, in a statement, said he wanted to acknowledge the concerns of 13,048 of his subjects who have sent eight petitions to him, RNZ reported at the time.

Tonga is one of only seven countries, including the United States, which have not ratified the convention.

LGBTQ+ lifestyle

As we reported last week, a petition was currently being organised to urge the king to revoke his appointment of Mr Bishop as the new Chief Judge after it was revealed that his LGBTQ+ lifestyle might violate Tonga’s law, which prohibits sodomy.

The petition stems from the revelation that Mr Bishop and his late partner, Anthony Vander Woerd, another man, lived together as a gay couple for 51 years.

The Legal Futures website reported earlier this month that Mr Bishop is an LGBTQ barrister, and he is open about his sexual orientation and gender identity.

The online legal news source also reported Barrister and TV personality Rob Rinder as saying that he had previously named Mr Bishop as his LGBTQ hero.

Rinder also reportedly said that in 2021, Mr Bishop “was an out gay barrister when I arrived in chambers over 20 years ago” and described him as “somebody that I looked up to, who was quite literally modelling a life that I aspired to”.

Same-sex marriages have been legal in England and Wales since March 29, 2014.

Churches and legal stakeholders in the kingdom were planning petitions and marches to the king, urging His Majesty to rescind Mr Bishop’s appointment.

Tongan sodomy law

Lawyer Clive Edwards said Mr Bishop’s gay lifestyle, in the eyes of the law of Tonga, was regarded as committing sodomy.

Tonga’s Criminal Act  section 136 about Sodomy and bestiality says:

“Whoever shall be convicted of the crime of sodomy with another person or bestiality with any animal shall be liable at the discretion of the Court to be imprisoned for any period not exceeding ten years and such animal shall be killed by a public officer. (Substituted by Act 9 of 1987)”.

Christian life

After attending Ruabon Grammar School near Wrexham in Wales, he pursued theology studies at Oxford University.

More recently, he started translating the New Testament into modern English, much of which was done during Covid, and had recently published The Gospels – a lawyer’s translation from the original Greek. He said his translation of the whole of the New Testament would be published by the end of the year.

He was called to the Bar in 1968 and is now a King’s Counsel.

He served as a Deputy High Court Judge, Recorder of the Crown Court, Chairman of the Isle of Man Legal Services Commission, Bencher of the Inner Temple, and member of the Family Law Bar Association Committee. He was formerly a member of the Bar Council.

He has also been a Prospective parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party, standing for Bath in February 1974 and October 1974.

Manu Samoa demolish Tonga 43-17

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Vaelei Von Dincklage, Samoa Observer

Manu Samoa demolished Tonga 43-17 on home soil in their second Pacific Nations Cup at Apia Park on Friday evening, keeping alive hopes of a semi-final spot.

Manu Samoa demolish Tonga 43-17

Melani Matavao fights for the ball. Samoa beat Tonga 43-17. (Photo: Junior S Ami)

Like last week, it was two different tales in each of the halves. The team showed discipline and good skill sets in the first half to lead 17-0. The second half had the team scoring more, however, the skill display left the head coach slightly disappointed.

Mase Mahonri Schwalger said even though they won he is quite disappointed that the game plan was not followed.

“We take the win. Pretty disappointed with some of our skill-set that I saw out there. They didn’t really secure the game plan that we worked so hard on in the last couple of days. But a win is a win. We’re happy,” he said.

He was also happy to have former players watching from the stands. He believes it was great to have the boys who paved the way for them to be there.

Samoa mounted a good lead in the first half through tries to Tuna Tuitama and Stacey Ili. Tuitama got his brace in the second spell with Izaiha Moore-Aiono and Samuel Slade getting their names on the score sheet as well.

Former Manu Samoa captain Paul Williams was in the stands. The game brought memories of his debut.

“I was fortunate to play for the Manu in 2010. It was my debut against Tonga here in Apia, and my last game was in 2016. So I got one World Cup in 2011 in New Zealand. It was a real privilege to represent our country,” he said.

“This certainly brought back memories, pulling out all the hard strings, emotions, and running. It was great to see the boys pull up a good win. Good scoreline, they were dominating that first half, some great running rugby and some great tries.”

“I was impressed, a fair few mistakes but at the same time, I know it’s not easy. For the Manu to pull out a lead like that was impressive.”

Tongan coach Tevita Tu’ifua said his boys did not play well.

“First of all, congratulations to Samoa on their 100-year celebration of rugby and also to Mase and the Manu Samoa team. In the game today, our boys did not play well, we lost a lot of possession, and we can’t play without the ball. There was a lot of learning taking it towards our next game with Fiji at home,” he said.

Samoa will get a rest next week as Fiji take on Tonga in Nukualofa. A win for Fiji means Samoa is through to the semi-finals.

Tongan family in Auckland struck by triple tragedy as second son dies at sea and cousin succumbs to cancer

By
Kalino Latu
-

A family from the village of Pea in Tonga, currently living in Auckland, is grappling with the loss of their son.

(Inset) Setaita ‘Ofa Tu’ungafasi (L) and Māsila Siua

He drowned after his boat capsized and sank in the Manukau Harbour on Tuesday afternoon.

Kaniva News can now reveal the name of the victim as Māsila Siua.

The police Eagle helicopter made the discovery on Thursday afternoon near Puketutu Island, where the deceased was last seen.

His body was recovered by police divers with help from the police maritime unit.

It is understood that Māsila was on a fishing trip with a nephew who raised the alarm that someone was missing after a treacherous swim to shore in large swells.

The boat was recovered and towed back to shore on Tuesday evening.

Eldest brother’s death

The family previously faced a similar tragic event in 2007 when Māsila’s oldest brother, Palu Siua, disappeared in the coastal waters of Gulf Harbour.

In that incident, Auckland Police said Palu and his companion were in their four-metre aluminium boat when several large waves swept across it, causing it to sink rapidly.

Both men went into the water, but the relative was able to swim to shore.

The Police recovered Palu’s body five days later near Auckland’s Okoromai Bay.

Cousin dies from cancer

The family is also in mourning due to the passing of Māsila’s first cousin, Setaita ‘Ofa Tu’ungafasi, who succumbed to cancer in Auckland.

Kaniva News has learned that Tu‘ungafasi passed away last night.

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