Results for Australia

The integrity of Tonga's smart meters is being reviewed in response to increases in power bills reported after the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunamis.

Tonga is looking for ways to increase its agricultural trade of fresh produce to overseas markets. The availability and cost of shipping has long plagued the trade. Irregular shipping intervals is one of the problems, says Tonga Market Access Working Group chairperson, Pousima Afeaki

Solar power for around 197 households on the small island of ‘Uiha in the Ha’apai Group, was tested this week marking an important transition from diesel to solar power generation, ahead of commissioning at the end of the month. The island's two villages, which had only six hours of electricity a day, now enjoy 24 hours a day of 100% renewable power.

While the government is aiming to improve the growth of electronic commerce, to enable more people in Tonga to fully utilize the ICT infrastructure and skills already in place, there is still a long way to go, says Tonga's trade minister, in the first ‘E-Commerce Strategy and Roadmap for Tonga’.

A Sister City agreement was signed last week between Kolomotu’a in Tongatapu, and the New South Wales country town of Gunnedah, where Tongan workers are filling critical workforce shortages through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.

Forty-five Tongan soldiers from His Majesty’s Armed Forces will take part in the world largest international maritime exercise, the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC 2022) in Hawaii next month. They departed Tonga for training in Australia on 23 May.

After the challenges we have experienced to connectivity as a result of COVID-19, I am delighted the physical links between Australia and Tonga are building back. We are looking forward to greater flight connectivity between Tonga and Australia beginning this June, and I thank the Government of Tonga for taking the initiative to increase the frequency of passenger flights between our countries. While our physical links were temporarily less frequent, the link of friendship has always been strong. As members of the Pacific family, Australia and Tonga share a close relationship, built over more than fifty years of diplomatic relations. - Rachael Moore, Australian High Commissioner to Tonga

The Government of Tonga today thanked members of a joint military 'Tonga Assist Operation' for their assistance over the past six-weeks, in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption and tsunamis on January 15.

A total of 203 people were repatriated from Australia and New Zealand, arriving in Tonga yesterday, March 8.