The New Zealand government wanted to help Tonga become a safer and prosperous place, High Commissioner Tiffany Babington has said in Nuku’alofa.
She said the
New Zealand government greatly appreciated partnership with Tonga.
Babington was speaking during the 179th Anniversary of New Zealand’s National Day, Waitangi Day which was celebrated on February 6, at the High Commissioner’s residence at Va’epopua.
The event was attended by Tonga’s Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva and some cabinet ministers.
Babington said New Zealand would continue to work closely with Tonga on its Pacific Reset programme.
The New Zealand government announced this week the funding of the NZ$8.8 million to expand the Pacific Employment Support Scheme, she said.
“Many of New Zealand’s national and international achievements reflect the contribution of highly talented Tongans whether in sport, art, literature, film making, business, music or other a host of other areas,” Babington said.
“The amazing achievements of your rugby league team Mate Ma’a Tonga are world-famous and this year will see some friendly competition between our national teams as well as warm up games before the rugby world cup.”
Babington also spoke on New Zealand’s multi-million financial assistance during Tropical Cyclone Gita post recovery, the conclusion last year of the NZ$30.7 million Tongatapu Village Network Upgrade project and others.
“We share a vision of helping to make Tonga and the Pacific a safer and prosperous place for us all,” she said
A Nuku’alofa Supreme Judge on Wednesday 6 adjourned with no appointed date for hearing a court case in which the Crown appealed against a decision by the Magistrate Court saying it was inadequate.
It has been revealed the defendant has left for the US and has
not returned to Tonga.
The decision came after a Magistrate in 2011 fined and ordered
Supileo ‘Uhatafe to pay $100 immediately after Police charged him for causing
bodily harm. If he failed to pay the fine he would have served six weeks in
jail.
The Magistrate also fined and ordered ‘Uhatafe to pay $50
immediately after Police charged him for assault. Failing to do so would have
ended him up in jail for three weeks.
The Crown argued in its appeal that the “sentence imposed was inadequate and did not reflect the gravity of the offence, in that the circumstances of the offence and the impact thereof upon the complainant were not properly considered by the Court in the sentence it imposed.”
“The Crown asked for orders that the sentence be quashed and
that the respondent be sentenced by this Court instead.”
The Magistrate decision showed that on 7 February 2011, the
charges were read to the respondent and that he pleaded guilty to both of them.
The prosecutor then informed the Court that the respondent had no previous criminal
record.
Oversight
“For some unknown reason, the appeal was not forwarded by
the Magistrate’s Court to this Court for some 7 years,” Mr Niu said.
“ It was only forwarded on 17 October 2018, after Mr. ‘Aho
wrote about it to the Registrar of this Court on 10 October 2018. Mr. ‘Aho says
that it was only through routine scrutiny of outstanding files in their office
that the oversight to follow up this appeal was discovered.”
According to the court judgement, after Bailiff failed in a
number of attempts to notify the respondent of the hearing the Supreme Court
was eventually told ‘Uhatafe has left for the US and that there was no
indication when, if ever, the respondent would return to Tonga.
Judge Laki Niu said: “The Crown failed in that obligation.
It failed for 7 years.”
“I order that this appeal is adjourned sine die, unless the
Crown chooses, in the circumstances, to withdraw it.”
Tongan alpine skier
Kasete Skeen will compete at the 2019 FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships in
Åre, Sweden.
Next week Skeen, who
has family links to Vava’u and Tongatapu, will compete in the Giant Slalom qualification
race at the Åre World Championships.
He became the first
Tongan to compete at Alpine Skiing World Championships in St Moritz in
Switzerland in 2017.
He finished 104th out
of 105 competitors.
He wanted to qualify
for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, but ruptured the tissue that connects
the thighbone to the shinbone while training in New Zealand.
While recovering,
Skeen moved to Sweden, learned Swedish and took up a job in the Åre ski area to
help fund his return to competition.
Skeen was working as Manager at Opera
Holland Park in London in 2016 when he decided to pursue his dream of becoming
Tonga’s first Olympic alpine skier.
He once joked to Radio New Zealand that Tonga probably isn’t overrun
with skiers.
The
first Tongan to compete in the Winter Olympics was Bruno Banani at the Sochi
Winter Games in 2014.
“He’s
a trailblazer definitely for Tonga – the first Tongan to compete in the Winter
Olympics – and also it’s kind of inspiration for not just Tongans but lots of
people from non-traditional backgrounds or non-traditional Winter Olympic
countries to kind of get involved,” Skeen said.
The main points
Tongan alpine skier Kasete Skeen will
compete at the 2019 FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships in Åre, Sweden.
Next week Skeen, who has family links to
Vava’u and Tongatapu, will compete in
the Giant Slalom qualification race at the Åre World Championships.
The men accused of murdering the US based Tongan Sione Feimoefiafi are scheduled to make their first appearance in the Fasi Magistrate Court at Nukua’alofa on Monday next week.
Feimoefiafi, 49, arrived in Tonga in early January to attend his
father’s funeral. He was beaten during a brawl inside Tali’eva bar on Monday 4.
He died in hospital later that evening.
Police
arrested the accused the following day.
The five suspects, aged between 39 and 51, remain in police custody while investigations continue.
The tragic death of Feimoefiafi has sent shock waves throughout Tonga and the Tongan international community.
From the moment Feimoefiafi was shown being beaten in a viral video clip
to today’s court decision for his accused’s court appearance date, people have
become obsessed with the life of Feimoefiafi especially with what had been
documented about him on Facebook.
Dozens of public and private groups are now dedicated to the murder.
A public group called Must Be Tongan has 120,393 followers. Another has nearly 17,000.
Feimoefiafi painted a portrait of the perfect family man on social media. Homemade videos and photos he and others had posted show what seemed to be an outgoing and light-hearted man.
“….We have a 19-day fast which end right now. We are heading out right now to eat some good food somewhere,” he said while making fun with his children in one of his Facebook live videos.
A tropical depression which travelled at a speed of 15 knots or 28 kilometres per hours with maximum momentary wind of 40 knots or 74 kilomtres per hour continues to travel away from Tonga.
The Fua’amotu tropical cyclone warning centre said this morning at 6am a gale warning remains in force for the Niuas and Vava’u.
But it is now cancelled for Ha’apai,
Tongatapu, ‘Eua, Tele-Ki-Tonga and Tele-Ki-Tokelau land areas and coastal
waters.
A heavy rain and flash flood
advisory remains in force for the Niuas and Vava’u but is now canceled for Ha’apai,
Tongatapu and ‘Eua.
A heavy damaging swell
warning remains in force for all of Tonga coastal waters.
The tropical depression td10f
was located near west of Niuafo’ou, it said.
It is now moving south
southwest at the speed of 15 knots (28km/hr).
The potential for this system
to develop into a tropical cyclone is low in the next 24 hours.
On its current track, td10f is expected to lie at about 360 kilometres southwest of Niuafo’ou or 460 kilometres west northwest of Vava’u at 10am this morning.
It will continue to move south-south-west away from the groups.
Associated clouds, heavy rain
and strong to gale force winds may affect the Niuas and Vava’u.
New Zealand-based
business councils were crucial to the work of the Pacific Cooperation
Foundation, the PCF’s new head said this week.
Speaking to Kaniva Tonga news, the Foundation’s new
CEO, Don Mann, said bodies like the New Zealand Tonga Business Council, Tonga Advisory
Council, the Fiji New Zealand Business Council, the New Zealand Samoa Trade and
Investment Commission, the New Zealand PNG Business Council and the New Zealand
French Chamber of Commerce provided an important private sector voice.
“We sit in the middle,
between government and the private sector,” Mann said.
“We can feed ideas back up to government and from them to the private sector.
Don Mann (L) with his parents Elaine and Don Snr at Port Neiafu. Photo/Supplied
“As one example, the
NZTBC is essentially a New Zealand agency, but speaks to a lot of Tongan
business owners.
“Tongans running
businesses here have deep links to the business community in Tonga.
“It is absolutely
valuable working with them because they work both sides of the boarder.”
Mann, whose father Don
Snr was from Neiafu in Vava’u, took over as head of the Auckland-based body
last month.
He said he wanted the
Foundation to be seen as a trusted, impartial entity to which people could turn
to unlock opportunities in the Pacific.
“We want to be at the
top of people’s minds when they want to do business in the Pacific.”
Mann said that while
the Foundation had been established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Trade it was important that it was seen as independent.
He said this helped
its mandate to work with 18 countries in the Pacific creating opportunities for
business, helping developing leaders and putting people from different sectors
together.
He said New Zealand
operated as a Pacific nation, which made it different from Australia.
“There are many
similarities between the two nations, but at the end of the day the difference
is that we have a unique Māori identity,” Mann said.
He said culture was at
the heart of national identity and how people saw themselves. Apart from his
links with Tonga, he has affiliation with Ngāti Ruapani and Ngāti Kahungunu
through his mother.
“I have a Māori mum
and a Tongan father,” Mann said.
“I was born in
Auckland and consider myself to be both Tongan and Māori.
“I have family in the
US and Australia consider them Tongan.
“It’s who we are, how
you see yourself,” Mann said.
“As they saw in Te
Reo: ‘E ngā tagata o te moana nui a kiwa’ – we are the people of the
Pacific.”
The PCF had a long
term goal of creating business opportunities between Māori business and Pacific
islands.
Iwi economic entities
were worth about NZ$40 billion. He said Pacific nations could learn from iwi
about how indigenous bodies had developed over the years into successful
businesses and managed economic and social transitions.
The PCF could be a
conduit for this kind of knowledge sharing.
Areas of co-operation
could include resource based industries.
Mann took over at the
PCF after being head of Corporate Partnerships at ATEED. While with the
Auckland Council body he led Pasifika stakeholder engagement which included the
Pacific Business Trust Awards and the Pasifika Festival commercial strategy. He
also mentored emerging Pacific Business Leaders and advised Pasifika business
owners.
Originally a
policeman, he left the force when he was 33 to go into sports management and
became general manager of the Warriors.
His family has strong
ties to rugby league. His uncle George founded the Mate Ma’a Tonga. His father
played league professionally and his brother Duane captained the Kiwis and MMT.
His father ran a well-known
heavy haulage company and was involved in several major infrastructure projects
around New Zealand. He liked to point them out to his family as a tangible mark
of what he had achieved.
Mann said that in each
role he had been involved with he had been able to make a serious and positive
affect on people’s lives and wanted to do the same at PCF.
The
main points
New Zealand-based business councils
were crucial to the work of the Pacific Cooperation Foundation, the PCF’s new
head said this week.
Speaking to Kaniva Tonga news, the Foundation’s new CEO, Don Mann, said bodies
like the New Zealand Tonga Business Council provided an important private
sector voice.
Mann, whose father Don Snr was from Neiafu
in Vava’u, took over as head of the Auckland-based body last month.
The possibility for a tropical disturbance in Tonga to develop into a tropical cyclone is moderate, said the Fua’amotu Meteorological centre this morning Tuesday 12 at 7am.
The system, named by the Centre
as TD 10f was located near the north west of Niuafo’ou.
It is moving east south east at
the speed of 12 knots (22km/hr) towards Niuafo’ou.
Associated clouds, heavy rain and strong to gale force winds are expected to affect the group, it said.
The Centre said, a gale warning remains in force for all of Tonga land areas and coastal waters.
A heavy rain and flash flood advisory remain in force for all of Tonga.
A heavy damaging swell warning remains in force for all of Tonga coastal waters.
Meanwhile, it said tropical
cyclone alert previously in force for all of Tonga for 08f is now cancelled.
The Supreme
Court has refused application by the ‘Atenisi Institute for an interim
injunction against the Tonga National Qualifications Accreditation Board.
The
Institute wanted an interim injunction preventing the TNQAB from stopping the Institute from
recruiting new students; imposing new, amended or revoking the institute’s
qualifications and publishing anything about its compliance with the board’s
regulations.
The Lord
Chief Justice Paulsen said making the orders sought would serve no useful
purpose.
“ ‘Atenisi has not satisfied me that it has
good prospects of success,” the judge said.
“I do not
accept that ‘Atenisi’s position can be so dire that it is necessary to issue an
injunction.”
Instead, he
said he had allocated an early date to hear the matter at trial.
The ‘Atenisi
opened in 1975 and operated without interruption since then.
It lodged an
application for registration as a university with the TNQAB in 2010. After a
legal dispute it was registered as the Tertiary Academy of ‘Atenisi Institute
in 2011.
The
Institute’s registration was renewed in 2013 and 2015 until August 2017 after
which its registration lapsed.
In 2015 it
was advised by the TNQAB that it would not be permitted to renew its
registration as a University;
In February
last year ‘Atenisi filed an action for a declaration that it was a University.
In March
2018 the TNQAB told the Institute it considered it was delivering unaccredited
programmes.
It was told
to show what it was going to do to have the programmes accredited and told that
if it did not comply the TNQAB could impose new or amended conditions or revoke
the Institute’s registration.
The
Institute argued in court that not being able to recruit students would
endanger its financial status and continuing operations.
However, Lord
Chief Justice Paulsen said prospective students had the right to know their
proposed courses of study were to be delivered by an entity not registered
under the Act and that any qualifications earned may not be recognised by the
kingdom’s largest employer, the government.
“The
students’ right to be informed outweighs ‘Atenisi’s interest in recruiting them,”
he said.
The
main points
The
Supreme Court has refused application by the ‘Atenisi Institute for an interim
injunction against the Tonga National Qualifications Accreditation Board.
The
Institute wanted an interim injunction preventing the TNQAB from stopping the Institute from
recruiting new students; imposing new, amended or revoking the institute’s
qualifications and publishing anything about its compliance with the board’s
regulations.
“In Loving Memory”, a recent exhibition in Tonga, attracted many art lovers.
The exhibition was hosted at the On The Spot Artspace in Nuku’alofa and was arranged by the Seleka International Art Society Initiative (SIASI).
It was a tribute to their fallen fale which was destroyed by Cyclone Gita last February.
“We’ve lost our land and our studio but cyclones cannot take our spirits and we will move forward,” says Taniela Patelo.
The exhibition featured more than 20 paintings from Tongan artists Tevita Latu, Taniela Petelo and Virginie Dourlet.
Seleka International Art Society was founded by Tevita Latu in 2008 aimed at promoting art and encouraging young artists from Tonga.
“I had the chance to study art in Australia. I always promised myself that when I would be back I would teach Tongans about art,” says Latu – and the Seleka initiative was the result.
The fale has been a home for more than 100 young artists and was situated in the Fanga ‘Uta Lagoon in the main island of Tongatapu.
Taniela Patelo … “We’ve lost our land and our studio but cyclones cannot take our spirits and we will move forward.” Image: Blessen Tom/PMC
Painting to poetry “The core intention was to teach painting…then later on a friend came in and started teaching poetry, musicians came on board and started teaching music.
“Since the house came down we’ve lost a tour of artists. We moved to my house and it’s not the same.”
The group has moved back to town since the destruction of their fale.
“I want this vision to flourish. I wanted to go to the poorest village and teach art to the young kids there,” says Latu, when asked about the future of Seleka.
“I wish we could have more exposure overseas and exhibit more.”
Seleka International Art Society Initiative has started an art movement in Tonga. They want this to continue and hopes for more support from the government to travel around Tonga to conduct workshops for young people.
The exhibition was welcomed by art lovers and common people and many paintings were sold on the opening day.
AUT graduate Blessen Tom reported on the exhibition while in Tonga for the Nuku’alofa International Film festival late last year. Kaniva has a republication arrangement with Pacific Media Centre.
