From the House by Pesi Fonua

Tonga has ratified the Paris Agreement, the Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni, told the Tongan parliament on Monday, 22 August.

Hon. Sovaleni said that government would deposit Tonga’s instrument of ratification of the agreement on 21 September.

Tonga was among 12 Pacific Islands Forum countries that signed the Paris Agreement in New York on 22 April 2016. On the same day six of the 12 PIF countries that signed the agreement also ratified the agreement - they were Fiji, Nauru, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa and Tuvalu.

The Paris Agreement is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that 195 countries agreed to adopt on 12 December 2015 at the COP 21 UN climate summit in Paris.

For the agreement to become an international law, it must be signed and ratified by at least 55 countries, representing at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

So far just 22 states, representing just 1.08% of global greenhouse emissions, have ratified the convention.

However, the harder part of the agreement is the commitments of these states to  translate their commitments into real-world action.

Tonga has made a commitment to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel for power generation by 50%, by 2020, and 70% by 2030. The Government has also made a commitment to double Tonga's marine protected areas by 2030, and increased our efforts in reforestation.

Whether it has anything to do with Climate Change or not, but debate in the House on Monday took a couple of twists and turns over a couple of very interesting reports.

Anti-corruption

Lord Fusitu’a presented a report on a Transparency International Anti-corruption meeting that he attended in Bangkok in September 2015. Corruption, of course, is recognised as a major problem worldwide, but interestingly, the Prime Minister, shouted down Lord Fusitu’a.

“There are already meetings that we have attended overseas on anti-corruption! But what shall we do?” he asked.

Tonga enacted an Anti-corruption Commission Act in 2007, but since then a commissioner has not been appointed. The delay has not been clarified, despite the fact, that it has been revealed in the House tha the Australia has offered to pay the salaries of the commissioner. The aid money apparently has been returned to Australia, because Tonga so far has not been able to appoint an Anti-corruption Commissioner.

The Minister of Justice, Hon. Vuna Fa’otusia stepped into to clarify the situation. He said that government is tabling a Bill soon to combine the posts of an Anti-corruption Commissioner with that of a Public Relations Commissioner. He expressed an opinion that the willingness of the Australian government to pay $300,000 for the salary of an Anti-Corruption Commissioner as outrageous.

Lord Fusitu’a, however, reminded the House that such a Bill had been passed by the House before, but the King did not give his consent.

Lord Fusitu’a’s report was passed by the Whole House Committee with votes of 17-0.

If corruption is a headache for Tonga, then the state of Child Marriage, as was reported by Lord Tu’I’afitu was a disgrace.

Child Marriage

Lord Tu’I’afitu reported in a paper that he presented at the South Asia Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Child Marriage on 25 March 2016 at Katmandu, Nepal reported that in Tonga during the three years from 2013-15, 183 child marriages took place in Tonga.

• Between 2013-15, 17 children aged 15 years got married, 15 girls and 2 boys.
• Between 2013-15, 50 children aged 16 years got married, 27 girls and 23 boys.
• Between 2013-15, 116 children aged 17 years got married, 85 girls and 31 boys.

Marriage in Tonga is regulated by the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act.. Under Section 6 “No person who is . . . under the age of 15 years, or who being under the age of 18 years has not obtained the written consent of his or her guardian, shall be granted a marriage licence.”

Lord Tu’I’afitu’s report was carried with votes of 18-0.

Lord Tu’I’afitu told Matangi Tonga that he intended to table a Bill to parliament to end Child Marriage in Tonga.