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Rugby league slams door on Folau

By
Kaniva Staff
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This story appears on Radio New Zealand.

Rugby league has firmly slammed the door shut on any chance of Israel Folau’s bid to return to the NRL following his sacking by Rugby Australia.

The chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission Peter Beattie had ruled out allowing the dual international back into the game which made him a star following his social media posts, in which he claimed homosexuals were going to “hell”.

Reports in Australia say Folau was willing to offer the NRL the chance to vet any religious social media posts in exchange for his return.

But Beattie has reiterated his position saying they would not register a contract with Folau in any circumstance.

“Our position on Israel Folau remains the same,” Beattie said.

“We are an inclusive game with respect for all. Israel has social media posts online that go against what our game stands for.

“As it stands, he will not be considered for registration. What Israel chooses to do in relation to his social media posts and his faith is a matter for him.”

ARL Commission chair Peter Beattie

ARL Commission chair Peter Beattie. Photo: Photosport

Rugby Australia tore up Folau’s $5 million, four-year contract after he refused to take down an Instagram post which quoted bible scripture and said homosexuals and other sinners were destined for hell.

Folau was reportedly willing to make concessions to revive his rugby league career but the NRL are steadfast he cannot be trusted as a repeat offender.

He had previously used social media to tell a follower God’s plan for homosexuals was: “Hell.. unless they repent of their sins and turn to God.”

It’s understood the NRL were also angered the story emerged on the day of the State of Origin series opener at Suncorp Stadium.

They also took a dim view after he walked out on the game at the end of 2010 to sign with the AFL.

Folau played 91 games for Melbourne and Brisbane and was one of the game’s biggest stars, making five Origin and eight Test appearances before defecting to rival codes.

–AAP

Government plan to rebuild hundreds of homes destroyed in cyclone

By
Philip Cass
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The government will spend TP$25 million on rebuilding houses destroyed during Cyclone Gita.

About 560 houses were destroyed when the Category Five cyclone struck the kingdom in February.

Cabinet has approved the Housing Reconstruction Strategy that will guide the reconstruction project.

The project will build timber framed houses with reinforced concrete slab floors and foundations, including electricity, water and sanitation.

People who are having their houses rebuilt will have to contribute a cash deposit of 10% towards the cost.

They will be allowed to nominate their preferred contractor upon the approval by the Ministry of Infrastructure.

The Ministry will supervise the project.

Cyclone Gita was the most intense tropical cyclone Tonga has experienced.

Tonga was the hardest hit of the Island  nations that suffered from the cyclone, with severe damage occurring on the islands of Tongatapu and ʻEua

Two people died and 41 people were injured.

The main points

  • The government will spend TP$25 million on rebuilding house destroyed during Cyclone Gita.
  • About 560 houses were destroyed when the Category Five cyclone struck the kingdom in February.

Lavulavus granted permission to seek judicial review of Auditor Generals’ actions

By
Philip Cass
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The Supreme Court has given permission for the owners of a private school charged with fraud after an inspection by the Auditor General’s office to apply for a judicial review.

The review will look at the actions of the audit team and the issuance by the Auditor General of a report in 2016.

As Kaniva news reported last year, the Auditor General’s office said hundreds of students supposedly attending the Unuaki ‘o Tonga Royal Institute   could not be identified and that the Institute should repay TP$553,800 to the Technical  Vocational Education and Training fund (TVET).

Police charged former cabinet minister Akosita Lavulavu and her husband ‘Etuate with using forged documents to support an application by the to obtain supplementary government funding to assist students at their private school.

Police said the Lavulavus were charged after the Auditor General’s office said hundreds of students supposedly attending their private school could not be identified and that the Institute should repay TP$553,800 to the Technical  Vocational Education and Training fund (TVET).

Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva dismissed Akosita Lavulavu from cabinet in April 2018.

The auditor General’ office opposed the Lavulavu’s appeal for a review on the ground that no leave has been applied for or granted by this Court, and that even if it was applied for it was  well out of time because it is more than three months since the date of issue of the report on October 2016.

Judge Niu said the Lavulavu’ action was effectively an appeal for a judicial review presented as an ordinary civil action without any leave having applied for.

He said application for review had to be made within three months unless the court found there were good reason for extending that period.

“It is true that the plaintiffs have not properly sought the leave of the Court to file its application for judicial review of the defendant Auditor General’s action and action of his audit team, but no disadvantage or prejudice has been suffered by the defendant because the plaintiffs immediately and continuously pursued their dissatisfaction with the report right up to filing of their claim in this Court in January of this year,” Judge Niu said.

“It is in the interests of  justice that the application of the plaintiffs  for judicial review be heard by this Court and that leave be granted for them to do so.”

“Leave is granted  to  the plaintiffs  to  apply for  judicial review.”

The main points

  • The Supreme Court has given permission for the owners of a private school charged with fraud after an inspection by the Auditor General’s office to apply for a judicial review.
  • The review will look at the actions of the audit team and the issuance by the Auditor General of a report in 2018.

For more information

PM Pōhiva sacks Minister of Internal Affairs Akosita Lavulavu

PM Pōhiva sacks Minister of Internal Affairs Akosita Lavulavu

King may be misinformed about gov’t matters after refusing PM’s meeting requests since dissolution, source claims

By
Kalino Latu
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The king may have received wrong information about government matters because he has allegedly refused repeated requests from the Prime Minister for a meeting, a reliable source within government has claimed.  

It is understood the Prime Minister and the king have not met for about 18 months. The constitution requires them to meet.

The source said king Tupou VI had been unavailable for meetings with Hon. Pohiva since he dissolved Parliament in 2017. The government was re-elected in a snap election.

Opportunities for cabinet ministers to farewell or welcome the king back whenever he travelled or arrived from international or inter-islands royal trips no longer happened.

That opportunity had now been taken over by members of the nobility, the source said.

It is understood the Prime Minister regularly sent reports on government affairs to the king, but when he asked  for an audience, the palace office allegedly said the king was unavailable. 

Clause 50A (3) of the constitution says: “The Prime Minister shall regularly and as required report to the King upon matters that have arisen with the government and upon the state of the country.”  

Hon. Pōhiva told Kaniva news before the dissolution that he regularly met the king and discussed with him reports on government matters.

The Palace Office could not be reached for comment. Hon. Pohiva’s media spokesperson Lopeti Senituli declined to have a comment.

However, the government’s Chief Secretary, Edgar Cocker, who has taken up the post in February did not deny that the Prime Minister’s requests for an audience with the king had been turned down by the Palace.

Cocker claimed the king was happy with the government’s performance and that anything His Majesty wanted the government to do had been followed through.

He said the Prime Minister’s works for the country were noticeable such as the completion of the Teufaiva national sport stadium, improvements to the roads, and ensuring the country did not suffer a famine.

Because of these, according to Cocker, there was no need for the king to meet with the Prime Minister.

The source, however, told Kaniva news, the problems caused when the king refused to meet the Prime Minister was that it may lead to the king being misinformed on government matters.

He said the king was surrounded most of the time by people who were not in the government and he could meet with his nobles anytime he wanted.

The source said the opportunity for some of the Ministers to meet the king whenever he travelled or arrived from a trip outside Tongatapu, was crucial to the king’s information, as that was the only opportunity for them to update the king about their Ministries.

The main point

  • The king may have received wrong information about government matters because he has allegedly refused repeated requests from the Prime Minister for a meeting, a reliable source within government has claimed. 
  • It is understood the Prime Minister and the king have not met for about 18 months. The constitution requires them to meet.

For more information

Edwards wants king re-dissolve Parliament; Taliai says people will re-elect same gov’t

Edwards wants king re-dissolve Parliament; Taliai says people will re-elect same gov’t

Tu‘uheava ‘excuted’, wife injured by Comanchero duo in drug deal gone wrong, Crown says

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By: Sam Hurley, New Zealand Herald

A young father and his wife were shot several times during an execution-style killing along an Auckland street by three members of the Comanchero Motorcycle Club, a court has heard.

The trial of two of the gangsters, Fisilau Tapaevalu and Mesui Tufui, began today in the High Court at Auckland.

They are accused of murdering Epalahame Tu’uheava and attempting to murder his wife Yolanda (Mele) Tu’uheava, both of whom were shot multiple times on April 30 last year in Māngere.

Tu’uheava, who was a young father also known as Hame or Abraham, died within minutes from his wounds.

Yolanda, however, survived by “some miracle” after playing dead, the court heard.

Viliami Taani, a third Comanchero member described by Yolanda as the “main guy”, pleaded guilty last week to murder and attempted murder.

This morning, Crown prosecutor Claire Robertson told the jury Tu’uheava and his wife were lured into what they thought was a drug deal on Greenwood Rd with “some new guys”.

Tu’uheava and his wife’s life in the criminal world had developed after the pair moved from Auckland to Sydney in 2014, Robertson said.

The pair lived in Australia for three years, where Tu’uheava also became a patched member of the Nomads gang, a splinter group formed originally by Black Power members.

In 2017 the couple returned to New Zealand but during the following year Tu’uheava began selling methamphetamine and also developed a relationship with the Comancheros.

But, Robertson explained, his relationship with the gang soured.

It would lead to Tu’uheava being shot at least seven times, including three times in the head.

“They executed him,” Robertson said.

The trio also “did their best to kill his wife” who was shot at least four times, including twice in the head with a revolver, she said.

After attempting to run and hide from the three Comancheros, Yolanda came out with her hands on head and begged the trio to forgive her husband, the court heard.

But the trio showed no mercy, Robertson continued.

Yolanda only survived, the court heard, after she played dead while her husband was gunned down with a .22 calibre semi-automatic rifle.

The couple were later found by a passing motorist lying on the side of the road.

“By some miracle [Yolanda] was still alive,” Robertson said.

Surgeons, however, were unable to remove one of the bullets from her head because of the risk to damaging her brain.

Police later found the revolver and rifle during a raid on a Te Atatu property.

The court head the killing may have been ordered from Comanchero leadership in Australia.

The three gang members had been given the “green light to kill”, Robertson said.

She added: “It appears there was some bad blood between the Comancheros and Tu’uheava.”

It may have been fallout from a drug deal or robbery gone wrong, Robertson said, but the why is “not something we will get to the bottom of”.

The trial continues.

One person reportedly killed in car crash in Tongatapu

By
Kalino Latu
-

A man has reportedly died in a car crash in Fanga ‘O Pilolevu  during the early hours of Tuesday morning, June 4.

Police attended the crash on Taufa’āhau Rd.

The crash appears to have happened near the roundabout on the by-pass road and Taufa’āhau road, reports on social media this morning said.

Photos circulated on Facebook appear to show emergency staff trying to help at the scene.

Authorities could not be reached for comment.

OPINION: A question of democratic reform

By
Philip Cass
-

Kaniva opinion

Does Clive Edwards want change in Tonga or not?

In 2014 he told Matangi Tonga the government had introduced reforms to make the kingdom’s judicial system more democratic and in line with the Constitution.

The reforms which were passed by Parliament in August that year abolished the Lord Chancellor, and replaced the Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel with a Judicial Services Commission.

When Parliament closed on 11 September, 2014, a total of 23 Bills, including those for the reforming of Tonga’s judicial system, and for the appointment of an Anti-corruption Commissioner that were passed by Parliament, were still awaiting the Royal consent.

You can read the Matangi Tonga report here: Judicial Reform In Tonga Awaits King’s Consent

Edwards’ statements in that article appear to show that he and the former Lord Tu’ivakano’s  government believed there had to be changes to Tonga’s democratic system and its constitution after the reforms of 2010.

He said the Justice Ministry brought in constitutional expert, Peter Pursglove to review the constitutional provisions relating to the judicial structure of Tonga. The Ministry arranged to meet with the Law Lords, but they did not turn up and had since tried to block the reform.

However, this is the same Clive Edwards,  who has been a fierce political rival of Hon. Pōhiva for years, who told the people two weeks ago  that the Pōhiva government was trying to remove the king’s powers.

He was referring to the six new Bills the government is trying to move through Parliament. However, Hon. Pōhiva says  the six Bills stem from the initiatives of the Tu’ivakanō government when Edwards was the Justice Minister.

Hon. Pōhiva believes there is nothing sinister about the Bills, but his opponents still hold a grudge against him and regard the page of the new Bills as an opportunity to campaign against his government.

Traditionally it has been taboo in Tonga, for somebody like Hon. Pōhiva to call for changes that might challenge the traditional power of the king , the nobles and the system that supports them.

In 2014, Edward criticised the Law Lords, for standing in the way of reform.

Yet just last year Edwards called for the king to dissolve Parliament and set up an interim government.

Does the veteran politician still want reform and for Tonga to progress as a democratic nation?

Can he put aside whatever personal animosity he has for Hon. Pohiva and work with him for the good of the country?

There are questions we can ask, but only Edwards can answer.

The main points

  • Does Clive Edwards want change in Tonga or not?
  • In 2014 he told Matangi Tonga the government had introduced reforms to make the kingdom’ judicial system system more democratic and in line with the Constitution.

For more information

Controversial public consultations conducted with “wrong spirit” and wrong impressions that “king’s powers are removed,” PM Pōhiva says
Edwards wants king re-dissolve Parliament; Taliai says people will re-elect same gov’t

Tongan woman, 65, attacked, throat nearly slit at church event in US

By
Kaniva Staff
-

A man accused of trying to slit a fellow parishioner’s throat while she was eating in their East Palo Alto church’s dining hall pleaded not guilty to a handful of charges Wednesday, according to San Mateo news media.

The woman, 65, was eating dinner with others in the church hall at Penieli Church on Sunday (May 26) when Folauhola Fiefia, 29, walked up behind her, grabbed her hair and attempted to cut her throat with a steak knife, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Al Serrato.

Penieli Church, at 432 Bell St., is a Christian church with a largely Tongan congregation.

The woman was able to block the knife, but suffered from cuts to her hands, Serrato said.

Fiefia then allegedly kicked the woman in her face and neck before other event attendees subdued him.

The reason for the attack is unknown, said Serrato. Both Fiefia and the woman attend the same church, but don’t really know each other, Serrato said.

The woman is expected to recover from her injuries, but had to receive sutures as a result of the attack, Serrato said.

Fiefia faces charges of elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon, Serrato said. If found guilty of those counts, Fiefia could face eight years in prison.

Fiefia is in jail in lieu of $125,000 bail and will be in court on June 10.

Joshua suffers stunning defeat to Ruiz

By
Kaniva Staff
-

Andy Ruiz Jr dethroned British title-holder Anthony Joshua with a stunning seventh-round stoppage at New York’s Madison Square Garden to become the first Mexican-American world heavyweight champion.

Joshua, previously undefeated and fighting for the first time in the United States, was defending his IBF, WBA and WBO titles but was knocked down four times in the fight before the referee waved off the contest in the seventh.

Ruiz had not been given much chance of beating the champion given he had just five full weeks to prepare after Joshua’s scheduled opponent, Jarrell Miller, tested positive performance-enhancing drugs.

Joshua said the defeat was hard to take but that he would be back.

“Boxing is a tough sport. I trained hard, I stayed dedicated. And I just got beat by a good fighter tonight,” he said. “It’ll be interesting to see how far he goes but good luck to him.

“I gotta bounce back. This is all part of the journey. Fighter by heart, boxer by trade.”

Ruiz was dropped to the canvas in the third but the heavy brawler came back to down the Brit in the same round and Joshua was lucky to survive.

Joshua appeared to recover and worked his jab well over the next few rounds but Ruiz landed big body shots in the sixth to put the champion on the back foot.

Joshua went down again in a flurry of Ruiz punches with nearly two minutes left in the seventh and while the British fighter got off his knees just in time to beat the count his legs looked like jelly as he made his way to a neutral corner.

Andy Ruiz Jr (R) lands a blow to the head of Anthony Joshua in their World heavyweight title fight in New York.

Andy Ruiz Jr (R) lands a blow to the head of Anthony Joshua in their World heavyweight title fight in New York. Photo: AFP

The referee asked him if he was okay to continue before waving his arms to end the fight, prompting wild celebrations in the ring by Ruiz and his trainers.

“This is what I have been dreaming about,” Ruiz said.

“This is what I have been working hard for. I can’t believe I just made my dreams come true. I just want to thank my team and my family. The sky is the limit, baby.”

Ruiz said being knocked to the floor in the third round only spurred him on.

“That was my first time getting dropped on the floor,” he added. “It just made me stronger. It just made me want it more. I just had to knock him down back.”

New Zealand boxer Joseph Parker has fought both Ruiz Jr and Joshua. The Kiwi won the WBO title in a majority decision against Ruiz Jr in December 2016, but had to relinquish it in April 2018 after suffering a unanimous decision defeat to Joshua.

Parker has since signed a three-fight deal with Joshua’s British promoter Eddie Hearn.

Parker will fight for the first time with Matchroom Boxing USA against American Eric Molina in Rhode Island at the end of the month.

– Reuters / RNZ

Customs suspicious of shipment using King Tupou VI’s name; says it will inspect the contents

By
Kalino Latu
-

The Ministry of Customs said it was waiting for the arrival of a shipment from overseas which appeared to be falsely addressed to the king, care of Princess Angelika Tuku’aho.

A caption on Facebook, however, said the shipment was intended for two widows or widowers (“ongo uitou”.)

The Ministry’s CEO Kelemete Vahe told Kaniva news he believed the cargo did not belong to the king.

He said his officers will inspect the shipment.

Vahe said he believed some people were trying to take advantage of the royal prerogative which restricted border officers from inspecting shipments belonging to Their Majesties.

Vahe said he was aware of a shipment the Ministry received previously which was addressed to the Queen.

He said they checked with the Palace Office and found out it was addressed to the Queen because they were gifts for the Red Cross and the Ministry released it.

Vahe was responding after a screenshot of a livestreamed video was widely shared on Facebook this week.

The screenshot appeared to show a woman who was spraying King Tupou VI and His daughter Princess Angelika’s names on a large wooden box. According to the screenshot the box was expected to arrive at the palace.

Facebook users became curious after the caption of the post said in Tongan: “ Ko e si’i fa’o puha ‘a e ongo uitou. Malo kuo lava.”

This translates into English as: “The filling of the box for the two widows (or widowers). Thank it’s done.”

The video was livestreamed by a person who goes by the Facebook name Lanu ‘O e Moana. Two names tagged in the post were Niutei ‘O Tufumahina and ‘Akanesi Toa’ila Tu’ifua Palu.

They could not be reached for comment.

A former ship captain and seaman Ngalu’afe ‘Ulupano, joined commenters on the post and said he was aware of some people who accompanied a late king during overseas or inter-island trips, who allegedly abusing the royal prerogative.

He said while he was working at the MV ‘Olovaha the king returned from New Zealand with these people bringing with them a number of shipments under the king’s name.  

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