A car has flipped onto its roof on a road in Leimātu’a, Vava’u.
The car accident occurred on Wednesday evening.
An eyewitness claimed a patient or patients were taken to hospital.
Footage from the scene shared to Facebook showed one car on its roof and another parking close by with their lights on.
It was unclear whether the two vehicles collided.
By RNZ.co.nz
Armed police are at the scene of a death in the Auckland suburb of Hillcrest.
Police at the scene in Hillcrest on Auckland’s North Shore on 17 August 2022. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
Officers were called to Ocean View Road just after 10pm on Tuesday after reports of an altercation, police said.
The circumstances of the man’s death were unclear and it was being treated as unexplained.
One person was arrested at the scene, but charged with an unrelated matter.
A worker from a traffic management company earlier told RNZ there had been a shooting.
Residents said on social media a helicopter was flying overhead on Tuesday night.
A police tent has been erected on the berm outside the property.
Ocean View Road was closed between Pupuke Road and Alton Avenue, Auckland Transport said.
By RNZ.co.nz
Labour’s caucus has unanimously decided to suspend Hamilton West MP Gaurav Sharma effective immediately in the wake of allegations of bullying of and by MPs.
This morning, Ardern’s office confirmed the meeting to discuss allegations of bullying raised by Hamilton West MP Gaurav Sharma would take place at 2.30pm.
The meeting this afternoon was expected to address Sharma’s status within the party after he took his concerns to the media rather than usual party processes for dealing with disputes.
Sharma has complained however that using those mechanisms have got him nowhere, saying he had tried dealing with the concerns through the party whip’s office and Parliamentary Service for the past year and a half.
He was not at the caucus meeting this afternoon.
“I note that he did find the time to talk to media,” Ardern said.
“Caucus has determined suspension is the most appropriate response to the repeated breaches of trust from Gaurav over recent days. This means Gaurav will continue as the MP for Hamilton West and be expected to be present Parliament, however he will no longer participate in any caucus events or activities unless caucus’ permission is granted.”
Sharma was emailed, phoned, and text messaged to try to get him to attend the meeting today, she said.
Hamilton West MP Gaurav Sharma Photo: Getty / Hagen Hopkins
She said she called and tried to message him after the meeting this afternoon, as have others, and she hoped this was not the first he had heard of his suspension.
“We have made efforts to convey this information to him directly.”
The whips directly engaged with Sharma on whether he would attend, she said.
“Originally a range of options were sent and they didn’t receive a response. They then proposed a time and they were told at that time that no, at that time Gaurav had a specific event. They then advised that we would set a meeting time at a time that suited Gaurav today, he advised that nearer to 3[pm] would suit so whips suggested 2.30, we then at that point didn’t receive any further engagement.”
All of Labour’s MPs were invited to attend today, she said.
She said the decision was unanimous, and the team was clear that to function as a political party in a place where open debate and dialogue was key, you needed to be able to trust your colleagues.
“You need to feel you can speak openly and freely. That sense of trust has been broken by repeated breaches of our caucus rules over the last five days and that made the decision very clear.”
Ardern and party leadership have continued to refer to the allegations – which in particular accuse former whip Kieran McAnulty of bullying and gaslighting – as an employment concern between Sharma and the staff in his office.
RNZ has sought comment from McAnulty repeatedly but he has not responded.
Ardern said, based on the documents she has reviewed, the Labour whip’s office and Parliamentary Service began working with Sharma to address concerns raised about his staff management. He was then asked to work with a mentor, which he objected to.
“Finally agreement was reached at the end of last year. Further issues were later raised by additional staff members including those in his direct employment, This resulted in another pause on hirinig and again coaching, mentoring and temporary staff in the meantime.
“Gaurav again objected to this intervention and the need for his future hiring of staff or undertakings on his part. A protracted process ensued.”
She said she still had heard no concerns raised by any other MPs about McAnulty.
She says she did not recall Sharma ever raising his concerns with her and she had gone through records of events and text messages after hearing about his concerns last week.
“I have not gone through everything but from what I can see he is a member who I’ve had less engagement with than most, that is fair to say … he’s never raised the issue directly with me, and that is an expectation I would have because it’s set out in our rules.
“First if there’s an issue you go to the whips. If you’re unable to get resolution you go to either the Labour leader or to someone the Labour leader nominates. And if it’s still unresolved you go to caucus. That didn’t happen.
“He did raise them with my chief of staff at the end of last year, he told me about that and he also told me the resolution that was reached between them and I’ve seen the messages that demonstrate that. Neither of us heard anything after that until the events that led to this.”
After he published his column last Thursday, she called him and he did not pick up, she said. She then sent a text to ask about his welfare, rather than relitigating issues.
“I received one message in response, I won’t go into the details on that but it was essentially setting out his perspective on these issues.”
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
She has consistently refused suggestions that bullying is a widespread problem within the party.
One of his allegations was found to have no basis, she said, but he has continued to make them.
“I am equally concerned that staff members have been implicated by the level of detail that’s been shared … we considered whether or not for transparency we should release some of the communications to demonstrate our perspective on what has occurred here but again that runs the risk of exposing staff.”
She said Sharma’s status would be reviewed in December, to allow a chance for a return to caucus if trust with him was able to be restored.
“But in making the decision to suspend, caucus were clear that the team retains the right to revisit the decision at any time if the rules continue to be broken. To be clear, the caucus’ decision was squarely focused on actions over the last few days. What gave rise to those actions also deserves some reflection.”
Ardern said there were grounds for expulsion under the caucus rules, but the team wanted to send a message that while their trust had been lost and they considered the situation very egregious, they were a team that wanted to give second chances.
“If he does that there’s a pathway back, if he doesn’t then he will be expelled.”
She said the exact date in December for revisiting the decision had not been decided upon.
Options at that time could include continued suspension, a return to caucus, or expulsion. At this point, the possibility of sending a letter to the Speaker to request his removal from Parliament under the waka jumping law has not been discussed.
As the meeting started this afternoon, Dr Sharma contacted RNZ claiming an earlier meeting involving some Labour MPs was held last night, without his knowledge.
Ardern said the outcome today was not predetermined at a meeting last night. She said one of the issues of misconduct was that Sharma had been sharing the contents of meetings publicly, which meant people felt they were unable to raise questions or discuss issues.
The reason Sharma was not informed of the meeting last night was “because people did not feel they could have an open conversation with him”.
Sharma claimed he had an image sent to him, a screenshot of the meeting.
“You’d note that probably if someone were deliberately sharing that message it would be more likely a gallery view,” Ardern said. “I also knew who took that screenshot, it was intended they were trying to capture something else on their phone, the meeting was occurring in the corner at the same time, they accidentally sent it to someone they shouldn’t.
“What they sent was a screenshot of the conversation trying to set a caucus meeting time, it just so happened that they were multitasking … they’re somewhat embarrassed over the situation.”
She said she could not be sure whether or not consent was given for Sharma to share the screenshots of what he claimed were messages sent by other MPs complaining about being bullied, but she suspected consent was not given.
“Staff had claimed that they were being treated poorly. And an intervention was rightly made to try and correct that situation. Then what has essentially been performance management has been turned into accusations of bullying, I’ve seen nothing to substantiate that.”
The meeting last night was not a formal caucus meeting, she said, and she was also clear there would not be a predetermined outcome.
“Natural justice is very important to our team.”
She said she was present at the meeting, which was convened because those present had questions and issues they wished to discuss without the risk of the discussions being shared.
It was not a full caucus meeting because Sharma, for one, was not invited; not all other Labour MPs were present; and the wider Labour party was not present.
“It was an informal opportunity for issues and concerns to be raised in a safe space.”
She said there was one other member overseas and the speaker also attended, which was not usual.
“There was only essentially one individual who was unable to make the meeting today. We had everyone else rearrange their diaries for what they considered an important discussion. It is disappointing the member in question did not.”
At this stage, the caucus has not referred the matter to the wider party, but the party may choose to address it in a separate process.
Gaurav Sharma’s constituency office Photo: Leah Tebbutt
She said it was clear that following the Francis review, Parliamentary Service and the Labour whip’s team have a duty of care “to the people we engage to support us in Parliament”.
“Had the interventions not been made, I believe there could be the chance we would be facing very different accusations and that could include negligence on behalf of staff.”
The process was quite long, she admitted, and said she believed it was something that should be improved and was something that had been a cause of frustration for Sharma.
However, she said she had seen nothing to substantiate his claims of bullying and mismanagement.
“It would be unfair to frame genuine efforts around performance management in this way.”
The concerns of staff had been “obscured” in recent days but they remained important for her, she said.
“That is why the team were working with Gaurav in the first place. Gaurav has a very different view of what are essentially, though, the same and agreed facts. In my view that requires mediation rather than a determination.”
She said caucus had also resolved to a mediation process which would give the opportunity for grievances on either side to be raised.
Full agreement from all parties will be sought on that before proceeding.
Ardern said as an MP who joined Parliament 14 years ago, this kind of support for new MPs had always not been available, although the expectation of MPs has “rightly shifted”.
“Labour committed to doing things differently after that report, and we have and I’m proud of that. I expect our MPs to treat people well.
“From my perspective, the decisions taken today is our conclusion to this episode. We have said all we have to say and established a process to resolve past grievances while setting out a path for Gaurav to return to caucus should he wish to.”
She said mediation provided him a process for him to continue litigating his concerns should he wish to.
Ardern says it has been frustrating but also disappointing to see MPs talking about themselves rather than focusing on the concerns of New Zealanders. She says caucus is a team, and feels upset by Sharma’s actions.
“But they are also a very forgiving group of people. They want to give the opportunity for their team member to form a path back, but they are also very clear the breaches here do constitute serious misconduct.
“There are very real issues facing New Zealanders right now. As government MPs, our full attention should be on responding to those rather than talking about ourselves. That is the very clear view of our caucus and the basis of our decisions today.”
By RNZ.co.nz
Smart cameras have snapped 50,000 drivers using their phones or not wearing their seatbelts on Auckland roads but they won’t get tickets.
Police were not involved in the trial and there will be no enforcement action. File photo Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
Waka Kotahi is taking over speed cameras from the police, and aims to add more of the smarter ones – which the agency calls safety cameras – on risky roads.
It has been testing two of the high-tech cameras since May, the first trial of its kind, the agency said.
At three sites they snapped 50,000 breaches by drivers in two months.
Photo: Supplied / Waka Kotahi
Police were not involved in the trial and there will be no enforcement action.
NZTA documents suggested it would take a law change to enact penalties using the footage.
To protect privacy, photos were not being taken of any people’s faces in a vehicle and the number plate was blurred out.
“The scale of actual distracted driving and seatbelt non-compliance in general is mostly anecdotal,” director of land transport Kane Patena said in a statement.
“The purpose of this trial is twofold – to test the camera technology … and to build on the evidence base to help us better understand the scale of illegal mobile phone use and non-wearing of seatbelts.”
The cameras began snapping cellphone use since May and expanded to seatbelts a month ago.
The breach rate of 800 drivers a day represented 1.14 percent of the 4.4 million vehicles snapped since May.
Driver distraction featured in almost eight percent of all crashes, Waka Kotahi said.
Images where no offence was captured were deleted within minutes at the camera site, and all footage was deleted within 48 hours, the agency said.
“No detailed analysis has been completed on the raw data.
“Decisions on the future use of this technology will be made following the completion of the trial and a detailed analysis of the results,” Patena said.
The agency has already signed a contract with Spanish traffic company SICE for new cameras – and ordered 26 – and a new tolling system, OIA documents showed.
In them, Waka Kotahi said the focus was on public education, engagement and education “to achieve a change in driver behaviour”.
“The rationale for transferring safety cameras [from police] was to incorporate safety cameras, along with speed reviews and infrastructure, into Waka Kotahi’s broader speed management planning process and to shift the public away from perceptions that safety cameras are an enforcement, revenue-gathering tool,” a board paper said.
Key recent developments included:
By Lydia Lewis, of RNZ and is republished with permission
New Zealand-based Pasifika health service the Fono has finally found a home for its Faleoko, food hub distribution centre.
Photo: Supplied/ Fono Trust Group
“With the covid stuff it actually forced us to think about a regionalised office to centralise where our food hub is,” The Fono Chief Executive Tevita Funaki said.
The team has officially opened a new branch in Mt Wellington, Auckland.
The space is large enough to store and pack essential supplies to be distributed to hundreds of families each week.
At the ceremony on Friday, the Fono also launched its latest service, LagiOla, a Pasifika mental health service set to make huge strides towards better wellbeing and reducing stigma.
More than 100 community leaders, health experts and government officials came together for the opening of the new building and launch of the new service.
The Fono Trust Chair, Nacanieli Yalimaiwai, spoke of the huge inequities Pasifika face every day.
“Today is a significant milestone in the journey of the Fono. In particular it honours the journey of our forefathers and pioneers of the Fono. That they are violence free, violence free families and violence free communities. That they are vibrant, celebrating our communities and aspirations,” Yalimaiwai said.
Yalimaiwai conveyed his deep respect to those who have passed away, acknowledging their guidance of the voyage of The Fono’s vaka to Pasifika family’s advancement.
His prayer is for the new building and service to be a house of healing.
At the opening of The Fono’s new home trust chair, Nacanieli Yalimaiwai spoke of the huge inequities Pasifika face every day. August 2022 Photo: Supplied/The Fono Trust Group
Founding member, inaugural chair of The Fono and keynote speaker at the launch of the new premise, the recently knighted Sir Collin Tukuitonga, acknowledged how far The Fono service has come since it was first launched in 1987.
“When we started this in the late 80s there was nothing like this. You either had to go to the local GP and take what you got or start something yourself, and this is what’s happened,” he said.
Sir Collin said the service was emotional as he reflected on how far The Fono had come since the early days. He was tearful during the interview while reflecting on decades of hard work.
“The heath system is designed around sickness, that’s why I talked about the car. When it breaks down you go to a mechanic and it gets fixed. In many ways the New Zealand health system is built around that kind of ethos.
“What we try to do is to engage, involve and support the communities to focus on health, housing and diet, all of those things that keep people well. Sounds sensible but it is difficult to do,” he said.
“You won’t get that from the conventional family practice model that operates in New Zealand, but if you look at The Fono they are involved in all kinds of things. Food support for people struggle during the pandemic, they are training young people in the apprentice area, and if you talk to public health colleagues one of the best things you can do for health is to enable people to have enough income so they are able to buy enough food items, have a warm house, pay for medical items if they need it,” Sir Collin said.
“So that’s the belief, the philosophy around the genesis of The Fono, but above all it is about community ownership, ” he said.
Fast forward three decades and a lot has changed. The Fono has just opened its ninth branch in Mt Wellington, providing affordable services across Auckland, including dental and social services.
Speaking at the opening of the Fono’s new home Sir Collin Tukuitonga (Right) acknowledged those who have passed and how far the Pasifika health service has come since it was first launched in 1987. August 2022 Photo: The Fono Trust Group
The Fono Chief Executive Tevita Funaki, who has recently been announced as Procare’s Co-operative board as Director representing Pacific interests said the Fono does not own the new building just yet.
They are renting the new space, but it is a far cry from what the team has been working from.
“So this kind of give us a place where we can centralise it, a place where our staff can work, this is fale for us, this is home that not only drives the aspirations of people who walk through the door but the aspirations for my team, my staff, they want to come here, they want to feel safe,” Funaki said.
Funaki said The Fono has had to move locations three times in the past year. He said the team has been struggling to find a permanent home to house its food hub, where hundreds of food packs are distributed each week.
It has been especially tough with increased demand with pressure from Covid-19, he said.
The latest New Zealand Ministry of Health report on Pacific Covid-19 data ending August 7 states: “Pacific Peoples have the highest death rate per 1000 for all age groups”.
Ofeira Taulealeausumai is the Faleoko team lead at the new premise.
She is a front-line worker and see’s the struggles people are going through first-hand and she is one of the many doing something to help.
“It’s been tough because we all caught covid. I’ve been running for two-and-a-half years without catching it and then it knocked me three weeks ago. When we have staff down it impacts on us being able to deliver,” Taulealeausumai said.
The high cost of living has been having a massive impact on people, she said.
“We get people ringing and sometimes they are angry and we know something is going on, they are stressed, they have reached breaking point,” Taulealeausumai said.
A Faleoko team member speaking with guests including Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone (Second from Right) MOH Director of Pacific Health. August 2022 Photo: The Fono Trust Group
Despite the compounding challenges the team faces, the new space is a great place to work. “We are like family,” she said.
Manukau Ward Councillor Alf Filipaina was at the launch, he said it is awesome to have a central building in Tamaki Makaurau.
“This is for the community, it’s not only for Pacific. If you need the help they are here,” he said.
Police officers were called to an incident in downtown Nuku’alofa last night after a car crashed into a business building.
It is understood more than one car involved in the crash.
Patrol vehicles were seen parked on an intersection, and a road with headlights on near the scene as a safety cordon for officers working on the crash into the Ha’amoko bakery.
A person was rushed to Vaiola hospital with injuries, reports said.
A person who appeared to be a Police officer wearing high-visibility clothing arrived at the scene before telling onlookers to leave the scene and stop taking video.
“’Unu ‘ikai fiema’u ke fai ha vitiō ē”, the person said in Tongan.
A video which appeared to have recorded the person’s warning was shared to Facebook.
Critics hit out at the officer’s warning on the video’s Facebook comment section.
“Come and do your job it is none of your business to stop people taking videos. Videoing is good so the public could know what happened to the crash”, a commenter wrote in Tongan.
“’Oua te ke fiepoto” or stop telling us you know what to do as we don’t want it”, one wrote.
“Can you please do your job first and save life that’s your priority”, another wrote.
“Do not chase people away they wanted to know what is happening”.
However, some commenters took sides with the officer and said people should obey and help the officers speed up their works.
Photographing at public places
In New Zealand, anything can be photographed without restriction or fear of legal repercussions provided the photographer is in a public place and is photographing something that is also in a public place.
In the Tongan case, the roads controlled by the government are public places.
New Zealand police guidelines for taking photos or filming in a public place says:
“It is generally lawful to take photographs of people in public places without their consent.
“However, you must not film or take photos of people if they are in a place where they can expect privacy (such as a public changing area or toilet) and that person:
You should not take photos of people if:
“However, you can take and/or publish photos or film of people where there is no expectation of privacy, such as a beach, shopping mall, park or other public place”.
‘Oku taupotu ‘i lalo ha fakamatala fakaTonga
The number of new daily community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand has dropped below the 3000 mark for the first time since late February.
In today’s statement, the Ministry of Health said there were 2618 community cases to report, the lowest number since 21 February, when the first Omicron surge began to hit.
While reported numbers do drop over the weekend, the seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 4302, down from 5441 this time last week.
The Ministry also reported 11 new deaths of people with the coronavirus, as well as 557 people in hospital, including 15 in ICU.
The 11 new deaths reported today include one person in their 50s, one in their 60s, five in their 70s, one in their 80s and three aged over 90. Four were women and seven were men.
Three were from Auckland region, one was from Bay of Plenty, two were from Hawke’s Bay, one was from MidCentral, three were from Canterbury, one was from South Canterbury.
The total number of deaths confirmed as attributable to Covid-19 has not been updated today and remains at 1750.
There were 27 deaths with the virus reported yesterday, as well as 3650 new cases.
New Zealand has now recorded a total of 1,673,183 cases of Covid-19.
FAKAMATALA FAKATONGA
Talu mei Fepueli ko e toki fuofua taimi ‘eni ke holo ai ‘a e ngaahi keisi ‘i he Kōviti -19 ‘i he komiunitī ‘o ma’olalo ange ‘i he toko 3,000.
Na’e pehē ‘e he Potungāue Mo’ui ‘i ha fakamatala ‘i he ‘aho ni, ko e toko 2618 he komiunitī ke lipooti, ko e fika ma’olalo taha ia talu mei Fepueli, ‘i he taimi na’e fuofua kamata ai ‘a e Omicron.
Lolotonga ‘a e holo ko ia ‘o e toko lahi kuo lipooti, ko e ‘avalisi ‘o e lau fakahili’aho 7 ‘i he ‘aho ni ko e toko 4302, holo ia mei he 5441, ‘i he taimi tatau ‘o e uike kuo ‘osi.
Ko e kau mate ‘i he vailasi Kolona ‘e toko 11 na’e lipooti ‘e he Potungāue, kau ai e toko 557 ‘i falemahaki, mo e toko 15 ‘i he loki tauhi makehe.
Ko e mate ‘e 11 na’e lipooti ‘i he ‘aho ni, ‘oku kau ai ‘a etoko 1 lahi hake he ta’u 50, 1 lahi hake he ta’u 60, 1 lahi hake he ta’u 70, 1 lahi hake he ta’u 80, pea 3 lahi hake he ta’u 90. Kakai fefine ‘e toko 4 mo e tangata ‘e 7.
Ko e 3 mei ‘Aokalani, 1 mei Bay of Plenty, 2 mei Hawkes Bay, 1 mei MidCentral,3 mei Canterbury, pea 1 mei South Canterbury.
Na’e te’eki ke faka’aho mai ‘a e kau mate ‘i he Kōviti-19 ‘i he ‘aho ni pea ko ia ‘oku kei tu’u ma’u ai pē ‘i he toko 1750.
Na’e toko 27 ‘a e kau mate ‘i he vailasi na’e lipooti ‘aneafi, pea mo e keisi fo’ou ‘e toko 3650
Kuo lekooti ai ha kau puke ‘i he Kōviti -19 ‘e toko 1,673,183 ‘i Nu’usila ‘i he taimi ni.
Covid-19 update: Number of new daily cases drops to 2100, with 15 more deaths
By RNZ.co.nz
Police want public help to find the driver of a van involved in a hit and run that’s left a woman badly injured in Christchurch.
Police are seeking the driver of this white van. Photo: SUPPLIED
They say the woman in her 50s was hit by a white van while crossing Marshlands Road at the intersection with Voss Street in the suburb of Shirley, about 8.20pm last night.
She was knocked to the ground and was bleeding from the head.
The driver didn’t stop to help the woman, who was taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said.
She’s now in a stable condition.
Police say the van had pipes along its roof and will be missing a wing mirror, which was found at the scene.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police via 105 and quote file number 220813/5063.
Centre David Havili and lock Scott Barrett scored late tries as the All Blacks eased the pressure on coach Ian Foster with a superb 35-23 victory over South Africa in their Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday.
All Black Ardie Savea and Jesse Kriel of South Africa. Photo: Photosport / Christiaan Kotze
Captain Sam Cane and hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho also scored tries as the All Blacks silenced the 61,519 crowd to claim what will be viewed as a famous win having lost five of their previous six tests.
The Springboks were not as clinical as they had been in the 26-10 victory over the visitors the previous week as they scored tries through sublime centre Lukhanyo Am and winger Makazole Mapimpi, but faced opponents who were vastly improved.
Whether the victory is enough to save Foster’s job will become clear in the coming days, as New Zealand prepare to host Argentina in their next Rugby Championship clash on 27 August, while the Boks travel to play Australia on the same day.
The All Blacks were better in the scrum, breakdown and under the high ball, all areas they had struggled in seven days ago in Nelspruit.
“Proud is an understatement,” Cane said at the post-match presentation. “Adversity really challenges your character and this group has that. We had to get a few parts of our game right as this is one of the toughest places in the world to come and play.
“We were a lot better at the breakdown and dealt with the contestables better. We defended the maul well. That is what test footy is all about, getting the small things right to build pressure.”
It took until the 25th minute for New Zealand to open the score via a penalty, but the visitors then accelerated into a 15-0 lead.
They kept possession from a Caleb Clarke break and Cane crossed in the corner, before Taukei’aho barged over from close-range after incessant pressure.
The Boks had a good close to the half, though, as Am showed great strength to beat the tackle of Clarke and score, and first five eighth Handre Pollard landed a penalty from 55 yards that sailed through the Highveld air to make it 15-10 at the break.
New Zealand’s David Havili scored a late try. Photo: Photosport / Christiaan Kotze
The teams traded penalties before the Boks scored their second try, a trademark steel from Malcolm Marx at the breakdown saw Damian Willemse float a long pass for Mapimpi to cross in the corner.
The Boks took the lead for the first time on 68 minutes after Beauden Barrett tackled half back Jaden Hendrikse without the ball in his own 22 and received a yellow card.
But despite being a man down, the All Blacks produced a big finish as Havili and Barrett dotted down to complete the win.
“The first half, the game was fast and we couldn’t put out game-plan on them,” South Africa captain Siya Kolisi said.
“We could have worked harder there. We knew they only need a couple of moments to make it count and they did that. Congratulations to them.”
– Reuters
Tonga has not done enough to combat people trafficking and will remain on an American watch list, according to the US State Department’s annual report.
Since convicting its first trafficker in April 2011, the government has not prosecuted or convicted any traffickers, the State Department said.
The government had taken little action on people trafficking, even considering the pressures of the Covid-19 epidemic.
The government had not investigated any potential trafficking cases for three years in a row. Police said their ability to pursue cases was affected by a lack of resources.
The Trafficking in Persons Report acknowledged that Tonga’s borders had been closed early in the epidemic and entry to the kingdom was extremely limited.
However, it said some Tongans and foreign individuals were vulnerable to trafficking in Tonga, and some Tongans are vulnerable to trafficking abroad.
Sex workers
Tongans working overseas were vulnerable to labour exploitation. However, it also said that Asian workers in Tonga were vulnerable to labour exploitation and being forced to become sex workers.
East Asian women, especially those from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), who were recruited from their home countries for legitimate work in Tonga were vulnerable to sex trafficking
They often paid excessive recruitment fees and sometimes ended up as sex workers in clandestine establishments operating as legitimate businesses.
Chinese workers working in construction on government infrastructure projects in Tonga were vulnerable to labour trafficking.
Tongan children were vulnerable to sex trafficking.
Reports indicated that Fijians working in the domestic service industry in Tonga experienced mistreatment typical of labour trafficking.
Tongans working overseas, including in Australia and New Zealand, were vulnerable to labour trafficking, including through withholding of wages and excessive work hours.
Some Tongan seasonal workers who were unable to leave Australia after the borders were closed due to Covid-19, then became vulnerable to exploitation.
Some employers had rushed workers to sign employment contracts they may not fully understand, while others were unable to retain copies of their contracts.
Minimum standards
“The Government of Tonga does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making significant efforts to do so. These efforts included providing funding to an NGO available to assist trafficking victims,” the report said.
“However, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, even considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its antitrafficking capacity.
“The government did not identify any victims, develop procedures to identify them, or investigate any cases of trafficking.”
The report said the government did not have a national action plan or conduct awareness campaigns. However, authorities informed Tongans participating in seasonal worker programmes overseas about workers’ rights.
The State Department said Tonga should sign up for the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons.
It said the government should also:
