From the House, an English translation summary from the Tongan vernacular, by Pesi Fonua.

Highlights from Monday June 23:

- the House tried to debate the Budget. They passed the Vote of the House, rejecting an attempt by a group of PRs and Nobles to get $500,000 more spending money for handouts on village tours.

- After loosing the vote to get a half million pa'anga for PRs pocket money to spend on outer island tours, 'Akilisi Pohiva threatened to go and tell the people that they are powerless in the House; that the PRs are a minority and they have been out-voted again by the ministers when they asked for half a million. (Five Nobles and six PRs voted in favour of the extra pocket money; but 13 members voted against them). But later, on another issue, 'Akilisi argued that the House should base their decision on whatever the majority agreed to.

- Noble Tu'ivakano said that the annual tour was to inspect government's development programs, and not to hand out cash. He proposed for the House not to increase the budget allocation of $199,000 for the national tour.

- A number of petitions were presented. The Prime Minister noted that when a petition was accepted by the House it would be recognised by government but it did not mean that it has to be implemented.

- In raising the perennial issue of TongaSat's debts to government, 'Akilisi Pohiva said that orbital slots are Tonga's "tax allotments" in space that have been registered in Geneva. He said that space is subdivided just like how land is subdivided in Tonga. The owner of a tax allotment can lease his land to someone with a tractor so that he can grow some Kumala on it.

- When 'Akilisi told the House that all the construction work that is going on in Nuku'alofa at the moment was funded by TongaSat, the PM was appalled at 'Akilisi's unfounded comment and asked the PR to try and have a clean heart [to stop being jealous of others].

- Teisina Fuko suggested that it was about time for the books of the House to Audited, since now the Auditor General is under the Parliament.

- Dr Viliami Tangi reminded the House of its decision last year to stop paying the basic salaries of Members in one lump sum this year.

Tonga Legislative Assembly, Minute No. 9, Monday June 23, 2008.

Roll Call. The clerk said that Noble Tu'ipelehake was coming late, and the Tongatapu PRs No. 2 and 3 were away on "a mission". [They were in Court; PR Clive Edwards is the legal counsel for PR 'Isileli Pulu]; and those who did not answer their call, presumably were coming late.

The clerk read a letter from the Chair of the Select Committee on Petitions, Hon. Afu'alo Matoto.

The Chairman said that after the committee scrutinized 10 petitions, only two: Petitions No. 3 and No. 4 were found to be in proper form to be presented to the House. The others were withheld for more work.

'Eua roads

The Clerk read Petition No. 3, from 'Eua.

The petition begged government to tar-seal a three kilometres stretch of road between 'Ohonua and the village of Houma in 'Eua.

The petition was presented to the House by 'Eua PR Sunia Fili.

The Speaker called for votes and seven PRs voted for the petition to be accepted by the House.

Noble Luani said that the petition was too ambiguous, and had no estimated budget.

The Speaker said that with regards to petition once it was accepted by the House it would be handed-over to government to deal with it.

The Prime Minister said that when a petition was accepted by the House it meant that it was recognised; it did not mean that it had to be implemented. It would be problematic if every petition that was accepted by the House must be implemented.

PR Teisina Fuko believed that whatever was accepted by the House would be turned into a resolution; but the problem with his belief was that the people with the most petitions would get things done while the others would be left out.

Government devopment program

Noble Ma'afu said that the problem with this kind of petition was because government had its own development program, so before the House voted on a petition they should know the government's plan.

The Speaker said that he allowed the petition to be tabled into the House because it was related to the budget, because of the $6 million that is allocated in the budget for road reconstruction.

The Governor of Ha'apai said it was unwise to think that once the House passed a petition it became a resolution.

PR knew road work was underway

The Minister of Works said that it was unwise for petitions to be tabled into the House targeting the $6 million that had been allocated for road construction in the coming financial year. He pointed out that Sunia Fili knew that the Ministry of Works was currently working on the 'Ohonua Houma Road.

He told the House that government had a three-year road construction plan, allocating $6 million per annum.

Sunia wanted his petition to be debated in the Whole House Committee.

The Speaker did not think so. There was no need, because the Ministry of Works was already working on the road.

TongaSat

The clerk read the second petition, No. 4, which was presented to the House by 'Akilisi, 'Isi Pulu, 'Etuate Lavulavu, Clive Edwards, Teisina Fuko and Sione Feingatau 'Iloa.

The petition claimed that TongaSat owed government $50 million of unpaid shares of the company's profit. It demanded that the owed amount be included in the 2008-09 budget.

The petition also admitted that the figures were estimated.

The Chairman of the Whole House Committee suggested for the two petitions to be debated when they reached the appropriate section of the budget.

'Akilisi said that the petition was handed down from Legislature to be debated in Committee.

The Chairman said that there was a need for the Act on the National Trust Fund to be on hand if they were to proceed with the petition, because the Trust Fund Act spelled out how government could use their share of any profit made by TongaSat. The demand by the petition for what it claimed to be owed by TongaSat to government to be included in the budget was not possible.

Outrageous figure not true

The Prime Minister called on the House to make the right decision on how they should deal with this petition, because the figure of $50 million was outrageous. Secondly, he did not think it was proper to demand the House to order TongaSat to pay this amount.

"Whatever is presented to this House must be correct and truthful."

'Akilisi said that the reason why he could not present what is truthful to the House was because government had not been doing its job and presenting the real figures.

Teisina Fuko said that the petition was simply about money that is owed to government.

Sit down

The Chairman told 'Akilisi and Teisina to sit down because they were talking about two different things, 'Akilisi wanted the House to demand a payment of $50 million from TongaSat to the new budget, while Teisina was saying that they simply wanted to confirm that there is a debt of $50 million.

'Akilisi said that the people wanted to hear what government had to say about the money owed by TongaSat to government.

The Chairman said if that was the case then they should proceed, but if it was to demand that TongaSat pay into the coming budget then he would not allow it because it was illegal.

'Akilisi agreed, then, to proceed to talk about the petition. He said he had the copy of a letter from the Crown Prince [the present king] to Princess Pilolevu pointing out that TongaSat owed government some money.

The Governor of Ha'apai, said that if the orbital slot was a government property could he give a figure on how much government had invested in the TongaSat project?

'Akilisi said that, "the orbital slot is our tax allotment in space that has been registered in Geneva. Remember space is subdivided just like how they subdivide land on earth."

The Governor of Ha'apai wanted to know how much Tonga spent to get this tax allotment in space registered.

Kumala

'Akilisi said it is "like the owner of a tax allotment who leases his land to someone with a tractor so that he can grow some Kumala on it. Your share will be from him growing Kumala on your land."

The Governor of Ha'apai asked 'Akilisi for the comprehensive explanation, and now he knew that government did not invest any money on the project.

The Minister of Works said that the figure of $50 million mislead the people. He said that under the MOU it stated that a percentage of the net profit is the government's share. "We don't know if there was any profit."

He said that the reputation of this company had been tarnished by this petition claiming that they owed government $50 million and yet this figure could not be confirmed.

Who knows?

'Akilisi pleaded with the Chairman to stop such comment, because he did not know the real figures. He wondered if there was a government committee that knew these figures.

The Minister of Works, Noble Nuku, said that Clive Edwards, when he was the Minister of Police chaired the government TongaSat Committee. He said when he became Minister of Police, he attended one meeting of the TongaSat Committee, but he was sure Clive knew a lot about it.

Noble Nuku said that his main concern was the attempt by the member to mislead the people with an unconfirmed figure, which they want to be illegally injected into the budget.

Not real

'Akilisi admitted that they did not know anything about the real figures, and the figures they had presented were an estimate.

The Chairman asked 'Akilisi if he had the Agreement of June 30, 1994 which appears a number of times in an MOU that 'Akilisi presented together with the Petition.

'Akilisi replied "no".

The Chairman pointed out that there was a lot of detailed information that 'Akilisi should have, and did not have; and therefore it was very difficult to talk about the petition.

What's the problem?

The Minister of Justice, Hon. 'Alisi Taumoepeau said that definitely there was an agreement between government and TongaSat, because there were ventures that government could not carry out due to lack of funds and expertise. There is no denial of that. Secondly, TongaSat owed government money according to the agreement; the government and TongaSat accepted that. So what was the problem?

'Alisi said that dialogue had been carried out, the same with others who owed government money. The best approach was to try and get them to pay back what they owed without having to go through the expensive judicial procedure- an approach that would be good for them, government and the people of Tonga. She could not understand the claim that there was a loss of the country's tax revenues. This company took all the risks and if they went bankrupt over it, then that is their business.

"We are working to get them to pay back what they owed government. What is the problem?"

'Akilisi said he raised the issue about six years ago, and if 'Alisi said they were working on it, he would say they were not doing anything about it.

Investors should be supported

'Alisi told the PR that if someone stood up to take the risk of investing millions in a venture that government could not do, then it should be supported because it would benefit the country. The fact that they are late with payment is not a criminal court proceeding.

"What is the benefit that we get out of it from screaming for people to hear that there is a concern and in the process defaming someone?" 'Alisi did not think it was a good approach.

'Akilisi said that what 'Alisi was talking about had nothing to do with the petition. He warned that the issue was already known by the people since it was published in 2000.

Then he suddenly claimed, "that all the construction work that is going on in town is funded by TongaSat."

'Alisi said she was appalled the kind of leadership Tonga has, to just stand up like that and blame someone without any evidence. She said that it was good for the people to know, but to explain that if you want to take a risk by investing millions, you can play that game, but if you want to just sell manioke, there is nothing wrong with that either.

'Uliti Uata wanted to know if government had taken a legal action against TongaSat.

Utter nonsense

'Alisi wanted to know what was wrong, because she had already explained it numerous times. She said it was utter nonsense what the PR was getting at; it was simply to use their privilege in the House to put other people down. The responsibility of the House is to make laws, not to put people down in public.

'Akilisi said that the main concern of the PRs who signed the petition, was because government needed $25 million to buy back the power generation from Shoreline, but there was no money.

Royals in business

He said that the problem was because of the royals getting involved in business, and he had proposed for a legislation in 1992 to ban royals from doing business.

The Governor of Ha'apai pointed out that it is unconstitutional to have laws like that.

'Akilisi said he did not want to discuss legal matters, but he was trying to protect the Royal Family.

The Prime Minister told the House that while they were working on the new budget, they asked the Revenue Department about unpaid tax of individuals, and businesses. The response was that it was around $18-$20 million, but their advice was not to take them to court because they can work on them to slowly pay back their debts.

He expressed his surprise over claims by 'Akilisi that TongaSat was funding some of the construction works that were currently being carried out in Town. He pleaded with the PR to have a good clean heart [don't be jealous].

After lunch

The Speaker called on Noble Tu'ipelehake, the new No. 2 Nobles Representative for Ha'apai to take his oath.

'Etuate Lavulavu reported that doctors and staff at the Ngu Hospital had not been paid their over-time payment between February and June. He also reported that 48 workers of the MOW had not received their wages for three weeks.

The Minister of Health said that money for the over-time payment of doctors and staff of Ngu Hospital, had been transferred.

Out in space

'Akilisi reminded the House that the orbital slots in space are government properties.

The Speaker, Noble Tu'ilakepa asked for the debate on the petition to be postponed because he has just received a petition from Shoreline against this other petition, and to avoid repetition they should debate the two together.

'Akilisi told the House that TongaSat is represented in the House by the Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and the Cabinet.

The PM said that 'Akilisi did not understand Working Procedure. TongaSat is an agent of government, and they are not representing TongaSat.

'Etuate Lavulavu said he is a strong supporter of petitions. To prove his point he said he signed both petitions, the No. 3 petition and the TongaSat petition.

Noble Tu'ilakepa wanted to know how 'Etuate was going to pass a decision on the two petitions.

'Etuate said that he supported the principal of people making their voices heard in the House. The decision on who is right and wrong is for the House to make. He said he supports what is good for all the people of Tonga, not just this group or that group, and that was why he put his signature on both petitions.

Coronation

'Etuate moved on to the Vote No. 1 of the Palace Office. He said that $2.5 million was allocated last year for the building of a Royal Chapel and he wanted to know where is the Royal Chapel?

Minister of Finance said that with regards to the Royal Chapel, the king said he did not need a chapel, but to build one is his own personal affair.

He said last year $1 million was allocated for the preparation for the Coronation, and this year, an additional $3 million had been allocated.

Teisina Fuko asked 'Etuate to ask the minister about how the House decided to allocate funds to build a Royal Chapel and instead they used the money for something else.

The Minister of Finance told the member that government has the legal right to manage the economy of the country, and the Minister of Finance has the right to move funds from one vote to another.

'Etuate Lavulavu said that the Palace Office's vote is $3.8 million, and he reckoned that he could go and ask the king for $1 million for Vava'u, and to reduce the Palace's vote to $2.8 million.

Bad debate

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Tu'a Taumoepeau Tupou said that the way 'Etuate was debating was very bad because he had no good reasons why the vote should be increased or reduced, other than just because he thinks that it is a good idea.

Noble Tu'ipelehake reminded 'Etuate that they were in the House to make laws. For him to say that could go up to the king and ask him for $1 million, it would be illegal for the king to give him $1 million, and the king would not make such a decision.

'Uliti Uata wanted to know about the $5,000 vehicle for the palace and the $1 million for cultural celebrations.

London taxi

The Minister of Finance said that the new vehicle is to replace the London Taxi type of vehicle that the king had been using. The $1 million for cultural activities included activities during the coronation. The $2 million for the Coronation is in the vote of the Ministry of Finance.

Teisina Fuko wanted more detail on the $1 million for cultural activities. He thought that the $2 million for the Coronation was too much. He threatened to sue government for using money for other purposes than what was dictated by the House.

The Chairman called for votes, and Vote No. 1 of the Palace Office was carried 22-5. Against were 'Uliti Uata, 'Akilisi Pohiva, Teisina Fukol, Sunia Fili, and Noble Tu'ipelehake.

Private Member's Bills

The proceeding moved on to Vote No. 2 of the House.

Teisina Fuko suggested that it was about time for the books of the House to Audited, since now the Auditor General is under the Parliament.

The Chairman said that there was a possibility that there would be a conflict of interest since the Auditor was now under the House.

Long past

Teisina Fuko, instead praised government for the $4 million for the House. He said it showed how government considered the work of the House to be very important. He said that some of the authority of the House had been taken away by Cabinet. He reminded the House that they are now in 2000, and the power of the House should be reinstated, as it is the House that make the laws of the land.

Noble Tu'ipelehake reminded the member that they had already long gone past the year 2000, and they are now in the 21st Century.

The Chairman reminded Teisina Fuko that in the 21st century all members of the House could present a bill, whereas before only government could table bills into the House.

Salaries of the House

'Uliti Uata said that the Finance Committee of the House last year approved for the salaries of Cabinet ministers to be separated from that of the House, and he did not know why they had to debate on it again.

Afu'alo Matoto said that they were all set to exclude the salaries of Ministers from the vote of the House, but then the new Speaker wanted it to remain for the meantime.

Noble Tu'ilakepa, the Speaker said that according to the minute of the meeting of the Finance Committee, the committee had not passed any decision on the matter, and even if they did it would still have to come to the House for approval. He said that it was just 'Uliti who had that thought. He asked the clerk for the minute of the Finance Committee's meeting to be distributed.

Stop lump sum salaries

The Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Viliami Tangi said that one thing the House agreed on last year was a proposal by government, for the House to stop paying the basic salaries of members in one lump sum. "It was agreed we would start on that this coming financial year."

"During the whole of last year we paid fortnightly." He also knew of some who had never ever collected their basic salaries ever since they entered parliament.

He suggested for the House to make a decision on the payment of Basic Salaries in a lump sum, as they had decided last year to end it this year. He said he looked up resolutions that had been passed by the House, and there had been no resolution for members to receive their Basic Salary in a one lump sum payment.

Teisina Fuko said that the lump sum payment of their basic salaries was a good idea, and very suitable for PRs from outer islands so that they did not have to come all the way back to Nuku'alofa to get their pay.

In the bank

Dr Viliami Tangi reminded the member that he did not have to come to Nuku'alofa. "Salaries are put straight into the bank and you can pick it up in Ha'apai."

'Akilisi did not think it was necessary for the House to debate on how their salaries were paid, it was entirely a matter for the Speaker to decide, but it was an international practice "to work first then get paid later".

Dr Viliami Tangi reminded the member that according to their Regulation, the House has to make a decision and that was why it has to come to the House.

He said that if the House agreed to change how the Basic Salaries of members is paid then it should be stated clearly for the pay officer and the Treasury to know.

Village hand-outs

On a different issue he said that the $199,000 that is allocated for members to take with them and hand out to village people for their small needs during their annual tour of the rural areas, he suggested that there should be a proper formula to report back on how the money was spent.

Noble Luani wanted some clarification on the separation of power with regards to the salaries of Ministers, it seemed complicated for him to say that the House will not pay their salaries, it will be paid from the vote of the PM. He believed that the House should pay the salaries of Ministers.

'Uliti Uata said that he had been receiving his salaries fortnightly for a number of years, and he supported the idea. In his case the only difference was that when the House closes he draws all his remaining salary for the rest of the year.

'Akilisi Pohiva said that whatever the House would decide about their salaries remained with the House. He said that during the campaigning in the last election, the government campaigners went on FM 88 and told the public about how the House worked only three days a week, and the number of hours they worked in a week, and that they were paid in one lump sum. He said that Cabinet Ministers encouraged these people to bomb them in public.

The Prime Minister reminded 'Akilisi that he was the one who published in mouthpiece, Kele'a that the PM and the Deputy PM salaries were in $100,000s. He lied.

'Akilisi said there was a pending court case over this issue, so he did want to get into it. He said that the PM should ask the editor of the paper who had already died.

On the salaries of the House he said that the accepted way is for them to work and they are paid later, but he did not want to talk about that.

Majority wins

He said that the people were watching them to set an example and they should base their decision on whatever the majority agreed to. He suggested that their allowances should be taxed.

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Noble Tu'ivakano reminded the House that when he was the Speaker he proposed for the allowances not to be paid if the House was not in session or the members were not in the House, but it was rejected by the PRs. He said that if they do that then there was no need to tax the allowances. [At the moment members of parliament go overseas, are sick, go off to appear in court, and go off and do their own work while the House is in session, and yet they still receive their basic salaries including all their allowances].

Noble Luani, said that 'Akilisi had been strong against overtime payments, but he remembered when the matter was raised in the Finance Committee to stop all overtime payments, ['Akilisi and 'Uliti are members of the Finance Committee[ it was rejected. He wanted to know if the member had returned all his over-time payment.

Temptations

'Akilisi said that he was not a saint, but he was trying. He asked the noble not to raise this kind of matter in the House. He said that being a member of parliament one faced numerous temptations. He said that they were lucky to still be in the House.

Sunia Fili said that the Deputy Prime Minister was right when he said that the House decided to introduce this year a change to how the salaries of members are paid. He said that they were so thankful that the House accepted their request because there was an unexpected need for cash last year.

The Chairman said that the request from the PRs table was accepted last year, and this year they must remember that the nobles will need a lot of cash this year.

Sunia thanked the Chairman for the enlightenment.

Tour, roads and lump sums

On a different issue, he said that the PRs from the outer islands agreed to a proposal for an increase of half a million to be divided between the Niuas, Vava'u, Ha'apai and 'Eua. This allocation was to be added on to the allocation of $199,000 that is already in Vote of the House for members to hand over to village people during their annual national tour. This fund was to be released only with a written approval of the Speaker.

Noble Tu'ipelehake expressed his concern that they were taking over the responsibility of the executive, which is to build roads, wharfs, etc.

The Chairman, going back to the issue of whether they should continue this year and draw their basic salaries in a lump sum, he wondered if that what the House wanted to do because of extra financial responsibility with the Coronation.

The PM said that if it sounded like that was what the House wanted, then they should leave it at that.

Concern

Noble Tu'ivakano, expressed his concern with the proposal to increase the vote of the House by half a million pa'anga. He said that the tour was to inspect the works of the executive, and not to hand out cash. He proposed for the House not to increase the allocation.

'Akilisi suggested to postpone the buying back of the power generation with $25 million from Shoreline and use that money for road reconstruction in the rural areas.

Half-million rejected

The Chairman called for votes on the motion to increase the vote of the House by half a million. It was rejected 13-11. For it were, 'Akilisi, 'Etuate, 'Uliti, Teisina, Sunia, Feinga'iloa, Noble Tu'i Ha'ateiho, Noble Luani, Noble Ma'afu, Noble Fohe, and Noble Tu'ilakepa.

The Vote of the House was carried with votes of 18-6. Against were 'Etuate Lavulavu, 'Akilisi , 'Uliti, Teisina, Sunia and Feingatau.

Upset

Teisina Fuko questioned the fraternity of the House. He said they passed a $1 million in Vote No. 1 without questioning, "but we asked for half a million and they, the Cabinet did not support it."

'Akilisi said that their last vote clearly showed that their being in the House was waste of time because the ministers would remain the majority. He suggested that they should vote and pass the budget, and then go out and tell the people they had no power in the House, they are only a minority.

The Speaker reminded the member that Nobles voted for their motion because they supported the idea, and that is how they work in the House.

Teisina Fuko said there is no fraternity in the House. They had agreed for $1 million, $25 million and there was going to be another $2 million. He wondered what is happening to this government.

Reminder

The Minister of Finance told the member that the government was not objecting to the idea but on how it was presented. He reminded the members that they were all working for the benefit of the people.

The House was closed until 6pm.