Results for Pacific Islands

Mataliki, Tonga’s National Football Women’s team has advanced into the quarter-finals of the OFC Women’s Nations Cup 2022 in Suva. This was after a 0-0 draw between Tahiti and Vanuatu on 20 July.

The Tonga Government has today handed back bookings to airlines and travel agents "Starting tomorrow, services will be provided commercially by airlines and travel agents," said MEIDECC CEO, Paula Ma’u. Tonga is moving toward an incremental border re-opening, with zero MIQ for incoming passengers starting in August.

Tonga Red Cross received a donation of $10,000 pa’anga from the Bank South Pacific to assist in its recovery programs, after the natural disasters of 15 January. BSP Tonga-Country Head Marcellina Wolfgramm Ha'apai presented the cheque to Tonga Red Cross Secretary-General, Sione Taumoefolau on 11 July to mark the bank's 7th anniversary in Tonga.

Lord Fakanua, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga is attending the 51st Presiding Officers and Clerks Conference in Melbourne, from July 4-8, where he will present a speech on 'Parliament’s engagement with the community in Tonga'. The annual conference has not been held since 2019, due to the COVID pandemic.

Tonga in affirming its support to the Commonwealth's Call to Action On Living Lands called for increased global funding and investment towards land and other nature-based actions, within the context of a post COVID-19 recovery.

Altogether, 70 farm tractors have been handed over to the Tongan Government this year. The latest batch of 30 farm tractors is one of the concrete outcomes of the visit by the Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister, H.E. Wang from 31 May to 1 June. Besides, there are more outcomes of the visit, and also cooperation in many fields. We are confident that all these assistance items will be helpful for the Tongan Government and the Tongan people in your recovery efforts for the economic and social development, and especially for food security. - Remarks by Ambassador Cao Xiaolin at the Handover Ceremony of the Farm Tractors from China to Tonga.

Tonga will host a trade adviser for the Polynesian sub-region, covering Tonga, Niue, Tuvalu, Samoa and the Cook Islands, and employed by Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), under a new multi-million Euro programme called “SPIRIT”.

Tonga’s economy is in trouble. The economic contraction during two years of border restrictions, has been accelerated by January’s devastating Hunga volcanic eruption and tsunamis, followed by the arrival of COVID-19 in February and further job losses. In tabling his 2022-23 budget, the Minister of Finance warned of a continuing contraction of the economy, the likes of which we have not experienced before. From the House, by Pesi Fonua.

This year sees the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne and her Platinum Jubilee. We believe this is the first time this has happened in a Commonwealth country in recent history, and it is a very significant historical moment. But it is much more than that – it is a moment to celebrate Her Majesty’s lifetime of service and devotion to her realms and to the Commonwealth, to celebrate ‘both the institution of the Crown and the exceptional individual who wears it’, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said so well. In the UK this weekend there will be a four day celebration. It will begin on Thursday 2 June. I will plant a tree in my garden here in Tonga in the coming weeks, to mark the Platinum Jubilee as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative. - Lucy Joyce, British High Commissioner to Tonga.