Results for Tonga

Hon. Hu’akavameiliku spoke as President of the sixth session of the SIDS DOCK Assembly in Lisbon, Portugal on 29 June.

A 69-year-old man from Lapaha who was detained in police custody at the Mu’a Police Station was found dead in a cell on Monday morning, 4 July. Police said circumstances indicated suicide.

New Zealand has opened up work visa applications for people offshore, while its borders will be fully open at the end of the month, with student and visitor visa applications opening from 31 July. Immigration Minister Michael Wood said this is the third and final stage of the new simplified Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) policy which opens today, allowing migrants offshore to apply for a work visa to come and work in New Zealand for an accredited employer.

HM King Tupou VI celebrated his official birthday on Monday, 4 July, in private with members of the Royal Family, at the Villa Royal Residence. The King who was born on 12 July 1959 is 63-years-old this year.

Weekly flights will resume between Tonga and Australia starting on 7 July to September.

Vakaloa Beach Resort, received a $1.67 million insurance claim from National Pacific Insurance after the resort was wiped out on January 15. To date, NPI has paid out NZ$7.6 million worth of claims in relation to the Hunga Tonga- Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption and tsunami.

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.

The New Zealand High Commissioner to Tonga, H.E Matt Howell presented his credentials to King Tupou VI on 28 June, at the Royal Palace in Nuku’alofa.

Four men have been arrested in a raid by the Police Drugs Enforcement Taskforce at a residence in Vaololoa on 21 June.