The Broadcasting Standards Authority has upheld a complaint against a presenter who described the Pacific Islands as leeches.
It found Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan’s comments were inflammatory, devalued the reputation of Pasifika people within New Zealand and had the potential to cause widespread harm.
The Authority (BSA) ruled she breached the good taste and decency and discrimination and denigration standards.
NZME Radio was ordered to pay $NZ3,000 in costs and to broadcast a statement during Wellington Mornings with Heather du Plessis-Allan, summarising the BSA’s decision.
Her comments came during a discussion about the prime minister attending the Pacific Islands forum in Nauru, when she questioned the use of the visit.
“I mean, it’s the Pacific Islands,” she said. “What are we going to get out of them? They are nothing but leeches on us. I mean, the Pacific Islands want money from us. We don’t need money from them.”
In a follow-up broadcast, Ms du Plessis-Allan attempted to clarify her comments saying: “[some] chap … from the Green Party said I ‘casually dehumanised our Pacific peoples’. Oh my gosh. Did I? Or did I say the Pacific Islands? I don’t know, confusing people with islands?”
In acknowledging the important role talkback radio plays in cultivating discussion and debate about controversial ideas and opinions, the BSA noted this “does not mean anything goes or that the host is able to offend without censure.
“[On] this occasion we found the severity of the comments and their significant potential to cause harm, through distress and denigration, justified the upholding of these complaints and the restriction of the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression. We consider that even in the talkback context these statements went too far.”
The BSA said Ms du Plessis-Allan was disingenuous in subsequently arguing that she had been referring to the Pacific Islands as leeches, rather than the people themselves.
“Countries are not just plots of land. They are the land and their people,” the Authority stated.
It noted the public condemnation of Ms du Plessis-Allan and acknowledged the Authority’s responsibility to reflect the values and attitudes of New Zealand.
This article is republished under Kaniva’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
Noble MPs did not walk out of Parliament in 2014 when Lord Tu’ivakano’s government moved to remove the powers of Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel to make elections in the king’s Privy Council.
The Nobles-led government also planned to put an end to the
Panel in the future.
Lord Tu’ivakano’s government also moved to remove the constitutional power of the king to appoint a commissioner for the Anti-Corruption Commission, which was being planned at the time, according to the Parliament’s record (minutes) numbers 21, 22 and 23 on August, 2014.
The government also submitted to the House a Bill to remove
the Attorney General from the king’s Privy Council and bring the position into the
cabinet.
Other noble MPs who were in the House at the time, including Lord Nuku , Lord Tu’ilakepa and Lord Tu’iha’ateiho described the move by the government as a “liliu faka’aufuli,” (absolute change) to the constitution.
According to the minutes the noble MPs supported the bills and the amendments submitted by the government.
However, they moved in the House for the government to meet the people and consult with them about the bills. Despite heated debates in the House the Noble’s motion to take the Bills to the people was rejected after a majority ballot.
The reasons
The then Minister of Justice, William Clive Edwards in his attempts to clarify the Bill for the Anti-Corruption Commission said this would made the Commission an independent body.
He told the House all the new Bills and amendments which had
been tabled in Parliament were to make sure these were executive roles which had
to be carried out by the government and not the Law Lords in the Panel.
In Tongan he said: “Ko e ngāue faka-executive kā ‘oku ‘ikai
ke ‘ave ia ki he kau Law Lords mo e kakai ‘oku ‘i tu’a ‘oku ‘ikai ke ‘i ai
hanau tu’unga he fonua ke nau tu’utu’uni. Pea ‘osi ko ia pea tau toki lele
holo. Ko e ‘ū ngaahi ‘uhinga ia. Pea nau fai ‘enautolu ‘o ngāue’aki e me’a ki
he ‘Ene ‘Afio ka ‘oku tau’atāina pē ‘a ‘Ene ‘Afio ‘ana.”
This translates into English as: “These are executive jobs and they are supposed not to be given to the Law Lords and people outside who have no role making decision in this country. After all, we do not know where to go. Those are the reasons. And they did it using what was there for His majesty, but His Majesty was free.”
Hon. Edwards said it had been several years since the
previous government attempted to set up the Anti-Corruption Commission, but
still had not happened.
Constitution review
report
The then Minister of Police, Siosifa Tu’utafaiva, told the
House these amendments were made after the government received a review report
from a Commonwealth sponsored Constitutional expert who reviewed Tonga’s
constitution.
According to Hon. Tu’utafaiva, the then Minister of Law believed there were clashes in the Constitution clauses and how they gave powers to the Panel to appoint the Attorney General, the Lord Chancellor, the Judges and Commissioner for Anti-Corruption Commission.
He said the review report supported what the then Minister of Law and Attorney General have come up with in regards to the constitutional problems the bills and the amendments had to deal with.
According to the Parliament’s minutes the Chair of the Whole House Committee said most of the noble MPs supported the Bills and the amendments to the constitution submitted to Parliament.
As Kaniva Tonga news reported last year, the review report which was conducted by Peter Pursglove said Tonga’s constitution was one the poorest in all the Commonwealth countries.
Conflict of interest
He said a conflict of interest existed because the Attorney
General sat on the king’s Judicial Advisory and Discipline Panel, which had the
responsibility of appointing him.
The Attorney General should be a Minister and member of both
the Legislature and the Cabinet, he said.
The Pursglove report was approved by the king and was given
to Lord Tu’ivakano government to work on it.
Homework for the Pōhiva
government
Hon. Tu’utafaiva told the House, according to the minutes they were running out of time as the next general election was about three months away. And Parliament only had 15 days before it was closed by the king, according to the then Speaker.
Hon. Tu’utafaiva told the House to expect the rest of the works for the Bills – including the recommendation by Pursglove – to be dealt with by the incoming government. Lord Tu’ivakano was ousted by the Pōhiva government in November 2014.
In a previous interview with Kaniva Tonga news, Hon. Pōhiva said his government was working on
the report as it was left in the cabinet by the previous government for them to
deal with.
The Nobles walk out of
Parliament
The government of ‘Akilisi Pōhiva undertook to continue
working on the Pursglove report and what had been passed on from the Lord
Tu’ivakano’s administration.
Some of the recent Bills they submitted to the House
including ones to remove the power of the Panel to elect the Commissioner for
Anti-Corruption Commission and Judges.
They were similar to the Bills submitted by the Tu’ivakano
government.
The Nobles, led by Lord Nuku and Lord Tu’ilakepa, insisted
these Bills should be subject to consultation with the public in face to face
meetings.
After the government conducted its own radio talk back show
public consultation and disagreed with the Nobles, the noble MPs and the
independent MPs walked out of the House.
Lord Tu’ilakepa became Acting Speaker of the House and used
his power to block the move by the government to table the Bills in the House.
The
main points
Noble
MPs did not walk out of Parliament in 2014 when Lord Tu’ivakano’s government
moved to remove the Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel from the king’s
Privy Council.
The
Nobles-led government also planned to put an end to the Panel in the future.
Lord
Tu’ivakano’s government also moved to remove the constitutional power of the
king to appoint a commissioner for the Anti-Corruption Commission, which was being
planned at the time, according to the Parliament’s record (minutes) number 21
on August 5, 2014.
By Radio New Zealand. This article is republished with permission.
The King and Queen of Tonga made an official visit to New Zealand’s National Library last week to discuss upgrades to Tonga’s Palace Archives.
King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau’u were presented with a range of Tongan archival material held by the library.
The library holds film footage of Queen Elizabeth II’s tour of Tonga in 1954, and various Tonga government records.
Archives New Zealand has hosted Tongan government ministers and officials on matters of record keeping for good governance and best practice for storing physical archival materials.
While at the library in Wellington, the royal couple also viewed He Tohu, the permanent exhibition of New Zealand constitutional documents.
He Tohu comprises the 1835 Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand, the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition.
The Supreme
Court has referred a spousal maintenance case back to the Magistrate’s Court
for a re-hearing as soon as possible.
Lord Chief
Justice Paulsen said he would allow the appeal in part.
In his
report on the case, Mr Justice Paulsen said this was an appeal from a decision
of the Principal Magistrate at Neiafu of February 20. The magistrate ordered
that Tonga Kupu pay Lotolangi Kupu spousal maintenance of $20 per week and
child maintenance for five of their seven surviving children of $20 per week.
Tonga Kupu
asked that the amount of maintenance be
reduced to $70 a week.
Tonga and
Lotolangi Kupu were married in 1996 and had eight children of which five children
were the subject of this proceeding.
After their marriage the parties lived in their own home at Lapaha, Tongatapu and Tonga had a commercial operation growing squash and pumpkins.
In 2013,
marital difficulties arose and the respondent and the children moved to live
with the respondent’s mother at Makave. There were attempts at reconciliation.
In September 2017 the appellant considered that the relationship had
been restored and he had his tractor and truck shipped to Vava’u to
re-join his family. He leased land to farm and has been growing crops.
The parties
lived together until September 2018 where Tonga grew crop and his wife ran a
small grocery shop.
The parties’
marital problems continued and in September 2018 the wife obtained restraining order
against him.
Tonga has
been living on his leased land since then.
Tonga provided food for his family until December 2018. He paid for three children to go to New Zealand for a vacation in December. He has again provided some food. He pays the school fees of one child.
In his
report on the case, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said it had been argued that the
Principal Magistrate failed to give proper consideration to the evidence as to
the parties’ respective means and
that it was unreasonable to
require him to pay an amount of
$120 per week.
He said the
order that Tonga Kupu pay Lotolangi Kupu
$20 per week for the maintenance and support of each of the five youngest children of their marriage was
upheld. It would remain in force until the children left school or turned 18.
However, the order that he pay Lotolangi Kupu spousal maintenance of $20 per week be set aside and re-heard in the Magistrate’s Court on the first available date.
The
main point
The
Supreme Court has referred a spousal maintenance case back to the Magistrate’s
Court for a re-hearing as soon as possible.
Lord
Chief Justice Paulsen said he would allow the appeal in part.
A dispute
over the ownership of a bull has been sent back to the Magistrate’s Court after
the Supreme Court upheld an appeal.
Lord Chief
Justice Paulsen said the case should be heard by a different magistrate to the
one who heard the original case.
The case grew out of a dispute in Neiafu in September 2016.
Kaati
Halatoa brought a claim against Sam Tamale, seeking an order that he return a
brown bull which had been removed from land where Halatoa kept his animal.
The
Principal Magistrate in the original case ruled that Halatoa owned the bull and
ordered that it be returned to him within one week.
Halatoa said
he owned a brown bull that
was born in August 2014. It was kept,
together with other animals, at the tax
allotment of Sione Fisi’ihoi. The bull went missing
towards the end of 2015.
In June
2016, the respondent’s son reported to him that he had seen the bull roaming at
the tax allotment of one Tu’i’afitu.
This bull was retrieved and tied up at the tax allotment of Sione
Fisi’ihoi.
About two
weeks later the bull was taken Tamale.
Tamale
argued that he had a brown bull that was four years old when it went missing in
around May 2016. The bull was called Hercules and it was friendly and would
come when called. The bull fled a couple of times and on the last occasion it
went to the tax allotment of Fisi’ihoi where there are other animals.
He retrieved it and kept it on the tax
allotment of Siope Lonitenisi. He did
not return the bull to the respondent because he was certain it was his bull.
Both side of
the case produced two witnesses and Tamale produced three photographs of the
bull.
Lord Chief
Justice Paulsen said that with one exception the Principal Magistrate at the original trial did not summarise or
analyse the content of their evidence
or give reasons why he accepted or
rejected the evidence of any witness and in
what particular respects.
The
Principal Magistrate accepted that
the bull in dispute was the
same bull shown in photographs.
Lord Chief
Justice Paulsen said there was contradictory evidence about the identity of the
bull and who had accepted the identity of the animal. There were also questions
about how the bull had behaved when visited by a delegation during the
magistrate’s court hearing and whether the same animal had been identified.
He also
noted a submission that the Principal Magistrate in the original case had failed
to take into account that the bull had been gone for months before the
respondent retrieved it.
“I did not
hear the witnesses and have no way of assessing their respective credibility
upon which the case falls to be determined,” Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said
“I have no
alternative but to allow the appeal and refer the matter back to the
Magistrates’ Court for rehearing.”
The
main point
A
dispute over the ownership of a bull has been sent back to the Magistrate’s
Court after the Supreme Court upheld an appeal.
Lord
Chief Justice Paulsen said the case should be heard by a different magistrate
to the one who heard the original case.
The
case grew out a dispute in Neiafu in September 2016.
A legal
dispute which has “serious implications” for preparations by the
Pacific Island nation of Tonga for this year’s Rugby World Cup has come before
the High Court.
The dispute centres around a judgement for NZ$ 275,702.19 ( €143,000) obtained by a French-based media company called SARL Team One Events against the Tongan Rugby Union over image rights.
The company
is seeking to enforce the judgement in this jurisdiction by obtaining an order
compelling rugby union’s world governing body World Rugby Ltd, which is
registered in Ireland, to pay Team One Events money due to be paid to the
Tongans.
The matter
was briefly mentioned before Mr Justice Tony O’Connor at Monday’s sitting of
the court.
Stephen
Byrne Bl for World Rugby said his side is opposing the company’s application
but would need time to reply to the matter.
Counsel
said there was an urgency to the matter, given that Tonga will soon commence
their preparations for the Rugby World Cup (RWC) in Japan, which starts on
September 20.
Counsel
said that the case has “serious implications” for those preparations.
Paul Binchy
Bl for the company said his side were consenting to the adjournment.
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The judge,
after making directions in the case, adjourned the action to a date later this
month.
Team One
Events, which is based in Toulouse, France claims it entered into an agreement
with the Tongan Union in March 2014 concerning the use of the sporting body’s
image rights until the end of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The company
claims that under the contract it was to get 30% commission on any income
generated from the exploitation of the image rights, and the Union would get a
minimum of US$300,000, half of which was paid up front after the contract was
signed.
As part of
the contract, the company claims the Union was forbidden from entering into
contracts with third parties as Tonga’s match or tournament sponsors until
after the conclusion of the 2015 RWC.
The company
claims in June 2014 the contract was breached when Tonga, in a game against
Samoa, had the name of a sponsor on their shirts without Team One Events
permission.
This
resulted in the company bringing a claim against the Tongan Union in the French
courts.
The company
subsequently obtained a judgement for €143,000 against the Tongan Union, which
it says has not been satisfied.
In order to
enforce the French Court’s judgement, the company seeks an order from the Irish
courts known as a garnishee order.
This type
of order is used to enforce a judgment debt against a creditor to recover
money.
The order
would compel World Rugby Ltd, which is due to make a payment to the Tongan
Union, to instead pay the judgment creditor, One Team Events.
The company
claims that in relation to the 2019 RWC World Rugby Limited it intends to make
staged payments of fees for image rights to various Unions including Tonga’s.
It is
understood the payments to the Tongan Union will be used to cover the costs of
its preparations for RWC ’19, including the rugby’s teams travel and
accommodation expenses for the tournament itself.
Rugby Union
is the Pacific Island nation’s national game.
While
always been competitive, the Tongans have never made the knockout stages of the
competition.
They face
England, France, Argentina and the USA in Pool C of this year’s RWC in Japan
Tonga must be alert to potential security threat, Deputy Prime Minister Semisi Sika said on Friday.
Hon. Sika
was speaking at an early morning memorial service for the victims of the
Christchurch massacre held at Tonga Police Headquarters in Nuku’alofa.
“The World
changed for us all on March 15,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
“Tongan
Police must be alert and prepared for anything that comes their way. We must
all be alert and prepared for anything that comes their way.
“We must all
be alert to potential threats to our border and work together to ensure Tonga’s
security is not compromised.”
The short
ceremony began with the raising of the Tongan flag to half-mast whilst the
Tongan and New Zealand national anthems were being played by the Tonga Police
Brass Band.
This was
followed by verses from the hymn, ‘Abide With Me’ and a prayer offered by Rev.
Viliam Fanaika.
“We raise
our Flag today at half-mast to show our respect, our deep sense of loss and
mourning for the 50 New Zealanders murdered at their place of worship in
Christchurch,” Hon. Sika said.
“As we pay
our respects we salute the leadership and humanity of Prime Minister Jacinda
Ardern and the courage and solidarity shown by New Zealanders to this tragic
event.
“I take time
to commend the courage and professionalism of the New Zealand Police in putting
themselves in harm’s way to protect their citizens, the other courageous First
Responders and Emergency Services and all individuals, that went to help with the dead, dying and wounded
and those that were blessed to survive.
“This is a
day of Remembrance to the families and loved ones of the fallen and also to
show our respect and solidarity with New Zealand in their hour of sorrow and
reflection.”
Present at
yesterday’s service were the Acting New Zealand High Commissioner, Elena
Procuta, the Australian High Commissioner, Adrian Morrison, the Minister for
Lands and Minister responsible for His Majesty’s Armed Forces, Lord Ma’afu and
other Cabinet Ministers, Police Commissioner Stephen Caldwell and his senior
officers and advisors and the Chaplain of Tonga Police, Rev Viliami Fanaika as
well as other Church leaders.
As Kaniva Tonga news reported earlier,
Members of Parliament took part in a one minute silence last Monday morning to
pay respects for the victims of Christchurch’s terror attack.
Acting
Speaker Lord Tu’ilakepa said the minute was in respect for the memory of those
killed and hurt in the attack on Friday, which left 50 dead and at least 50
injured
Lord
Tu’ilakepa said in Tongan: “Oku ou fie ‘oatu ‘a e fie kaungā mamahi ‘a e Fale
Alea ‘o Tongá mo e kakai ‘o Nu’usilá, ‘oku ‘oatu heni ha faka’apa’apa, mo e
fiekaungā mamahi mo’oni ‘a e Fale Alea ‘o Tonga, mo e kakai ‘o Nu’usila koe’uhi
ko e pulonga kuo tō he fonuá, tupu mei he fakapō ta’e’amanekina, ne hoko ‘i
Christchurch, ‘i he ‘aho Falaite 15 ‘o Mā’asi, 2019.”
Last week we
reported that Tongans living in New Zealand had been asked to wear black this
week as a sign of support for the country’s Muslim community.
Tongan
church groups have been holding special prayer sessions for the cessation of
terrorism.
Last Sunday
the brass band from the Pulela’a Methodist Church in New Lynn played
outside an Auckland mosque. Church
members prayed and laid flowers.
The
main points
Tonga must be alert to potential
security threat. Deputy Prime Minister Semisi Sika aid yesterday.
Hon. Sika was speaking at an early
morning memorial service for the victims of the Christchurch massacre held at
Tonga Police Headquarters in Nuku’alofa.
“The World changed for us all on March
15,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
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Helping Tongans who have been deported to the kingdom after serving jail term in other countries was a major source of concern, His Majesty King Tupou VI said this week.
In his speech closing
the current session of Parliament, His Majesty said there was need to help “our
children” who had been deported.
Drug-related problems
in Tonga had also become a major issue of concern.
The king said police
should step up their efforts to fight substance abuse. He called on the
government to increase funding towards drug prevention programmes.
“The security of our
people is paramount because there has been a recent case where someone was murdered,”
His Majesty said.
His Majesty’ comment
follow recent reports highlighting serious problems with deportees in Tonga and
the growing threat of methamphetamine.
His speech was read by
Lord Vaea, one of the three nobles who officially closed the session.
The others were Lord
Tu’iha’ateiho and Lord Ve’ehala.
His Majesty is in New
Zealand for a short visit.
In his address to
Parliament, the king called for an independent body to be established to investigate
the burning and destruction of Nuku’alofa in 2016. He said the government
should fund the commission.
Climate change
The King reminded the
House about the importance of being prepared to face the effects of climate
change.
The King said the
rebuilding of damage after Cyclone Ian in Ha’apai, Gita and especially in
Tongatapu was still not completed.
“Many families and
schools in Tongatapu are yet to receive aid from the Government,” he said.
“The longer the delay
in the recovery process the harder the work will be.”
The King said Tongans
working in seasonal labour scheme overseas should be trained properly before
they travel abroad. This was to ensure they can communicate and read in
English.
“If we are to take
this seriously then we should train our people to the highest level to meet the
market’s demands,” His Majesty said.
The King reminded MPs
that spending money from donor partners and aid agencies should be transparent
and accounted for.
His Majesty said
discussion and debates in Parliament should be conducted in a respectful and
dutiful manner. MPs should uphold the
dignity of the House.
His Majesty reminded
MPs that it was unconstitutional for
Tonga to ratify any regional or international agreements without completing the
due process.
Condolences
During the closing
ceremony the House observed a minute’s silence for those killed in the
Christchurch massacre.
The Acting Speaker,
Lord Tu’ilakepa, conveyed his deepest condolences to New Zealand for the
tragedy in Christchurch.
“We hope and pray
that God’s peace be upon New Zealand during this difficult time. The tragedy
has united our Pacific brothers and sisters including Tonga to mourn with New
Zealand in this time of sorrow,” Lord Tu’ilakepa said.
Parliament will resume
on May 30.
The main points
Helping Tongans who have been deported
to the kingdom after serving jail term in other countries was a major source of
concern, His Majesty King Tupou VI said this week.
In his speech closing the current session
of Parliament, His Majesty said there was need to help “our children” who had
been deported.
Drug-related problems in Tonga had also
become a major issue of concern.
NUKU’ALOFA – A passenger who was found with nearly TP$149,000 stuffed into his trousers and strapped to his leg has been convicted in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme
Court convicted Qian Xiyun for failing to declare to Customs that he was carrying more than TP$10,000 of
currency.
Qian
originally pleaded guilty to the charge and elected trial by judge alone in
relation to other charges. Clive Edwards appeared for him at trial which began
on March 18 this year.
At the start
of the trial Edwards aid he would argue that the accused had
wrongly pleaded guilty to an offence
the Crown could not sustain in
law.
The
prosecution arose out of events that arose at Fua’amotu International Airport
on May 15 last year at the passport control booth at the departure terminal.
A customs officer was processing departing
passengers for a flight to Fiji when the accused approached her after
completing security screening by aviation officers.
He handed
the customs officer his passport and passenger
departure card. He declared on his departure card that he was not
carrying more than $TP10,000 in cash, or
its equivalent in foreign currency.
The officer
asked him several times whether he was carrying cash, to which he kept replying
that he was not. However, under repeated questioning, he eventually admitted
that he was in fact carrying about his person and in his clothes a large sum of
money in Tongan, US, and other currencies.
The custom
officer called in a more senior colleague who continued questioning the accused
who initially denied that he was carrying more money, but eventually removed
more cash from his trouser.
At this
point a male office was called in and more money was found strapped to his leg.
In his
report on the case, Acting Chief Justice Cato said the money was worth about TP$149,000.
The more
senior of the Tongan female
customs’ officers said that she had
asked him about further money and he had pulled out wads of money and placed
them on the table.
He said the
accused had produced more money in his hand which he had held out and had asked
to go on the plane. She took this to
amount to a bribe.
In his
ruling, Acting Chief Justice Cato ruled that the guilty plea had been carried out
under the appropriate legislation and must stand.
“The accused
is duly convicted of failure to declare he was carrying currency over TP$10,000
contrary to section 97 of the Customs and Excise Management Act,” Mr Justice
Cato said.
The accused
was also originally charged with two counts of bribery of a government official
and money laundering.
These
charges were all dismissed.
Mr Justice
Cato is still to sentence Qian.
The
main points
A
passenger who was found with nearly TP$149,000 stuffed into his trousers and
strapped to his leg has been convicted in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court convicted Qian Xiyun for
failing to declare to Customs that he
was carrying more than TP$10,000 of currency
Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva ordered all Tongan flags in the country to be flown at half-staff tomorrow Friday 29 to honour those who had been killed in the racist attacks in New Zealand.
“The mark of
respect coincides with the “National Memorial Service” that the New Zealand
Government is holding at Hagley Park in Christchurch at 10.00am on Friday 29
March,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s office said.
“The
decision that all flags in the Kingdom should be flown at half-mast on 29 March
was made by Cabinet in its meeting on Friday 22 March, In my earlier message of
condolence to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rt Hon Jacinda Adern, I had
written, “The people and the Government of Tonga weep with you, as you gather
your dynamic multi-ethnic whanau around you to nationally mourn and bury the
dead, and to reconnect the bonds that make New Zealand the beautiful and loving
country it is”.
The Hon Prime Minister also said that a memorial service and flag ceremony for the victims of the Christchurch terrorist attack, and all those affected by it will be held at the Tonga Police Headquarters in Longolongo beginning at 8am on Friday 29 March 2019.
The effects of the
Christchurch shooting has been felt throughout the local and international
Tongan communities.
As Kaniva Tonga news reported earlier, Members of Parliament took part in a one minute silence to pay respects for the victims of Christchurch’s terror attack.
Acting
Speaker Lord Tu’ilakepa said the minute was in respect for the memory of those
killed and hurt in the attack on Friday, which left 50 dead and at least 50
injured.
Following
the attack Tongan community leaders in New Zealand have called for their people
to wear black as a sign of solidarity
with grieving Muslim families.
The
community was also asked to meet in Aotea Square for a Love Aotearoa Hate Racism hui.
Tongan
church groups have been holding special prayer sessions for the cessation of
terrorism.
The Pulela’a Methodist Church in New Lynn paid their respects to the 50 people killed in the terror attacks by taking its brass band to play outside Imran Reza Mosque in New Lynn.
Congregation
members prayed and laid flowers.
According to the 2013 New Zealand census there were 60,336 Tongans living in New Zealand, a 25% population increase since the beginning of the 21st century. Tongans make up 1.5% percent of the total New Zealand population.
New Zealand has financially assisted Tonga with over NZ$20 million each year through its bilateral aid programme with the kingdom.
