House in uproar after PM hires his own son

What a lame excuse for nepotism to say that he is not in good health. If I were to translate what Pohiva is saying, he means to say that he will be getting paid government salary doing nothing. Why not resign and give the Prime Minister seat to those that are 100% well to take on the responsibility.

It is clear that you're not a good translator - or that you're translating to suit your own prejudice. It is now clear the the Public Service Commission allows Ministers to appoint their own PA and driver and if acceptable to the PSC, they will then be paid by the taxpayer. Given these rules, the PSC could have advised on the wisdom on hiring one's own close family member and the wider implications of the PM paying for his services. The fact that this is new territory doesn't necessarily mean there should be a now be a new PM, but it does alert us to the likelihood that in a small country with a small connected population, this is likely to come up again in future and therefore a ruling now from the PSC would be useful to settle the present issue in the here and to inform a similar occurrence in future. A number of Ministers had wives who were senior public servants for many years and somehow this potential conflict would have been managed. And should close family members be denied an opportunity to work where they want to work because we don't have a good and transparent process to manage conflicts of interest? If our process was sound and transparent and the PM's son was the best candidate for the job, he should be given it and as a taxpayer, I would happily pick up the tab.

Sefita
Auckland

Kapau ko e 'personal assistant' ko'eni ke tokanga atu ki he tangata'eiki he kuo toulekeleka, pea ta ko e fakakaukau lelei ia, he'e ongo'i tau'ataina ange 'a e tangata'eiki 'i he tokoni hono foha 'i he me'a ni 'i ha toe taha kehe. Na'atau 'osi 'ilo pe kuo toulekeleka e tangata'eki katau fili pe ke PM. Kapau ko e 'personal assistant' ia ko'eni kene toe fale'i 'e ia tangata'eiki fekau'aki pea mo e fai hono fatongia, pea kuone uesia ai ha fa'ahinga me'a 'i he pule'anga, pea ta 'oku hala ia .......SAIA

I hope that my point of argument is not misinterpreted. The PSC policy for hiring PAs is clearly understood, but to say he hired his own son because he is not in good health, that is what I'm saying is Lame. Does he mean to say that in his present "unhealthy condition" we should question his capability and efficiency of carrying out his role as new prime minister? When he said he trusts his son, this could possibly mean that Mr Pohiva trusts his son not to keep within territory the fact that his father is just resting in office. There are hundreds of trustworthy and well qualified people in the country for this position, the question is, why his own son? I'm sure Mr Pohiva is critical enough to seek advice from PSC on matters such as conflict of interest and all that, but there's far more issues at stake that he not dare let anyone else in, but his own blood. Ko e anga pe 'o e sio mo e filifili.