Results for King Tupou VI

At a formal ceremony in the Royal Palace, Nuku'alofa, this morning, four Australian members of an Orthopaedic Outreach surgical team were invested with the Royal Order of the Crown by HM King Tupou VI, for their ongoing charitable work in Tonga.

King Tupou VI will mark his 60th birthday on July 4, with various events during the week July 1-7, in a program announced at the Palace Office today.

King Tupou VI awarded Service Medals to 248 Tonga Police recipients at the Police College parade ground, Longolongo on June 7. Five police officers were distinguished with a Commissioner's Gold Merit Award recognizing their acts of bravery. By Linny Folau.

A second tugboat for Tonga, the MV Olovaha, was launched this morning by HM King Tupou VI and HM Queen Nanasipau’u at the domestic wharf terminal in Nuku‘alofa. Costing $2.1 million pa’anga, the vessel was financed by the Ports Authority Tonga, with a 55% loan from the Bank of the South Pacific and 45% from its own funds.

An urgent bill pushed by Cabinet last month – the National Spatial Planning And Management (Amendment) Bill 2019 – aims to replace the King’s authority in appointing the ‘Planning Tribunal’ which adjudicates appeals filed by applicants against decisions made by the National Spatial Planning Authority, a body that assesses and approves draft plans of land/development projects.

King Tupou VI, in a message for the closing of the Tonga Legislative Assembly's 2018-19 session today, said there was a lot of work to be done to develop our country. The king's short message, delivered by Lord Vaea, urged all Tongans to be prepared for the effects of climate change, and stressed that the work of Parliament and Government must be carried out in accordance with the Constitution and with dignity. The Prime Minister was absent from the closure.

Tonga's new Attorney General, Mrs Linda Simiki Folaumoetu’i SC, was appointed by King Tupou VI on March 21.

King Tupou VI, acting on three public petitions, has opened urgent investigations into alleged mal-administration by government, and called for urgent adequate funding of the Anti Corruption Commission. The King has referred three petitions to the Ombudsman, and one also to the Commissioner of Police for investigation and possible prosecution of any breaches of Criminal law.

Tonga’s tense and conflicting politics were exposed when three petitions were presented to the HM King Tupou VI on 18 February, with a call to not only dissolve parliament, but also to establish a Royal Commission to investigate alleged wrong doings by government; and to appoint a caretaker government. Last week the Prime Minister, Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva, responded by calling the petitions “trouble making”.