Editor,

When Prime Minister Sevele was in Auckland recently he took time out - a few minutes only but long enough to make the point - that our news media need to report more accurately particularly on political events from home. I've lifted this very recent piece from one of our more popular internet sources (and it was not the exemplar MatangiTonga) to illustrate why the PM should continue to be concerned....

"His Royal Highness Prince Tu'ipelehake will be leading his political reform team through cities where there are sizable American Tongan population to discuss the political reform issues in Tonga."

Tu'ipelehake will be surprised to know that he's leading a political

reform team. Some of us wished he was but he isn't.

The team is presently touring New Zealand and Australia after which they will tour the United States cities from 4 to 22 July, 2006. The political reform proposals that the Tu'ipelehake committee will submit to His Majesty King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, in August or September of this year will determine to a great part the decisions on its contents by His Majesty and the Legislative Assembly.

The terms of reference for the Committee says nothing about political reform proposals. It states that it is to report its findings with appropriate recommendations to the King and the Legislature.

It will also determine the mood of the democratic reformers and the people at large. While it is expected to be a mild transformation of the political power base in the Kingdom one thing is very sure, that the King will remain the Head of the political hierarchy with most of his powers intact.

This is the real kicker! We're treated to an exclusive of what the et-to-be-written report contains! No ifs and no buts. The story curiously offered no sources whatsoever but it ran the following sentence ...

"The team from Tonga will include Dr. Sitiveni Halapua, Dr. 'Ana Maui Taufe'ulungaki and Fatai Pale."

...and given the nature of the paragraph prior, these Committee members

and staff as well as Tuipelehake should have good reason to be concerned. And here's why.... "(Committee) members shall not at any time publicly or otherwise disclose, except by the Committees direction, the contents of any report so made or to be made by the Committee, or any evidence or information received by the Committee except such evidence or information as is received in any process open to the public."

That's from the (NCPR) National Committee on Political Reform's terms of reference. I'm not suggesting that the Committee members had breached their terms of reference or that the scribe had named them as sources but it would not be unreasonable for some to make that inference because of how the story was structured. I for one did.

Sefita Hao'uli

sef [dot] haouli [at] ihug [dot] co [dot] nz