The benefits and challenges of the temporary labour mobility programs to Australia and New Zealand was the topic of the Speaker’s second public debate held at Parliament House in Nuku’alofa on Friday, 4 October. While Tonga welcomes the income and social benefits brought by having over 5,000 workers overseas sending money home, the exodus of its prime workforce has led to a critical shortage of labour on farms, in businesses and in government in Tonga, while at home family breakups have increased.
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Results for Pacific Islands
Wednesday 9 October 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tuesday 8 October 2024
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Wellington, New Zealand
Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) divers were on the water at first light today to assess the wreckage of the ship, which ran on to a reef south of Upolu, Samoa, on Saturday night and sunk on Sunday morning. HMNZS Manawanui is in water about 30m deep and a light oil sheen from its initial capsize is being dispersed by wind and waves, Maritime Component Commander Commodore Shane Arndell said in a NZDF statement this afternoon.
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Monday 7 October 2024
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Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
A New Zealand Navy ship HMNZS Manawanui sank on the southern coast of Upolu, Samoa, after it ran aground on a reef on Saturday night. All 75 crew were evacuated, while the exact cause of the grounding is unknown. There is concern over the environmental effects, as oil is likely to spill from the sunken vessel.
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Thursday 3 October 2024
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Auckland, New Zealand
As Niue celebrates its 50 years of self-government, the Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa, Centre for Pacific and Global Health will host its first Niue Research Symposium at Te Tai Tonga, South Auckland campus.
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Friday 27 September 2024
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Suva, Fiji
Financing agreements to extend the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility (PRIF) for an additional four years have been signed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the governments of Australia, New Zealand and the United States, the European Investment Bank, the European Union, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the World Bank Group, at the PRIF Management Committee Meeting that was held on Wednesday in Suva. The PRIF will be based in Suva.
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Thursday 26 September 2024
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New York, USA
The climate change crisis has worsened conditions in the Pacific Islands, threatening lives, livelihood, and security its people, said PM Hon. Hu’akavameiliku, in his statement as Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), on Monday, 23 September, during the UN General Assembly Summit of the Future, in New York.
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Thursday 26 September 2024
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Baku, Azerbaijan
Funding to cover the participation of four members of delegations from each Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Party at the UN Climate Conference COP29, was announced by the host Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, yesterday to facilitate the active participation of vulnerable communities who stand to lose the most from the climate crisis.
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Tuesday 24 September 2024
New York, USA
Tonga's Prime Minister Hon. Hu’akavameiliku attended a meeting of the Leaders of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) at the margins of the High-Level Week of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly, on 23 September, in New York.
Monday 23 September 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A trip to Tongatapu by a team of South Pacific Animal Welfare veterinarians produced outstanding results with 407 animals receiving care from a volunteer team of four veterinarians and four vet nurses from 19-23 August, SPAW chairman Dr Geoff Neal reported.
Monday 23 September 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga Power Limited will host the Pacific Power Association 31st Conference and trade exhibition in Tonga from September 30 to October 3, 2024 at Falemasiva Hall in Nuku’alofa.
Thursday 5 September 2024
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Her Majesty Queen Nanasipau'u Tuku'aho is attending the South Pacific Area Seminar with a delegation, in Apia, Samoa this week. The South Pacific Area Seminar hosted by Methodist Church of Samoa, gathers influential female leaders, hundreds of women, and community members from across the region and the world to discuss key issues in the South Pacific, and strengthening faith and spreading of the Gospel.
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Wednesday 4 September 2024
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Pacific Policing Initiative (PPI) was endorsed by the Pacific leaders at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting last week, on 28 August. The Pacific Policing Initiative is a new regional initiative to strengthen collective peace and security throughout the Pacific.
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Monday 2 September 2024
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Pacific Islands Forum has censored Taiwan from its leader's communiqué that was announced on Friday, 30 August, to members of the media at Fa’onelua Convention Centre by Troika.
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Saturday 31 August 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
One big priority for the annual UN Climate Change Conference 2024 (COP29) is to make the climate Loss and Damage Fund operational, said HE Mukhtar Babayev, the COP29 President-Designate, who was in Tonga this week to meet Pacific Islands leaders, attending the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting.
Friday 30 August 2024
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The first Pacific-led and member-owned climate and disaster resilience financing facility, the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) will be headquartered in Tonga. The PRF has got a total pledges of USD$137 million, as announced today, at Fa'onelua Center, by Troika as one of the important outcomes of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Tonga this week.
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Friday 30 August 2024
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific joined prime ministers and presidents from across the Region and United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in Tonga this week. At the high-level meeting, Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala called on leaders of Pacific islands and other countries to make health a high priority on their agenda, in the context of the climate catastrophe that is putting the Pacific in peril.
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Friday 30 August 2024
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, made a site visit to the Climate and Wash Resilience Community Project, at Popua this week.
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Thursday 29 August 2024
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Hon. Pat Conroy MP visited the MORDI Tonga Trust facilities today, one of several site visits he has made in Tongatapu, on the side of the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Nuku'alofa. The Australian Government is investing AUD$9.5 million in a new partnership to deliver critical, climate resilient infrastructure and activities to communities across the Kingdom of Tonga.
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Thursday 29 August 2024
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Neiafu, Vava'u
Pacific Island Forum Leaders flew to Vava'u this morning on chartered flights for the Leaders Retreat Meeting of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting 2024, held at the Puataukanave Hotel in Neiafu. The fourth day of their gathering turned on blue skies in contrast to the torrential downpours that greeted the ministers on their first day in Tongatapu on Monday.
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Wednesday 28 August 2024
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is undergoing major reform, that will cover the processes that countries, including Tonga and the Pacific, use to access funds and investments, GCF’s Head of Vulnerability and Communications, Stephanie Speck said today, in Nuku’alofa. One of the reforms is reducing the timeframe of dispersing funds, from 14 to four months.
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