A Tongan Supreme Court judge has accused Learned Magistrate Similoni Tu’akalau of failing to recuse himself from a case involving an acquaintance.
The case had been successfully appealed and a Supreme Court decision ordered a retrial before a different Magistrate Court judge.
The Supreme Court had been told Mr Tu’akalau had declared the conflict of interest before presiding over the case.
The Supreme Court judgement said Tongatapu police stopped a vehicle with broken taillights at Fanga in September 2023.
The driver was Uasike Pailate, and the passenger was the accused, Ma’ake Kali.
Upon close inspection, the police found a wet boat engine inside the vehicle next to Kali, who was sitting in the car’s passenger seat.
They seized the engine and took it to the police station.
Not long after the engine was seized, Sione Silivou Taufalele of Tatakamotonga reported to the police that his engine had been stolen from his boat at a beach.
Police believed the seized engine belonged to Taufalele, so they charged Kali with theft.
Magistrate decision
The case previously went to the Magistrate Court before Mr Tu’akalau acquitted Kali.
Mr Tu’akalau in his judgement ruled that the Crown had not proven all the elements of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
He saidl that in relation to the element determining the value of the boat engine, there was no evidence given that verifies the value of the boat engine at $7,000. This would especially need to determine a sentence if Kali was to be found guilty.
In relation to the element of Kali taking Taufalele’s boat engine, Mr Tu’akalau said no evidence proving or witnessing that Kali took the boat engine from Taufalele’s boat was put forward in court.
However, Supreme Court judge ‘Elisapeti Langi said: “Another issue raised by the Prosecution and which, in my view, clouds the judgement of the Learned Magistrate is the fact that he is closely acquainted with the accused and his family”.
Justice Langi said Mr Tu’akalau had clearly informed the Prosecution that he is very good friends with the accused’s older brother and that he finds it difficult to judge this case.
However, the Prosecution had agreed for the Learned Magistrate to hear the trial because the case had been around for too long.
“In my view, His Worship should have removed himself from hearing this case as there was a real likelihood of bias”, Justice Langi said.
“Although the Prosecution agreed for him to hear the case, the Learned Magistrate should have removed himself as he had confessed to finding it difficult for him to judge this case”.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s candidate, has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate in the United States presidential election, according to US media reports.
Harris, the first woman and first Black and South Asian person to serve as vice president, considered a broad field of candidates during a fast vetting process in the race for the White House, after President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid on July 21.
Walz, 60, who was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018 and won re-election in 2022, would bring to the presidential ticket a record of defeating Republicans in a Midwestern state.
Harris, 59, will hold a major rally with her vice presidential pick later on Tuesday in Philadelphia in the swing state of Pennsylvania, followed by rallies in Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada through Saturday.
The duo will face off against the Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance in the November election.
If they win, then Walz will be second in line for the presidency.
A veteran of the US Army National Guard, Walz serves as co-chair of the Democratic National Convention’s rules committee.
As governor, he has overseen state approval of the right to abortion, protected gender-affirming care and introduced free school meals for students.
Electric fly-half Patrick Pellegrini has signed with Moana Pasifika for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
The 25-year-old is coming off two stellar seasons with the Coventry club in England, finishing the 2023/24 season as the top points scorer in the Championship.
He also received the Coventry Rugby Supporters’ Club Player of the Year Award and was named in the Championship team of the season.
Born and raised in Sydney and of Tongan descent through his mother, Pellegrini represented the ‘Ikale Tahi at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. He also played for the New South Wales U20s team and the New South Wales schoolboys side.
Pellegrini is a menace on attack with a dangerous side-step and blistering speed. He reads the defence well and can adapt to any situation, creating opportunities for his teammates.
His dedication to growth and persistence throughout his rugby journey is admirable, and are qualities that Moana Pasifika respects and embraces.
Pellegrini played for Sevenoaks in England’s fifth tier of club rugby before his stint with Coventry in the second division, catching the eye of Tongan national selectors.
He said he’s excited to live out a childhood dream with Moana Pasifika.
“I’m really excited to join Moana Pasifika for the upcoming season. I’m looking forward to learning from a very experienced coaching staff and team. As well as grow and develop as a player and bring my own experiences and style to Moana,” said Pellegrini.
“Playing Super Rugby has always been a goal of mine since I was a kid and started playing rugby so I can’t wait.”
“With my heritage and experience playing for the ‘Ikale Tahi, joining an organisation like Moana Pasifika is a great opportunity and a very proud moment for myself and my family.”
Head Coach of Moana Pasifika, Fa’alogo Tana Umaga, said he’s looking forward to welcoming Pellegrini to the team.
“Patrick has had an inspiring rugby journey so far rising through the ranks, playing some awesome rugby in England and on the international stage with Tonga,” said Umaga.
“He brings tremendous attacking skills and an ability to play what’s in front of him, allowing his teammates to thrive.”
“We’re stoked to have Patrick join the Moana Pasifika fāmili and know he’ll make an impact.”
Tonga Netball has selected 16 players for trials to choose the Under-21 National team for the World Youth Cup (NWYC) Oceania Qualifiers in the Cook Islands in September.
Nine members of the U21 team are members of the National Tala Netball team,
The top three teams in the qualifiers will earn a spot at the Netball World Youth Cup next year.
They were expected to start a training camp soon to finalize the selection of a team of 12 players.
Players:
Alice Cocker
Isabella Fainga’anuku
Lose Fainga’anuku
Lucia Fauonuku
Lupe Fonua
Joesi Gisinger
Lata Holi
Liesl Hopoate
Ana Kailahi
Elisapeta Lousi
Soana Manuofetoa
Emma Mateo
Beyonce Palavi
Sovika Pousini
Siulolo Richter
Jaelin Tulikaki
New healthcare waste incinerator and equipment for digital village initiatives
Tonga has received a high-temperature apparatus for burning waste materials, especially industrial waste until they are reduced to ash.
The new waste incinerator was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Forests (MAFF) last month, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“The incinerator handed over today is a crucial component of this initiative, designed to improve waste management practices, particularly in safely handling biomedical and agricultural waste. This equipment will significantly enhance public health and environmental protection in Tonga”, a statement said.
Among the equipment donated were screen house nets and laptops for the Digital Village Initiative (DVI).
DVI is a corporate programme by FAO that aims to combat hunger, poverty, and inequality by fostering digital rural transformation.
“This equipment aims to enhance agricultural productivity, promote digital literacy, and foster gender inclusion in agrifood systems.
“The project will support farmers, especially women, in accessing vital information, improving their practices, and increasing their market opportunities”, the statement also said.
The handover ceremony was held at the MAFF Extension and Women Development Division at Vaolōloa.
Imprisonment after fake pa‘anga note payment at petrol station led to the discovery of illicit drugs
Two men have been jailed in Tongatapu after a payment using a fake TOP$20 note led to the discovery of illegal drugs and more counterfeit pa‘anga notes.
Tupou Haupeakui was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment, while Sione Songo’imoli must serve four years and 10 months’ imprisonment.
It began after Haupeakui paid the fake money in exchange for petrol at the Galilei Enterprise petrol station before they left.
The woman who processed the payment realised it was counterfeit money and contacted the police.
The police traced and arrested Mr. Haupeakui that same day.
They searched his home address the following day, 6 September 2022.
Amongst the items they seized were $5 and $50 counterfeits notes and a torn counterfeit $50 note as well as empty packs and one test-tube,
Haupeakui admitted all those items were his.
The following day, acting on information that they received, the police raided Songo’imoli’s home.
They seized a total of $3605.00 in counterfeit money, which was found in various locations in his home. The money consisted of $5, $20, $50, and $100 notes.
Some notes had been discarded into a bucket, were not properly cut to size, and still showed parts of the white paper they had been printed and cut out of.
Today marks the 79th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 and the 39th anniversary of the Treaty of Rarotonga opening for signatures in 1985, as the world and region remember the horrors of nuclear weapons and stand in solidarity, there is still work to be done.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has stated that Japan’s discharge of treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean does not breach the Rarotonga Treaty which established a Nuclear-Free Zone in the South Pacific.
Civil Society groups who have been calling for Japan to stop the dumping in the Pacific Ocean, but Mark Brown who is also the chair of the Pacific Islands Forum and represents a country associated by name with the Rarotonga Treaty, has backtracked on both the efforts of PIFS and his own previous calls against it.
Mr Brown states during the recent 10th Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting (PALM10) meeting in Tokyo that Pacific Island Leaders stress the importance of transparency and scientific evidence to ensure that Japan’s actions do not harm the environment or public health.
But, he also defended Japan saying that the wastewater, treated using the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) to remove most radioactive materials except tritium, meets the standard set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“No, the water has been treated to remove harmful isotopes, so it’s well within the standard guidelines as outlined by the global authority on nuclear matters, the IAEA. Japan is complying with these guidelines in its discharge of wastewater into the ocean,” said Mr Brown in an Island Business article.
The Cook Islands has consistently benefited from Japanese development grants, in 2021, Japan funded through the Asian Development Bank $2 million grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan.
Together with $500,000 of in-kind contribution from the Government of the Cook Islands, the grant funded the Supporting Safe Recovery of Travel and Tourism Project. Just this year Japan provided grants for the Puaikura Volunteer Fire Brigade Association totaling US $132,680 and a further US$ 53,925 for Aitutaki’s Vaitau School.
The Contradiction
In 2023, he said it placed a special obligation on Pacific Island States because of ’the long-term consequences for Pacific peoples’ health, environment and human rights. Pacific states, he said, have a legal obligation ‘to prevent the dumping of radioactive wastes and other radioactive matter by anyone’ and ‘to not… assist or encourage the dumping by anyone of radioactive wastes and other radioactive matter at sea anywhere within the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone.
“Our people do not have anything to gain from Japan’s plan but have much at risk for generations to come.” The Pacific Islands Forum went on further to state then that the issue was an “issue of significant transboundary and intergenerational harm”.
The Rarotonga Treaty, a Cold War-era agreement, prohibits nuclear weapons testing and deployment in the region, but it does not specifically address the discharge of the treated nuclear wastewater.
Pacific civil society organisations continue to condemn Japan’s dumping of nuclear-treated wastewater. Of its planned 1.3 million tonnes of nuclear-treated wastewater, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has conducted seven sets of dumping into the Pacific Ocean and is due to commence the eighth from the 7th to the 25th of August.
Regardless of the recommendations provided by the Pacific Island Forum’s special panel of experts and civil society calls to stop Japan and for PIF Leaders to suspend Japan’s dialogue partner status, the PIF Chair Mark Brown has ignored concerns by stating his support for Japan’s nuclear wastewater dumping plans.
This decision is being viewed by the international community as a contradiction of the Treaty of Rarotonga that symbolises a genuine collaborative endeavour from the Pacific region, born out of ten years of dedication from Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, the Cook Islands, and various other nations, all working together to establish a nuclear-free zone in the South Pacific.
Treaty Ratification
Bedi Racule from a Nuclear Justice Advocate said the Treaty of Rarotonga preamble has one of the most powerful statements in any treaty ever. It is the member states’ promise for a nuclearfree Pacific.
“The spirit of the Treaty is to protect the abundance and the beauty of the islands for future generations”, Racule said. She continued to state that it is vital to ensure that the technical aspects of the Treaty and the text from the preamble is visualised.
“We need to consistently look at this Treaty because of the ongoing nuclear threats that are happening”.
Racule shared that the Treaty does not address the modern issues that we are facing like the nuclear waste dumping, and stressed that there is a dire need to increase the solidarity and the universalisation of the Treaty.
“There is quite a large portion of the Pacific that is not signed onto the Treaty. There’s still work within the Treaty that needs to be ratified. It’s almost like a check mark that’s there but it’s not being attended to”.
Terror-stricken Henderson residents recounted the gunman’s rampage in March last year – one sharing the moment he watched David Fononga point a gun out his car window and shot at police.
A man fired shots during an attempted robbery at the Henderson Valley Rd Gull service station. Two Armourguard vehicles can be seen parked in the forecourt.
Fononga was later shot and killed by AOS officers when he climbed out of his car at the Henderson Police Station and refused to drop his weapon.
In a decision released today, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that officers were justified in shooting Fononga to defend themselves and others, in what were extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
David Fononga was fatally shot by police in Henderson after a stand-off. Photo / Facebook
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At about 10.30am on March 17 last year, Fononga drove to the Gull Service Station on Forrest Hill Rd while Armourguard staff were replenishing an ATM machine.
He fired a shotgun into the ceiling and stole a cannister of cash then drove off.
About 25 minutes later, while police were at the scene, Fononga returned and presented his shotgun at them before driving off again.
In the 18 minutes that followed, Fononga drove around the Henderson area discharging his shotgun at police who were responding to the incident.
He shot at police at six different locations. The first was on Pine Ave, where he shot at a moving police patrol as it passed him at a roundabout. He then shot at another moving police patrol at a roundabout at Bruce McLaren Drive.
Both police patrols were sprayed with shotgun pellets but the officers were not injured.
In Seymour Ave a patrol car pulled over for the officer to lay road spikes. When the two officers saw Fononga approaching they took cover behind a parked civilian vehicle.
Fononga pulled up beside the police car and fired a shotgun blast through the driver’s window before driving off again.
As he approached the intersection of Awaroa Rd and Great North Rd he pulled up alongside a stationary patrol car and discharged his shotgun twice through the driver’s window while an officer was in the driver’s seat.
The officer managed to lean forward to dodge the blast and was not injured.
As Fononga drove along Great North Rd, he passed a police patrol that had stopped to take cover on the side of the road.
Fononga fired at the patrol car but none of the officers were injured. Two officers returned fire, hitting Fononga’s car.
Police say shots were fired during the attempted robbery at the Henderson Valley Rd Gull service station. Photo / Hayden Woodward
When he stopped at the intersection of Great North Rd and View Rd, he pointed his shotgun at officers who had taken cover in a driveway across the road.
Police fired at Fononga which went through the windows of his car but did not hit him.
He then drove to the Henderson Police Station, followed by several police patrols, drove into the carpark, and got out of his vehicle still holding the shotgun.
He was challenged to drop his weapon before being shot by three AOS officers.
First aid was administered immediately, however, Fononga died from his injuries.
In the IPCA decision, all officers who fired at Fonogna were found to have been justified in their actions that day, including the three who shot him at the police station.
“We are satisfied on the evidence that all three officers fired for the purpose of defending themselves and other officers, both outside and inside the station.
“All three officers knew Mr Fononga had shown an intention to shoot Police officers. He was still armed and would have been able to fire again before an officer had time to react. There were no other tactical options reasonably available.”
‘An extremely frightening day’
Relieving Waitematā District Commander Inspector Stefan Sagar said police officers acted quickly and professionally in extraordinary circumstances to ensure the safety of themselves and the wider community.
“This was an extremely frightening day for all police staff in Waitematā and for the community as this event unfolded.
“It highlights the dangerous and unpredictable environment that our officers work in.”
He acknowledged the officers involved in this incident, many of whom had a firearm either pointed or shot at them.
“Despite this, they still acted professionally and quickly with community safety their priority,” Sagar said.
He said police were incredibly relieved that no member of the public or police were hurt during this incident, and acknowledged Fononga’s family who despite his actions on that day lost a loved family member.
A gunman at the centre of a West Auckland rampage is pictured moments before being shot by police outside the Henderson Police Station. Photo / Supplied
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) chair and Tongan Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni is still waiting for Paris to approve a Pacific mission to New Caledonia.
Last month, the French Ambassador to the Pacific, Véronique Roger-Lacan, said President Emmanuel Macron was yet to sign a letter authorising a high-level PIF delegation to visit the French territory.
The PIF wants to send a Forum Ministerial Committee made up of leaders from the troika – Cook Islands, Fiji and Tonga – and Solomon Islands for the mission.
“I’ve have yet to receive any notification about any dates from Paris about us visiting New Caledonia. It’s very important for the Pacific Islands Forum to visit New Caledonia before the leaders meeting,” Hu’akavameiliku told RNZ Pacific on Monday.
Hu’akavameiliku said New Caledonia is a forum member so the Pacific family wants to see how it can help.
“So we can get better information and have a talanoa or talk to the various parties,” he said.
It has been almost three months since peaceful protests in opposition to a controversial constitutional amendment spiralled out of control and led to full-blown civil unrest in the French Pacific territory.
A formal letter was sent to Macron just over two weeks ago following talks with his representative on the sidelines of Japan’s Pacific Leaders Meeting (PALM).
The forum chair requested approval for four Pacific prime ministers to go to New Caledonia before the last week of August 2024.
But Roger-Lacan said hosting Pacific leaders while New Caledonia was in crisis mode would pose a security risk given the current political situation.
Forum secretary general Baron Waqa said in July that the PIF is, “truly concerned at what is happening in New Caledonia”.
By Lauren Crimp of rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission
A lawyer representing nearly 1500 midwives has told the High Court in Wellington the Crown must be held to account for breaking promises for better pay and contracts over nearly a decade.
The College of Midwives was leading the class action on behalf of Lead Maternity Carers (self-employed midwives) in a bid for “fair and reasonable pay” and a change in contract model.
It claimed previous governments agreed to reform but then never followed through.
During the first day of proceedings on Monday, the College of Midwives’ lead counsel, Robert Kirkness spent hours laying out the history of negotiations between midwives and the government, accusing the Crown of not honouring their legal obligations.
The battle dating back to 2015 included two legally binding settlement agreements – neither of which had been delivered on, he said.
For example, the government and midwives had co-designed a new funding model following the first settlement agreement in 2017.
A letter from the then director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield to the College’s lawyer revealed that was because officials felt such a bid had “no prospects of success”, Kirkness quoted.
Yet it had made a legal promise to do so, he argued.
“People should be kept to their contractual promises, that includes the Crown, and that applies when promises are made to LMC midwives as much as to anybody else.”
But the government had “repeatedly baulked” at fair pay, he said.
“And to be clear, fair pay is not a gift. It is payment for hard work, for high risk work, by LMC midwives,” he said.
Midwives had agreed to drop legal action and agree to mediation multiple times, said Kirkness.
“[The College] considered … that mediation offered the most efficient and effective way to achieve real and necessary change for LMC midwives.
“It’s clear they were wrong,” he said.
A Ministry of Health staffer had even apologised to midwives on behalf of the ministry for not keeping its commitments at the College’s conference for LMC midwives in 2018, he said.
But to this day the promises went unfulfilled, and midwives had no choice but to go to court, said Kirkness.
The Crown will briefly lay out its case on Tuesday, before cross-examining the plaintiffs.
Proceedings were expected to take six weeks.
‘It shouldn’t have to come to this’ – midwife
Midwife of 15 years Violet Clapham, who was at the high court to see the case opened, said it had been a long road to get to court.
“To be honest, it’s deeply upsetting, just the fact that we’ve been brought to this point of having to come to court to seek a resolution, and to have this government acknowledge the important contribution and the value of midwives in the community,” she said.
“It shouldn’t have to come to this point.”
It was not just pay and support midwives sought now, she said.
“[We want] respect from the government for the work that we do, and to value mothers and babies in our communities.”
The midwives’ case was “compelling” and could not be ignored, she said.
The All Blacks have confirmed that Ardie Savea will captain the side, with Scott Barrett ruled out for both tests against Argentina.
Ardie Savea, Harry Plummer Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Blues first five Harry Plummer has also been added to the squad after an injury to Stephen Perofeta.
Barrett injured a finger during the All Blacks 47-5 win against Fiji in San Diego, which required a surgical treatment after his return to New Zealand.
Assistant coach Jason Ryan made the changes public on Monday at the team’s base at the NZCIS campus in Upper Hutt.
Ryan said that the All Blacks have “definitely got to build up from where we left off pretty quickly” after three wins to start the season.
“Argentina bring a different intensity to the first three tests that we had…it should be a good contest, they’ve been playing really well,” Ryan said of Pumas, who split a series 1-1 with France and demolished neighbours Uruguay in their three tests so far in 2024.
“I think they’ve always been a passionate side, they play with energy and momentum. (Matias) Kremer and (Pablo) Matera are big around the breakdown.”
All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan at the Rugby World Cup semi-final against Argentina on 20 October 2023. Photo: Photosport / Andrew Cornaga
Ryan said that the focus now the squad had reassembled for the Rugby Championship was to adapt to challenge that the Pumas, Springboks and Wallabies would pose.
“You’ve always got to be evolving your game, week to week. We’re always trying to tweak things.”
As for what the biggest work on was after the two English victories, Ryan pointed to the breakdown.
“We learned a lot around our carry and clean game. We were really accurate around our decision-making, we’re looking forward to building off our scrum and set piece.
“We’ve got some good lads who made contributions in our loosies, our locks are a competitive area…yeah I think we’ve got a lot of confidence in everyone. It makes selection meetings a bit tastier.”
A Dargaville mother-of-eight found dead in circumstances police have described as “unexplained” texted him one word before she disappeared – ‘Help’, her grieving husband says.
Jo Sione-Lauaki, pictured with her husband Jared Sione-Lauaki. Jo was found dead on Omamari Beach in Northland on Friday in circumstances police have described as “unexplained”. Jared has spoken to the Herald about the death of his wife and the mother of their eight kids.
The body of Jo Sione-Lauaki, known affectionately to her family as “Jojo”, was found about 2pm yesterday between Omamari and Aranga beaches, a remote stretch of coastline about 35 kilometres north-west of Dargaville.
Her husband and father of their eight kids aged between 12 and 22 confirmed the 38-year-old’s death to the Herald tonight.
“She was the most loving mother that anyone could ask for”, Jared Sione-Lauaki said, his voice breaking.
“No one’s gonna replace her.”
The tragedy is the second to strike the family in less than two years after the couple’s daughter Jacinda Sione-Lauaki died aged 19 in a Christmas Eve 2022 car crash.
This afternoon, police announced they were treating Jo Sione-Lauaki’s death as “unexplained”.
A post-mortem was taking place in Auckland today, Detective Senior Sergeant John Clayton said this afternoon.
“Enquiries are ongoing into the circumstances leading up to her body being located.”
Sione-Lauaki was reported missing yesterday after she failed to return home Thursday night. Police later found her vehicle at Omamari Beach, with cordons put up and forensic examinations taking place.
Police hadn’t told him what they thought may have happened, but Jared Sione-Lauaki “definitely knew someone else was involved”, he said.
“Because I know my wife. She sent me a text that just said, ‘Help’, and my wife would never send me a text unless it was something very serious.
“Like if it was a dead battery or she got stuck at the beach, she would’ve explained herself. But to send ‘Help’, that caught my guts a bit.”
The dairy farm worker didn’t receive the text until he woke at 5.15am, but couldn’t tell when it had been sent because his phone had been on flight mode.
“I text, I rang, I text, I rang, I text, I rang.”
But there was no response.
Sione-Lauaki went to work but about 9.20am told his boss “Something’s not right … my wife’s missing, I need to go”, went home to pick up his daughter and began searching.
The 43-year-old wasn’t concerned before going to bed around 8.30pm or 9pm on Thursday night because his wife had told him she was going back to the beach, after visiting earlier in the day.
“That’s normal for her to do that sort of thing.”
Father and daughter searched the beach north of Baylys, but something stopped him from going as far north as his wife’s body was later found, Jared Sione-Lauaki said.
“I think that was my spirit telling me not to go find her my damn self. I don’t know how I’d deal with myself if I found my own wife lying there like that.”
The pair then reported Sione-Lauaki missing to police.
“I had this really ugly feeling in my gut.”
He was surprised his wife had gone to Omamari Beach, as the family usually went to Baylys Beach further south when they ran their own sharemilking business, and later when working for another farmer.
“Farm life is quite taxing and you don’t get much time off but any moment that we did get with our kids in the summertime, we usually spend it anywhere near the beach or the water.
“[Baylys] is where I thought she was going [on her second visit Thursday], because she told me she was going back there because she’d had a really awesome day out there with our dog.”
Sione-Lauaki visited Baylys Beach on Thursday with the family dog before returning home for the “school run” and going to The Warehouse to buy school shoes for their youngest child.
She then told her husband in their last conversation later that day that she was going back to the beach that night, he said.
She didn’t take the dog the second time.
“I have no clue why she went to Omamari, because we never went to that side, ever.”
He understood her body was found above the high tide line, but he wasn’t sure if she’d been in the water before she died.
If she had, it wouldn’t be normal.
“I’ve been with that lady 21 years .. and she’s never set foot in the freaking ocean water ever. That’s why I know something’s not right.”
He’s a member of Black Power, but they didn’t have any enemies, Jared Sione-Lauaki said.
“We’re not all a**holes, we all have hearts and emotions and it’s not everything that you see on telly … when I was out in the community I always smiled, I can mingle with just about anybody, regardless of who I am.
“It didn’t matter if it was opposition or anything like that, I’ll still give them the same love and respect as if they were my family or my brothers.”
Police told them late this afternoon Sione-Lauaki’s body was being released tonight, he said.
He expected she’d be returned to Northland tomorrow, when he and his kids would go to the funeral home to dress her, before bringing her “home” ahead of an eventual funeral and cremation.
“And then the ashes will be split between all of her children, and me.”
The couple were born and bred Aucklanders, but Sione-Lauaki – whose maiden name was Panapa – was Ngāpuhi and her marae was Ahikiwi north of Dargaville, Jared Sione-Lauaki said.
He’d remember his partner of 21 years and wife of “seven or eight” years as “loud, bubbly and very, very, very stubborn” as well as “vibrant and beautiful”.
“She loved her kids, [and] she loved me, regardless if I was a bit of a bastard.”
* Police want to hear from anyone who saw a woman wearing a green puffer jacket north of Omamari Beach between 8pm on Thursday August 1, and 10am yesterday (August 2). They should call police on 105 and reference the file number: 240803/9062. Information can also be shared anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
