Results for Opinion

For years the whale watch industry in Vavau has fought to have better practices and less licenses due to an over-saturation of licenses, badly behaved skippers and, in recent years, clients who believe they can do whatever they want in the water with the whales. Why is there no list of operators, their boats, skippers and guides and passenger numbers? I and others in the industry ask: Why are more licenses being issued and to boats that are not suitable for the purpose of whale watching?  - Kirsty Bowe.

I am writing to you, as a concerned citizen of Tonga, to ask that the government of Tonga take immediate action to allow access to Starlink internet services in our country. In today's increasingly digital world, access to reliable and high-speed internet is not merely a luxury but a necessity. - Brian A. Meikle

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme lures workers from Pacific Island Nations and Timor-Leste with promises of opportunity and money. Yet once workers arrive in Australia, they have to face the reality of poor working and living conditions. Tonga is home to one of the largest cohorts of Pacific Islanders who come to work in Australia on PALM visas - equivalent to 9% of the Tongan working age population. The bigger issue with this kind of temporary labour scheme is the impact they have on Pacific economies. The PALM Scheme is large, and it is growing – fast. By Alexia Adhikari

Rev. Dr Palu (Letters, 11 Feb.) makes a crucial mistake in asserting that the King has executive authority over government, as the King does not. This is a strange, and volatile situation. Contrary to what Rev Dr Palu implies, it would be better for Tonga if the King was to cooperate with the PM, not the other way around. - Max K.

The PM and his Cabinet should remember the uniqueness of our kind of democracy. Ours is not like the British democracy where the King has no executive power. Ours is a democracy under Constitutional monarchy. The King has the ultimate executive authority over the Government. He can dissolve Parliament if it deems necessary as he has done with 'Akilisi's government back then. Our Constitution, and especially Clause 51 retains the King's authority over Cabinet by giving him authority to endorse ...the appointments of Cabinet ministers. So, it will be good for the current administration not to resist the authority of the King in this matter. - Rev Dr Ma'afu Palu

In a joint statement at the weekend the United Nations humanitarian agencies called for the utmost respect of international humanitarian law by all parties in the ongoing Middle East conflict. “Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities. It is now catastrophic. The world must do more,” said the UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP and WHO statement on humanitarian supplies crossing into Gaza, on 21 October. The statement which did not name the warring parties, described the humanitarian crisis and called for a humanitarian ceasefire and immediate access for distribution of aid supplies.

The Pacific Islands are now at a cliff edge. As a region, as countries and as peoples, we face some of the hardest and cruellest choices. Business as usual, more of the same and incremental improvements will be the surest way to disaster for the whole of our region. As our communities, our region struggles, this is a time to ask some hard questions...Do we have what it takes to implement policies and decisions at the pace and speed at which this is needed? By Professor Biman Prasad (article from a public speech during this week's Forum Economic Ministers Meeting in Suva, Fiji).

The International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s largest security conference, has wrapped up its 2023 meeting in Singapore. The context for this year’s summit was not propitious: Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine grinds on, while Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his uncompromising approach to global affairs. If one thing was obvious during the two days of defense diplomacy, it is that the Sino-American competition is far from being managed effectively. A robust bilateral dialogue is almost non-existent at the ministerial level, with military-to-military contact even more limited. Concluding the conference, Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen once again warned about US-China tensions, a more militarized Indo-Pacific, and the risk of conflict. By Richard Maude

Some fear that this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference – to be held here in Egypt on November 6-18 – will be an unintended casualty of the geopolitical tensions and economic challenges the world is facing. I believe the opposite: COP27 represents a unique and timely opportunity for the world to come together, recognize our common interests, and restore multilateral cooperation. As daunting as this challenge is, we have no choice but to confront it. We must negotiate with one another, because there can be no negotiating with the climate. By Sameh Shoukry, COP27 President-Designate.