(Editor's note to our regular parliamentary readers: Minutes no. 27-30 are coming soon).

Minute No. 31, Thursday 5 August 2004.

Bill that was presented to the House was requested by the Minister of Police to be withdrawn for further work to be done to it.

Queried the components of the Qualification and Accreditation Board because all members were appointed by the Minister of Education and Cabinet.

The appointment of a CEO to be also made by the Minister and Cabinet.

The Board has no authority. All the authority remains with government, and that has been the downfall of many boards that have been established by government.

The government approach was to get the Board established with government in full control until it was running properly before public participation was introduced.

A Tongan National University to be established by 2006.

Speaker ...– said for the House to proceed with Bill No. 4 for a National Pension Act 2004.

Minister of Police ...– asked the Speaker for the Bill to be withdrawn because the Bill should not have been presented to the House because it had not been approved by the Privy Council. He said that it was presented to the Privy Council and some amendments were requested, so it had to go to the Law Committee, and therefore it should have gone to Privy Council for confirmation before it came to the House.

Speaker ...– asked for a comment from the Acting Prime Minister because Bills came to the House from the Prime Minister's Office.

Acting Prime Minister ...– said that if the government table asked for the Bill to be withdrawn then it should be withdrawn.

Chairman of the Whole House Committee, Noble Tu'i'afitu took his Chair.

Chairman ...– called for proceeding to continue with the Bill for an Accreditation and Qualifications Board Act. He said for the debate to continue on Clause 5.

Fineasi Funaki ...– wanted to go back to Clause 4 to the component of the Board. He said that the membership of the board was unbalanced, three from government, two from the public and the CEO to be also elected by government.

'Akilisi Pohiva ...– supported the member's concern, but pointed out that the reason why the Board was structured that way was so that its control remained with government. He reminded the member of the government's new Look East Policy and therefore we were no longer adopting the way of the West, which required public participation.

Noble Nuku ...– said 'Akilisi's comment was misleading because it would lead us to believe that we are adopting the Chinese ways of doing things, which had nothing at all to do with this Bill.

Minister of Education - wanted to clarify the point that was made by Fineasi. He pointed out that the two most important posts to be appointed by government were the CEO and his secretary. He said that the post of CEO would be advertised and it could be filled by either a Tongan or a foreigner.

Fineasi Funaki ...– insisted on his disagreement with the involvement of the Minister of Education in the appointment of the Chairman of the board.

Minister of Police ...– said that if it was not left for the Minister to nominate someone to be approved by Cabinet, how else would the member proposed for such a selection to be made.

Fineasi Funaki ...– said to let the Board elect the Chairman of the board.

Governor of Ha'apai ...– asked the Chair to get the member to debate on Clause 4 not Clause 5.

Fineasi Funaki ...– said he could not debate on Clause 4 because it was closely related to Clause 5.

'Isileli Pulu ...– moved for the House to debate on both clauses.

Minister of Health ...– proposed that they finish Clause 4 before they proceed to Clause 5.

Fineasi Funaki ...– moved for Clause 5 to become Clause 4 and Clause 4 to become Clause 5.

Chairman ...– called for votes and it was rejected 10-5. For it were 'Akilisi Pohiva, Dr Feleti Sevele, 'Isileli Pulu, Fineasi Funaki and 'Uliti Uata.

Fineasi Funaki ...– asked the Minister of Education for his view on having an imbalanced Board, which was elected and controlled by government.

Minister of Justice ...– said that the Member was talking about things which were unrelated to the law in front of them.

Minister of Police ...– said that the member did not know what he was talking about.

Fineasi Funaki ...– said that the problem with the country at the moment was because there was something wrong with the structure.

'Akilisi Pohiva ...– said that he felt sorry for the member, but he should present a good example of what he was trying to say. He said that it was only yesterday, one person in government introduced a legislation which would stop one domestic air service from operating in Tonga, and that was the danger of giving away authority.

Fineasi Funaki ...– proposed other reshuffling of the clauses of the Bill.

Minister of Justice ...– pointed out that under Clause 8 the appointment of a CEO and the selection of employees at the Board was to be carried out by the Board and not by Cabinet and the Minister.

Noble Tu'ivakano ...– proposed that they should vote.

'Akilisi Pohiva ...– said that it was very important for the House to be sure who got the power to set the direction for education in the country. If government would decide for all technical schools to be taught in Chinese it could mean that the teaching of the Chinese language would become compulsory at schools.

Deputy Prime Minister ...– proposed for the member to become a member of the board.

'Akilisi Pohiva ...– proposed there be more members from private schools in the Board.

Minister of Health ...– said that the debate was about something other than the law which was before the committee. He said that the Board was not going to set the national syllabus and set the direction of education in the country as members threatened the House that was how it would happen.

'Uliti Uata ...– said that the concern with regards to Boards that were established by government because they have a history of mal-function. He said that the Tonga Electric Power Board was a good example of a failed government board with no decision making power, because the decision was made somewhere else.

Minister of Justice ...– reminded the member that there was another Board, the former Commodities Board whose members were elected by the people, and he wondered if the member still remembered what happened to that Board.

'Uliti Uata ...– said that same things happened. He said that only two members were elected by the people and the rest were elected by the government. He told the Minister that he should asked Dr Feleti Sevele what happened to that Board because he used to work for the Board.

Dr Feleti Sevele ...– he said that only two members were elected by the people, the rest were appointed by government.

'Uliti Uata ...– said that government was doing exactly the same with the new board. He said that under Clause 5 the Minister and Cabinet elected all the members, they even elected the two representatives of private schools. He wondered why didn't they allow those schools to elect their own representatives to the board.

Chairman ...– called for vote on the proposed amendment that three members to be elected from government ministries, three from the public and the one CEO. It was passed 9-7. Against were the Minister of Agriculture, the Attorney General, Minister of Commerce, Acting Prime Minister, Minister of Health, Minister of Education, and the Governor of Ha'apai.

He called for the proceeding to continue with Clause 5.

Dr Feleti Sevele ...– stressed the problem if the Minister selected the CEO as it was stated in Clause 5. He said that the CEO would not be accountable to the Board and it would be very difficult to get the board to work properly. He also pointed that the three-year term for both members and CEO with no option for renewal would be unacceptable for any one who would apply from overseas.

After lunch the Speaker took his seat and it was question time.

Sione Peauafi Haukinima ...– wanted to know from the Minister of Education what was holding up the construction work of the Niuatoputapu High School.

Minister of Education ...– said that the construction of the High school was handled by the New Zealand High Commission, which awarded the construction work to a New Zealand company which sub contracted it to Vava'u Construction of Tomu Fa Paea. He said that there were two phases to the construction work and phase one has not been completed and under the current arrangement it would never be completed. He said that the New Zealand High Commission was looking for a new New Zealand company to come and complete the construction, and he predicted that it should be completed by early 2005.

Sunia Fili ...– expressed his concern over the air travel problem that was faced by the Niuas and 'Eua. He said that following a discussion in the House the week before it was clear that a new airline, Kingdom Air could solve the problem, he wanted to know why they have not been given a licence to operate.

Deputy Prime Minister ...– said that following the collapse of RTA, Kingdom Air applied for an Exclusive right to operate the domestic service and it was not approved. He said that Kingdom Air never applied for a licence, they just presented a proposal that they would come in and offer a full domestic service if they were given the exclusive right. He said that government did not want to give them exclusive right because about that time Peau Vava'u and FlyNiu came in and the thinking was to let these two compete. He said that since then the Ministry of Civil Aviation had adopted the thinking of Kingdom Air and has decided that it would give an exclusive right to only one operator.

Sunia Fili ...– questioned how government made its decision, because while Kingdom Air was trying to comply with the requirement of the Ministry, it came out with an announcement that it would give the exclusive right to one of the two operators that have been operating.

Deputy Prime Minister ...– agreed that the Ministry of Civil Aviation had made the announcement, but their thinking was that during the time of need these two airlines came in and provided the service while Kingdom Air stood by. He said that it would then be unfair to give Kingdom Air the exclusive right, disregarding these other two who came in when they were needed.

Dr Feleti Sevele ...– wanted to know if Civil Aviation was making a decision that it had no authority to make. He said that Civil Aviation was supposed to be responsible only for safety and security in aviation, but not to make decision on who should be operating the Domestic Air Service. He also queried if the decision to give exclusive rights to only one operator was going against the spirit of competition that has been stressed under the Economic Reform program. He felt that if the Ministers failed to handle this issue properly it would do a lot of damage to the reputation of Tonga.

Deputy Prime Minister ...– said he would raise the matters with the Prime Minister when he returned.

Sunia Fili ...– said that in March 2003 a big wave crashed on to Nafanua Harbour, 'Eua, and did a lot of damage to the harbour and to the main road to the town. He wanted to know what was the reconstruction plan of the Minister of Works for Nafanua.

Deputy Prime Minister ...– said that a reconstruction plan has been made and an agreement has been signed on August 3 for funding from the European Union. He said that work may start in April 2005.

'Isileli Pulu ...– asked the Minister of Marine to clear a section of Vuna Road which has been roughened with clay that has been dredged from the reef.

Deputy Prime Minister ...– said that the Port Authority who did the damage was responsible for clearing up the road.

'Isileli Pulu ...– asked the Minister of Labour what has been done to 30 foreign workers who were brought to work at the Royal International Airport Hotel by Dr Wong, and they were left stranded here. Meanwhile Dr Wong had visited the country, but nothing has happened. He wanted to know how these foreign workers managed to be given work permits.

Minister of Labour ...– wanted to correct the figure, it was not 30 but 29. He said that they sought help from his ministry because they thought that Tonga has a Labour Law like in other countries, but he said that when they were told and explained they were happy. He said that with regards to their working visa, it would expire in two or three months time.

'Akilisi Pohiva ...– wanted to know why the minister has not proposed to Cabinet to do something about Dr Wong, who on numerous occasions brought foreign labourers and left them stranded here. Why did he bring foreign labourers instead of using Tongan labour. He said that since the hotel was built he kept bringing in foreign labourers until today.

Minister of Labour ...– said that the arrangement for the construction of Dr Wong's hotel was made before he became a minister and there were reasons for the bringing in of foreign labour, their wages, and the difficulties with communication. With regards with what to do with Dr Wong, he apologised that he was not ready to answer the member's question properly.

Sunia Fili ...– wanted to know why there was a hold up with the tabling the Bill for a National Pension Scheme Act.

Minister of Labour ...– reminded the member that Tonga has no Employment Act, and the National Retirement Benefits Scheme Bill 2004 which he thought the member was referring to was introduced in the morning and was withdrawn, but would properly reintroduced later.

'Isileli Pulu ...– wanted the Minister of Marine to tell him who authorised a Chinese businessman to anchor his fishing boat, the Lofa at Vuna Wharf.

Deputy Prime Minister ...– said that the authority was given to the Port Authority by the law. He said that charges for berthing at Vuna Wharf had been increased from 77 seniti per tonne to one pa'anga 80 seniti per ship [editor's note: these figures are in the minutes].

'Isileli Pulu ...– moved for the House to have a break from their debate on the Bill for Qualification and Accreditation Act for one and a half hours so that the People's Representatives could attend a meeting of the School Directors Association who requested their presence, to discuss some issues in the Bill.

Minister of Education ...– said that the member was contempting parliament, by going over to discuss the law with the directors of these schools. He said that the Association was given a draft proposal of the Bill, and since then the Bill was drafted and presented to the House. He said that the member was just wasting the time of the House.

Speaker ...– said that the motion by 'Isileli Pulu had been seconded and the House would break up for the day and it would resume again on Monday 10 am.