The Tongan Parliament Standing Committee on Legislation will be holding the consultation meetings in Tongatapu/'Eua, Ha'apai and Vava'u, starting on Monday November 19, and going through to January 30.

The consultation meetings will be held three times a week, starting at 7:00pm.

The six Bills that the Legislative Assembly agreed to during its 2012 session that the public should be consulted on are:

1. A Good Governance Commission Bill 2012.

2. A Commissioner for Public Relations (amendment) Bill 2012.

3. An Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Bill 2012.

4. A Legal Aid Bill 2012.

5. A Water Resources Bill 2012.

6. A Bill for an Act to amend the Constitution 2012.

The first three Bills, the Good Governance Commission Bill, the Commissioner for Public Relations Bill and the Anti-Corruption Commission Bill are inter-related.

The intention of the Good Governance Commission Bill is to set up a Good Governance Commission with a number of divisions, such as an Anti-corruption Division, Ombudsman Division, and any other divisions that government may want to establish.

According to the Attorney General's office, which is responsible for drafting Tonga's laws, most of these divisions have the same need for investigators, enforcement, monitoring, and specialized accounting skills, and if combined "then they will all have a proper job to do, directed and supervised centrally, rather than numbers of separate offices all doing similar things at a great expense and struggling on a Tongan budget."

If the Good Governance Commission Bill 2012 will become an Act it could mean the termination of the existing Public Relations Act 2008 and the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2001.

The Attorney General's office pointed out that if the Good Governance Commission Bill becomes an act, the Commissioner for Public Relations will be renamed as the Ombudsman, and the Commissioner for Public Relations will become the Ombudsman Division.

On the other hand the Anti-corruption Commission will become the Anti-corruption Division.

The other three Bills that members of the Standing Committee will be consulting the public on are:

1. The Legal Aid Bill 2012. According to the Office of the Attorney General, the Bill set out the framework of a system of legal aid in Tonga "for people who cannot afford a lawyer to help them. Help is needed with family law issues, criminal law, domestic violence issues, inheritance law and property laws."

2. The Water Resources Bill 2012. The Bill is to enable government, through the Ministry of Lands, Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources to develop a Water Management Plan for Tonga.

3. A Bill to amend the constitution 2012. The Bill is to amend Clause 8 of the Tongan version of the Tongan constitution, to have the same meaning as that of the English version of the Tongan Constitution.

Clause 8 of the English Version reads –

Freedom of Petition – All people shall be free to send letters or petitions to the King or Legislative Assembly and to meet and consult concerning matters about which they think it right to petition the King or Legislative Assembly to pass or repeal enactments provided that they meet peaceably without arms and without disorder.

Clause 8 of the Tongan version of the constitution -

'Oku ngofua ki he kakai kotoa p eke fai 'enau tangi - 'Oku ngofua ki he kakai kotoa pe ke fai 'enau tohi pe ko 'enau tohi kole ki he Tu'I pe ki he Fale Alea pea ke fakataha 'o alea ki he me'a 'oku ha mai kiate kinautolu 'oku totonu ke nau kole ki he Tu'I pe ki he Fale Alea ko hono fokotu'u pe ko hono ta'ofi kapau 'oku nau fakataha melino pea ta'e ha mahafu tau mo ta'e maveuveu.

The difference is that in the English version, it specifically spelled out the right of the people to petition the King or the Legislative Assembly to pass or to repeal enactments, whereas in the Tongan version there is no limit to what the people can petition the King and the Legislative Assembly on.

Lapaha

The first public consultation meeting of the Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Legislation will be held at the Catholic Church Hall, Lapaha, 7pm Monday, November 19.

The Standing Committee members are: Lord Fakafanua, Lord Tu'iha'ateiho, Lord Tu'i'afitu, Hon. Samiu Vaipulu (Chairman), Hon. Dr 'Ana Taufe'ulungaki, Hon. William Clive Edwards, 'Isileli Pulu, Sione Havea Taione, Semisi Tapueluelu and Siosifa Tu'utafaiva.