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Warriors players stuck in Australia as NRL officials call on NZ government to let them in

By
Kaniva Staff
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Warriors players Eliesa Katoa and Selestino Ravutaumada remain stranded in Australia.

They have been refused permission to travel back to New Zealand because they are not  New Zealand citizens.

Both have lived in New Zealand on work visas and Ravutaumada played for the Junior Kiwis rugby league team.

Neither will not be allowed back under the revised Covid-19 rules when the rest of the Warriors come home.

NRL head of government relations Jaymes Boland-Rudder has been negotiating with Prime Minister Jacinda Adern’s office for several weeks to get the bans lifted.

NRL officials were able to get exemptions in May for Warriors players, and later some family members, to travel to Australia for the 2020 competition.

Ravutaumada is Fijian, but cannot go to Fiji because he will not be able to receive the necessary treatment for a shoulder operation.

The club will decide to re-sign him depending on how he recovers from surgery.

Warriors CEO Cameron George has already assured the pair they would be put up at his family home if they were not allowed to return to New Zealand.

George said the two players had the appropriate visas to be in New Zealand and could demonstrate they were residents because they had been to school and lived there.

“What are we going to do? Drop them off and leave them on the shores of Australia?

“I call on the New Zealand government to review and reconsider this.”

The main points

  • Warriors players Eliesa Katoa and Selestino Ravutaumada remain stranded in Australia.
  • They have been refused permission to travel back to New Zealand because they are not New Zealand citizens.

Search underway for missing sea cucumber fishing boat in Ha’apai

By
Kalino Latu
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Search and rescue teams have scoured the Ha’apai seas for a missing sea cucumber diver since Tuesday night.

The missing fisherman was one of a group of 14 divers from Pātangata who travelled by three boats from Tongatapu for a sea cucumber fishing in Lulunga, Ha’apai.

Deputy Commissioner ‘Atunaisa Taumoepeau told TBC’s Television news the missing diver left the group in one of the boats heading to another island and he has not been heard from since.

That boat’s engine broke down after they left Tongatapu but it was fixed before they arrived in Ha’apai, he said.

Taumoepeau described the situation as “dangerous” because of the current severe weather warning for Tonga.

The news comes after about a fortnight ago when Police said they were concerned after a 60-year-old man died while diving for sea cucumbers at Koloa, Vava’u.

The deceased was the third within a week after two sea cucumber divers died in Tongatapu on July 6.

How these divers died was still unknown.

But critics have argued on social media that authorities haven’t done enough after it was clear death while diving for sea cucumbers has been reported from time to time since sea cucumber fishing began in 1980s.

In 2012 a diver died after using a method known as hookah diving while diving for sea cucumbers in Ha’apai.

That deceased was the third fisherman to die in a week.

Hookah diving uses an engine on a boat pumping compressed air to a diver below the surface.

Police said at the time the method was dangerous and illegal.

Man in hospital after early morning Lomaiviti two-vehicle crash

By
Kalino Latu
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A man was rushed to hospital this morning after a two-car crash on Hala Loto road near Lomaiviti.

An eyewitness said he was on his way to drop off his nephew at Tonga College when he was flagged down by onlookers and asking to take the man to hospital.

He claimed the victim was seriously injured.

He said the two vehicles suffered extensive damages.

Asked of the other vehicle’s passengers and driver the eyewitness said he did not have time to check on them.

Doctors, civil servants, RSE workers and patients priority on first flight from Auckland

By
Kaniva Staff
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Medical staff, civil servants, RSE workers and Tongans who have been in New Zealand for medical treatment will be given priority on the first repatriation flight from Auckland on August 4.

Health CEO Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola said passengers would include doctors, nurses, police, soldiers, public servants including one Government CEO, who all remain on the government pay roll.

They were  being given priority because they were  needed in Tonga to support the repatriation work.

Seasonal workers who are experiencing social issues and stranded travelers would also be included.

Tongans with health problems who had been treated in New Zealand were also considered.

The names of the passengers chosen for next Tuesday’s flight was expected to be released today.

The Taliai military camp will house passengers from the New Zealand flight.

Dr ‘Akau’ola said the government’s priority was to keep Tonga free of Covid-19.

No transmission

This meant bringing people back from countries where there was no community transmission.

“We need our people to understand this,” he said.

He said there were Tongans being treated in India who needed to be returned, but this would  need to be looked at carefully.

“People who were brought back from India to Fiji were the ones with the virus, so it is an important area to look at,” he said.

Meanwhile, passengers from the first repatriation flight from Fiji are expected to end their quarantine on August 2.

About 2000 Tongans have registered online to be flown home.

The main points

  • Medical staff, civil servants, RSE workers and Tongans who have been in New Zealand for medical treatment will be given priority on the first repatriation flight from Auckland on August 4.
  • Health CEO Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola said passengers would include doctors, nurses, police, soldiers, public servants including one Government CEO, who all remain on the government pay roll.

Yacht ordered to leave Tonga by Friday after calling into Vava’u after electrical emergency

By
Kalino Latu
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A yacht from Tahiti has been ordered to leave Vava’u by Friday and it may leave under navy escort.

The yacht, the Nadine,  was on its way to Fiji and entered Tongan waters without permission.

It is now anchored at sea at Vava’u’s Puatalefusi wharf.

Neiafu Town Officer Vāvā Lapota told Kaniva News this afternoon the yacht’s arrival on Sunday came as a surprise.

A family of five, a couple with three children, is on the boat. They told Vava’u authorities the yacht experienced electrical problems after bad weather and decided to put into Vava’u.

Lapota said the governor decided to allow them to stay in Vava’u until the electrical problem was resolved.

They were told they have to leave by this Friday. There was a plan to bring the Army’s patrol boats to escort the Nadine out of Tongan waters.

Lapota said the yacht has been strictly monitored by the Vava’u authorities and the passengers had been ordered to stay onboard. The Vava’u community had also been alerted about the yacht’s presence.

Yachts are allowed to apply for entry into Fiji  under the Blue Lane programme.

Port Denarau Marina has received more than 100 applications from yachts and superyacht owners wanting to travel to Fiji.

The Fijian Government said the borders would continue to be heavily scrutinised.

Yachts would be allowed in under strict conditions and approval was not automatic.

Suspected suicide at Taliai Military Camp

By
Kalino Latu
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A military authority has confirmed that a new recruit died at Taliai Military Camp in Fua’amotu airport this week.

Kaniva understands the death is a suspected suicide. Talaki online, a Tongan language news web page alleged the officer was discovered hanging from a tree.

The paper identified the deceased as Mengi Katea Tahaafe. 

Camp manager Lieutenant Colonel Lamipeti Mapakaitolo​ said the soldier died on Monday, according to Talaki.

Mapakaitolo said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of death.

Overseas Democrats call for action against loss of reforms, warn right to elect PM may be lost

By
Kalino Latu
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Members of the Democratic (PTOA) movement in New Zealand and Australia have signalled a fight back against the loss of any more democratic reforms.

And they warn that the loss of reforms could even include the right for Parliamentarians to vote for the Prime Minister.

Former Education Inspector at Tonga’s Ministry of Education Mosese Tekiteki, who lives in Auckland, told Kaniva News people were worried that the Tu‘i‘onetoa government could take away more of the powers that were relinquished to the people in the 2010 political reforms.

The concerns arose after the government passed a law recently to return the power to elect and appoint the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the king.

READ MORE

There have also been concerns about the failure to pass the six bills the Late ‘Akilisi Pōhiva government wanted to push through to complete the transfer of political power from the king to Parliament.

As Kaniva News reported at the time,  Hon Siaosi Pōhiva said the abandonment of the bills mean the kingdom had been left without a fully working system of government accountability.

Tekiteki,  who is a member of the PTOA Aotearoa Movement, described the actions of the Tu‘i‘onetoa government as “daylight robbery.”

He said he and the movement were planning an online campaign to challenge any further move by the government to remove any further powers.

He also blasted the PTOA MPs who voted to support the government to return the power to elect and appoint the Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the king.

“I do not believe in them,” he said.

As Kaniva News reported earlier, Hon. Siaosi, condemned the vote.

He said the action of his Party MPs was disappointing (“fakamamahi.”)

Hon. Siaosi said the 2010 Political Reform was meant to ensure all executive powers were brought from the king to the people through the executive government.

Meanwhile, Sydney-based Democrat Activist Tevita Latapu told Kaniva News the Tu‘i‘onetoa government would be encouraged if Tongans did not take action.

“For me this was a backward move by the government,” Latapu said.

“It could trigger an upheaval and a small fire that could become bigger in the future.”

Latapu, who is a former officer of a New Zealand Tongan Society for Political Reforms in Tonga, warned the right of Members of the House to choose the Prime  Minister could be lost.

“If people take this lightly without addressing it with care, it would encourage the government to continue making laws to return all the powers the king had relinquished to the people, like the power to elect the Prime Minister,” he said.

The main points

  • Members of the Democratic (PTOA) movement in New Zealand and Australia have warned that their supporters could fight back against the loss of any more democratic reforms.
  • The concerns arose after the government passed a law recently to return the power to elect and appoint the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the king.

Victim still haunted by sexual assault, Supreme Court hears; hands down 18 month sentence

By
Kaniva Staff
-

The Supreme Court has sentenced a man to 18 months in prison for serious sexual assault.

The man pleaded guilty before Judge Niu on June 2 to one charge of serious indecent assault and one of unlawful imprisonment.

The man, 66, had  no prior criminal convictions.

Judge Niu, presiding, told the court the man abused his position of trust by assaulting the girl.

The prosecution told the court the girl was still haunted  by the assault.

“The girl has suffered and will continue to suffer from the act which you have committed upon her,” Judge Niu said.

“All your good deeds in your guilty plea and your remorse, all pale and fade away.”

The judge said the girl felt a prison sentence was the least punishment that would give her a sense of justice.

On the sexual assault charge, the  man was sentenced to two years in jail, with the last six  months suspended for one year subject to the condition that he did do not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment during that one year.

He was convicted and discharged on the count of unlawful imprisonment.

Judge Niu ordered that any details that could identify the girl be suppressed.

Land Court orders Minister to reinstate tax allotment grant and pay costs in dispute

By
Kaniva Staff
-

The Land Court has declared that the grant of a tax allotment was illegally cancelled and ordered the Minister to re-instate the land immediately.

Schumway Mataele claimed that a tax allotment, Lot 92 in the estate of the Crown Prince Tupouto’a at ‘Utulau had lawfully been granted to him by the Minister of Lands in 2016.

Mataele said the Minister then unlawfully granted it to ‘Uluaki-o Vaiola Manu.

Mataele told the court he was the second eldest of the legitimate sons of one named Malakai Tokuolava Mataele but commonly called Hameti Mataele. Because the eldest son, Peni, had been taken and fostered by Hawaiians in Hawai’i, he was then the heir to Hameti Mataele’s land.

He said that Hameti Mataele made him the heir by giving him the land which had been gifted to him by the then Crown Prince Tupouto’a at his estate of ‘Utulau. He said that he moved to the United States in 1984, but after Hameti died he came to Tonga to register the land in his name in 2015.

Manu told the court the tax allotment had been given to him by the estateholder in 1971 and that he had been cultivating it as his tax allotment until he applied for grant of it, with the consent of the estateholder in 2018. He said the Minister of Lands lawfully granted it to him and issued to him his deed of grant.

The Registrar of Lands, Semisi Moala, said that in August 2012, they received a letter from Hameti Mataele stating that Crown Prince Tupouto’a had told his matapule, To’a Malikini, to go with him and survey his allotment and to have it in his name, and that he wanted that allotment to be given to his son, the plaintiff.

On September 30, 2016, the Minister directed that a deed of grant of the plaintiff be prepared for Lot 92.

However, he said that later the deed of grant was found to have not been signed by the Minister. The deed had two lines running diagonally across it with the word “cancel” written in between the two lines, signed by the chief draftsman, Sione Leki, and dated February 7, 2017.

He said that there was no Ministerial direction given for that cancellation.

Judge Niu said the key issue was whether the land under dispute was being farmed at the time of the application. Manu claimed he was growing manioke on it.

However, the judge found the evidence showed the land as not being used.

He said the cancellation of the granting of the land was unlawful because only the Land court had the right to take this action. It was also a  breach of natural justice.

Judge Niu ordered that  the Minister of Lands cancel the deed of grant in the name of ‘Uluaki-o Vaiola Manu and issue a new deed of grant to replace the cancelled deed of grant of the plaintiff, Schumway Mataele, and to have it registered.

He ordered the Minister to pay Mataele’s costs.

Bronco’s forward Fifita signs multi-million dollar contract to start with Gold Coast Titans

By
Kaniva Staff
-

David Fifita has signed a three year contract with the Gold Coast Titans worth more than Aus$3m.

Fifita, who is of Tongan descent on his father’s side, has been playing second row with the Brisbane Broncos.

Fifita made his NRL debut for the Broncos against the Canberra Raiders in 2018.

He is a cousin of Tongan and Australian international Andrew Fifita.

In 2019 he played for Queensland in the State of Origin series.

David Fifita has been out of action this season with a knee injury and has only played twice.

He will join the Titans next season.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Titans coach Justin Holbrook this afternoon as saying he was “excited” about Fifita joining the team.

“As a coach we want to bring players to our club to improve the squad and David will definitely do that,” Holbrook said.

“David already has a close connection with our club through some of our players which is an important element that I am looking for as we build this team.”

The main points

  • Tongan rugby league player David Fifita has signed a three year contract with the Gold Coast Titans worth Aus$3m.
  • He had been playing second row with the Brisbane Broncos.
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