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Tongan woman co-accused in importing 501kg of meth in Northland, Crown alleges

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Denise Piper, Stuff.co.nz

The activities of an international criminal group, which allegedly imported 501kg of methamphetamine worth up to $150 million, has been outlined in the trial of two defendants at the High Court in Whangārei, New Zealand.

Stevie Norua Cullen, 36, a managing director from central Auckland, and Selaima Fakaosilea, 30, from Auckland’s Beach Haven, are accused of importing methamphetamine into Northland in June 2016 and participating in an organised criminal group.

The trial got underway proper on Thursday, after several delays due to jurors being excused due to personal issues and sickness. Two more jurors were selected, bringing the jury to eight women and four men.

In the Crown’s opening statement, prosecutor Richard Annandale said Cullen and Fakaosilea played roles in the international criminal group.

Annandale said on June 12, 2016, a rigid inflatable boat was found abandoned on Ninety Mile Beach in the Far North.

Later that day, 449kg of methamphetamine was found in a campervan pulled over by police near Mangonui.

An additional 52kg of methamphetamine was found by police on 13 June, buried in sand dunes on Ninety Mile Beach.

If sold in 1kg lots, the 501kg of meth would be worth between $130 million and $150 million.

The Crown alleged Cullen, known by the codename Marvel, was in the Far North from late May to June 12, 2016 to carry out activities for the organised criminal group.

That included duties like researching marine conditions and places to launch a boat from, booking hotel rooms, being present at planning sessions, endeavouring to launch a boat from Shipwreck Bay at the base of Ninety Mile beach on June 9, 2016, and driving members of the group around, Mr Annandale said.

The Crown alleged Fakaosilea, known by the codename Blaze, played a logistics role from Auckland.

That included organising the hiring of vehicles, hiring a campervan, obtaining toolboxes and being a contact person for the arrival of an Asian man from overseas, Mr Annandale said.

Later, Fakaosilea oversaw the distribution of drugs for “buckets” of cash, he said.

Cullen’s defence counsel Annabel Maxwell-Scott said while he was in the Far North with a group at the time, his activities were sightseeing, going out on the town and drinking and travelling in cars.

He was also sick at the time and ended up in hospital.

Throughout that time he used his real name – Stevie or Steve – and “Marvel” was a nickname, she said.

Fakaosilea’s defence counsel Maria Pecotic said Fakaosilea had pleaded not guilty. She urged the jury to focus on Fakaosilea’s intent.

The trial continues Friday and is scheduled for five weeks.

Stuff

Code of conduct panel expected to sack Israel Folau

By
Kaniva Staff
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By JAMIE PANDARAM, The Australian.

There is expected to be unanimous support from the three-person panel to sack Israel Folau over his code of conduct breach, even though termination of a contract can still be enforced on a two-to-one vote.

The panel’s decision is expected to be handed down either tomorrow or Thursday, given that panel chairman John West QC has been travelling overseas, and fellow panel members Kate Eastman SC, and John Boultbee AM are also working on other cases.

The panel does not have to be unanimous in its decision, although given Folau has shown no remorse and given no guarantee he won’t repeat actions that the panel members have already found it to be a high-level breach of Rugby Australia’s professional players’ code of conduct, the trio are all expected to enforce his axing.

Folau said at the weekend that an offer made to him to take down his offensive Instagram post was a deal from Satan, and he would not comply.

The Wallabies star believes the world is nearing an end and wants to continue to spread his Christian messages, and could not guarantee during his hearing that he would refrain from posting further inflammatory material.

The panel has the option of handing Folau a fine or suspension or both, but understands this will put his employer in an impossibly difficult situation.

It’s understood the three panellists are each writing their own judgments, and then will meet together to review all the content and compile a combined final judgment.

The last time there was a high-level breach of the code of conduct was in 2014, when Rugby Australia, then known as the Australian Rugby Union, attempted to have Kurtley Beale sacked for sending a pornographic image to staff member Di Patston.

Boultbee was also on the panel for that case, along with chair Mark Williams SC and ARU barrister Dominic Villa.

That panel had heavily weighed up sacking Beale but in the end, one panel member felt the player was not guilty.

On the basis of a two-to-one vote, they instead resolved to fine Beale $45,000, saving his career. During his hearing, Beale had expressed great remorse for his actions and vowed not to repeat them.

The opposite is true for Folau, leaving his future in tatters.

He gave a church sermon on Sunday saying he is convinced God is stripping him of his material possessions for a greater purpose.

Having rejected a $1 million settlement prior to his hearing, Folau will receive nothing if his contract is terminated.

He and his legal team can appeal, and front a new hearing with three different panel members, and that will continue to drain Folau’s money.

Billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest is interested in potentially signing Folau for his Global Rapid Rugby tournament next year.

The Tongan rugby league team have also said Folau would be welcome to play for them, although they can’t pay him.

Clubs in Europe and Japan are reluctant to sign Folau because he will not bow to any social media restrictions.

Folau is taking on a lead role at his church, and his netball star wife Maria indicated the couple may be dedicating their lives to that area, suggesting she will retire after this year’s World Cup to focus on areas that are more important than sport.

Air NZ investigates why plane hit runway light

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Radio New Zealand

Air New Zealand is investigating why one of its planes hit a light on the edge of the runway while taking off from Christchurch last month.

The ATR 72 turned back to Christchurch after about 20 minutes so engineers could inspect the plane.

After a similar incident in 2013, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission said hitting the edge lights was a serious but rare type of runway excursion.

It said that when preparing to take off, pilots must make sure they line their aircraft up in the middle of runway.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said pilots did not “intentionally take off on the edge of the runway”.

The investigation would likely focus on why the pilots got confused about their position, the authority said.

“Investigations generally focus on why the perceived reality of the pilots did not match the actual reality of the situation,” it said.

Air New Zealand said it was “conducting an internal investigation and the CAA … will keep abreast of our investigation and review our findings”.

The airline declined to say whether the pilots were stood down following the incident.

The CAA said the airline did not have to release the report publicly, but the authority would “independently monitor and assess this airline’s response to confirm appropriate action has been taken to ensure public safety”.

Christchurch Airport would not respond to RNZ’s questions about the location and height of the lights, citing the investigation.

Meanwhile, the brand new engines on the airline’s latest jets are already having gear box parts replaced amid fears the problem could lead to engines shutting down.

The issue affects the airline’s eight Airbus A320neo and A321neo, the first of which was delivered in November. Neo stands for ‘new engine option’.

The Pratt and Whitney geared turbofan engines, which took 20 years and $US10 billion to develop, were marketed as a game-changer, promising significant reductions in fuel-use, emissions and noise.

But they have been beset by problems, including warped rotor blades and leaky seals since their introduction in 2016.

Air New Zealand said it was replacing the part as a preventative measure and the work should be complete within a fortnight.

“We have not experienced any engine problems in our fleet as a result of this issue and the additional maintenance has not impacted our schedule in any way,” the airline said.

The Civil Aviation Authority said the early failure of the gearbox had led to in-flight engine shutdowns around the world, but “this issue has not to date affected any New Zealand-based aircraft”.

With the parts now being replaced there was no need to restrict the aircraft’s operations, particularly over water, the CAA said.

Republished under Kaniva’s content partnership agreement with Radio New Zealand

Preventing Pacific Worker exploitation in New Zealand

By
Kalino Latu
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The NZ Human Rights Commission and Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP) are hosting a workshop on the exploitation of Pacific migrants to New Zealand on May 22, in Auckland.

This is in response to the high number of Pacific migrant workers working in Recognised Seasonal Worker schemes and the increasing number of Pacific Peoples being victims of human trafficking and worker exploitation in New Zealand.

Key speakers at workshop include representatives from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s(MBIE) Trafficking in Persons and Pacifica Labour and Skills team; a New Zealand industry body that employs Pacific workers; Pacific migrant workers; and the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre.

This workshop aims to bring together key government agencies, unions, Pacific leaders and workers and NGO’s to collaboratively discuss how to improve the working conditions for Pacific Peoples in New Zealand including recruitment from the Pacific to New Zealand.

Part of the discussion will include future collaboration to help address Pacific worker exploitation and human trafficking.

The Human Rights Commission’s Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo says migrant worker exploitation and human trafficking are human rights issues that require urgent collective action.

“Pacific workers are valuable to the New Zealand economy, but their vulnerabilities need to be recognised and addressed,” she says.

“Recruitment agencies and employers must ensure that ethical procurement and hiring practices are embedded within their policies and workplaces to protect workers and prevent human rights abuses in their supply chain.”

Pacific peoples, industry representatives that employ seasonal workers and all people interested in improving the working conditions for Pacific Migrant workers in New Zealand are invited to attend the workshop.

Elvis Presley was a paedophile and had girlfriends as young as 14, claims shocking new book

By
Kaniva Staff
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By DIANNE APEN-SADLER FOR MAILONLINE

Elvis Presley was a paedophile and had girlfriends as young as 14 while on tour aged 22, a shocking book has claimed.

Author Joel Williamson has said the King of Rock and Roll kept a group of three 14-year-old girls with him on tour who were up ‘for pillow fights, tickling, kissing and cuddling’, reports Vice.

In Elvis Presley: A Southern Life, Williamson also alleges that he cheated on his 15-year-old girlfriend Dixie Locke aged 19, before ringing her desperately as he drove to the hospital when the condom broke.

Dixie and Elvis dated between early 1953 and October 1955.

Elvis reportedly had a string of underage women, including his wife Priscilla. The pair met in Bad Nauheim, Germany, during his army career when she was just 14.

That first night with Elvis, ‘he made love to her in every way short of penetration. It was as if Priscilla’s virginity was another thing that Elvis strangely and sorely needed to maintain’, the book claims.

When Elvis’ mother Gladys died in 1958, his craving for companionship in bed became stronger, Williamson claims.

He says in the book: ‘There had been a river of sex before, now there was a flood.’ From 1958 until his death in 1977, he always needed a woman or girl in bed.

Williamson also claims that Elvis was ‘obsessed with virginity’, sleeping with two 26-year-old self-proclaimed virgins in August 1970. 

When Priscilla arrived in Memphis to announce she was no longer in love with him and was separating, he flew into a jealous rage and raped her.

‘Thus, the love affair between Elvis and Priscilla ended, ignominiously, with spousal rape,’ writes the author. 

The book also claims there were many episodes written about him ‘engaging young girls to perform for him by mud wrestling in white panties, spying on couples have sex in one of his Hollywood houses by installing a two-way mirror in a bathroom’.   

Three Tongans killed in Taupo crash laid to rest

By
Kalino Latu
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Three Tongans from Auckland, New Zealand who died following a crash involving two vehicles on State Highway 1 in Hatepe, south of Taupo on Saturday 4 May had been laid to rest.

Joseph Steven Takau, 41, Viliami Tatofi Fifita, 22, and Siale O’Failoto Koloi, 22, were all travelling in the van, that collided with a truck about 4.15am.

Koloi was buried yesterday at Manukau Memorial Garden in Papatoetoe. It is understood Takau and Fifita’s burial services had been held over the weekend.

St John sent two ambulances and staff treated all three people but they died at the scene between Rotongaio Rd and Hinemaiaia Access Rd, New Zealand Herald reported.

The truck driver was taken to Taupō Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

“Our thoughts are with their friends of families at this tragic time,” Police said.

The Serious Crash unit continues to investigate the cause of the crash.

ADB will continue to support government through upgraded office, says Finance Minister

By
Kaniva Staff
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ADB will continue to support government through upgraded office, says Finance Minister

The Asian Development Bank has upgraded its Tongan office to a Pacific Country Office.

Tonga’s Minister of Finance, Hon. Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa, said the upgraded office would help support the government.

The head of the ADB Tonga Pacific Country Office is Tatafu Moeaki, a former civil servant and CEO for Finance.

Hon. Tu’i’onetoa and the ADB’s Pacific Department Director General, Carmela Locsin, co-signed the upgrading agreement.

Tonga has been a member of the ADB since 1972.

Over the past decade the ADB has increased its financial and technical assistance to Tonga.

It currently has US$123.7 million earmarked for eight projects in the kingdom.

Hon. Tu’i’onetoa attended  the ADB’s 52nd annual meeting in Fiji at the beginning of this month.

The ADB’s chief economist, Yasuyuki Sawada, visited at the end of April.

At the beginning of this month the Asian Development Bank identified tourism as a growth area in the Tongan economy.

According to bank’s Asian Development Outlook 2019 report, tourism contributed 11.5% of Tonga’s GDP in 2017,

Tonga has received $70.2 million in loans, $121.2 million in grant and $23.3 million in technical assistance from the ADB since 1972.

The bank said tourism also had to be kept to environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Infrastructure had to be sufficiently resilient to withstand cyclones.

The main points

  • The Asian Development Bank has upgraded its Tongan office to a Pacific Country Office.
  • Tonga’s Minister of Finance, Hon. Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa, said the upgraded office would help support the government.

For more information

Tourism a growth area for Tongan economy says new Development Bank report

Tourism a growth area for Tongan economy says new Development Bank report

Tonga’s new dialysis centre to be built at king’s Tufumāhina estate

By
Kalino Latu
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Tonga’s new dialysis centre is planned to be built at His Majesty’s Tufumāhina estate, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said.

He said negotiations are underway to secure the site opposite Tonga Gas Ltd for the centre which is about 2 kilometres away from Vaiola hospital.

Queen Nanasipau’u Tuku’aho has gifted the centre with a land from the royal estate, the spokesperson said.

As Kaniva news reported, a newly registered non-profitable organisation has been set up to run the operation.

Members of the organisation are the Minister of Health Saia Piukala, Director of Health Siale ‘Akau’ola, Victorina Afeaki Kioa, Dr Sione Lātū, Dr Lisiate ‘Ulufonua and Lord Vaea.

The facility would be established “at no cost to the government.”

A private company in Salt Lake City, Utah which currently operates three clinics including a dialysis centre, was partnering with the Ministry.

They offered free services for the public.

The US organization involved philanthropists who wanted to leave some of their money and wealth to charity, the spokesperson said.

As Radio New Zealand reported at the time, the Ministry has said in the past that it could not fund its own dialysis programme “because it would eat up 20 percent of the annual health budget for less than one percent of the population and it is not equitable distribution of meagre resources.”

The Ministry said there was a 17.7 percent prevalence of diabetes in Tonga, a number revised after it was regionally reported as 34.4 percent.

The Minstry said there were 200 patients in the kingdom with varying degrees of kidney disease and around 66 patients, or a third, are in Stage 5, requiring renal replacement therapy, or dialysis.

Tongan patients in New Zealand and around the globe have faced a painful death if they were sent back to Tonga because dialysis was not available there.

Last year a Tongan national, Tamahanga Tukunga, was among a growing number of Tongans in New Zealand who requested help from the New Zealand government.

He received dialysis three days a week and as a foreign national he was not entitled to that treatment and could be deported to Tonga within a year.

His treatment was paid by his relatives through fundraising, including sausage sizzles back in Tonga, and sending yams to sell in New Zealand.

The cost of the medical treatment was always a critical factor for overseas countries in deciding whether or not to grant visas to Tongan patients.

As Kaniva news reported recently, Sosefo Lakalaka was ordered to leave New Zealand by May 2019 after a tribunal found the burden on New Zealand’s public health system outweighed the exceptional humanitarian circumstances of his case.

Mr Lakalaka was paying off a $US10,768 medical bill and his ongoing treatment was costing the taxpayer $US13,463 a year.

A Tongan international and ‘Ikale Tahi player Sione Vaimo’unga, who was trapped in Romania on dialysis, was luckier after  Tonga’s Ministry of Health sought support from the Romanian government in 2017.

The Pacific Rugby Players Welfare finally reported last year that Vaiomo’unga was recovering well from a transplant after he had been on dialysis after being diagnosed three years previously.

Read more

New dialysis centre set to open in Tonga “at no cost to government” – claim

Supreme Court finds broadcaster broke Electoral Act rule with Hon. Sika interview

By
Philip Cass
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The Supreme Court has overturned a Magistrate’s Court decision to acquit Tonga Broadcom of breaking the law restricting broadcasting on election day.

Section 23(1)(g)(i) of the Electoral Act prohibits anybody from broadcasting at any time on polling day before the close of the polls any statement “advising or intended  or  likely  to  influence  any elector  as to  the candidate  for whom the electors should or should not vote.”

The Supreme Court heard that about 7am on election day, November 16, 2017, Broadcom transmitted an interview with Deputy Prime Minister Semisi Sika.

The  interview had been recorded a few days earlier, but Hon. Sika was  unaware it would be broadcast on polling   day.

The  broadcast focussed on the work and achievements of Hon. Sika,  the need to continue this good work and his desire to be returned to  finish off  the work for the benefit of Tonga.  It then urged listeners to exercise their vote.

Another candidate standing for No 2 Tongatapu constituency  heard the broadcast  and laid a complaint. A prosecution was launched in the Magistrate’s Court.

The Principal Magistrate found that the offence  had  been  proven, but acquitted Broadcom on the grounds that the law was not meant to restrict the publication of any candidate’s name in any printed or broadcast news.

The Supreme court was told  the records did not show that the Principal Magistrate provided  any reasons for his conclusion.

Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said Section 23 created a blackout period on polling day banning the publication, distribution or broadcast of statements likely to influence how people voted.

This balanced the right to campaign and free speech   with   the   maintenance   of   a free voting environment.

The proviso was unambiguous and did create a general exception   for   publications or broadcast that might be considered news.

“It recognises that on polling day the media has a legitimate interest in reporting on  the election,  but  not to the extent of disseminating information influencing the manner in which electors vote,” the judge said.

“The Principal Magistrate was correct to find that all elements of the offence under Section 23(1)(g)(i) were proven beyond reasonable doubt,” Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said.

“He was wrong to acquit the respondent.

“The decision of the Principal Magistrate is quashed  and Broadcom is convicted  of  the  offence  under  the Electoral Act.”

The main points

  • The Supreme Court has overturned a Magistrate’s Court decision to acquit Tonga Broadcom of breaking the law restricting broadcasting on election day.
  • Section 23(1)(g)(i) of the Electoral Act prohibits anybody from broadcasting at any time on polling day before the close of the polls any statement “advising or intended  or  likely  to  influence  any elector  as to  the candidate  for whom the electors should or should not vote.”

Plane makes emergency landing with no front wheels

By
Kaniva Staff
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A Myanmar pilot saved the day after his aircraft’s landing gear failed, forcing the jet into an emergency landing with no front wheels on Sunday morning, an official said.

The nail-biting touchdown – in which nobody was injured – was the second instance of a malfunctioning flight in less than a week within the country.

The Myanmar Airlines flight UB-103 – an Embraer-190 model – was grounded at around 9am in Mandalay (2.30am GMT), a city popular among foreign tourists, with all 89 people on board including seven crew members, safe.

An unverified video circulated on social media showing a graceful landing before the nose of the jet tipped over and ground to a halt.

The pilot tried a backup emergency procedure to pull down the wheels but that was unsuccessful. 

The aircraft did two fly-bys past the tower for air controllers to check visually whether the wheels had deployed. 

The captain followed emergency procedures to dump fuel to reduce the landing weight, and made a safe landing at 9:09am, said the statement.

Video apparently was shot by one of the passengers and posted online showed an urgent but orderly evacuation of the passengers and crew. 

Passengers were seen walking away from the plane across the airfield, several of them smiling.

In another video posted online, smoke could be seen coming into the cabin around a passenger’s legs as many began rushing to the emergency exits to evacuate. 

Ye Htut Aung, deputy director general of Myanmar’s Civil Aviation Department, said the pilot tried repeatedly to drop the landing gear at the front of the plane — first through its computer system, then manually.

‘They tried hard twice by flying around twice and asked to check whether the nose wheel dropped or not,’ Ye Htut Aung said, calling it a ‘technical fault’.

‘So they had to land with the back wheels… The pilot could land it skillfully,’ he said. ‘There were no casualties.’

Myanmar National Airlines are now sending engineers to Mandalay International Airport to check on the aircraft, Ye Htut Aung said, adding that all jets get a daily flight check.

Passenger Soe Moe said: ‘Smoke came out a little when we landed… All passengers are okay.’

Kyaw San, a spokesman for the airport, said the pilot informed the control tower before landing that he was unable to pull down the nose wheels.

A statement on the airline’s Facebook page explained that the plane’s EICAS – Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System – indicated a failure of the front landing gear to deploy.  

Flight operations at the airport were temporarily suspended, and allowed to resume after about two hours for smaller aircraft. The runways were expected to be reopened for use by larger Boeing and Airbus aircraft by late afternoon.

Sunday’s incident comes just days after a Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane crash-landed and slid off a runway while landing in Yangon airport during a storm on Wednesday, leaving 11 passengers injured.

Photos of the plane showed it lying partly on the wet runway and partly on the grass. Its fuselage appeared to be broken in at least two spots. 

Myanmar’s monsoon season has caused problems for commercial and military flights in the past.

A military plane crashed into the Andaman sea in 2017 with 122 people on board – one of the deadliest aviation accidents in the country’s history – which authorities attributed to bad weather.

And in 2015, a passenger plane by Air Bagan veered off the runway due to bad weather and heavy rain.

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