Results for Parliament

From the House, Minute no. 24, Monday July 26. 'Uliti Uata queried the logic of the penalties for the non-payment of income tax. He said that Inland Revenue Department has been forwarding their assessment of income taxes from 1997 up to 2003 and demanding the payment of penalties and interest.

Minute No. 22: Proposed amendment of the Regulation for the Ship Registration Act was to enable the Fuakavenga II to be registered in Tonga, Tonga pays $1 million to the Pacific Forum Line and $1 million to the Hartman Shipping Group of Germany so that Tonga may have the option of buying back the ship after eight years, the Regulation and the Act have been amended and the ship was reregistered earlier this year but the amended regulation was brought in for the House to approve, Death Grant of $15,000 for soldiers who die on the battlefield or during a military exercise, in addition his next of kin will be paid his pension from government. From the House. By Pesi Fonua

A fist-fight broke out in the Tongan Parliament on Wednesday 28 July, between two Members 'Etuate Lavulavu and 'Akilisi Pohiva, resulting in their suspension from the House.

Masao Paasi was appointed as a Relieving Police Magistrate for Tonga on July 19.

Sixteen Tongan legal practitioners will study in Tonga for a UK Diploma in Law under a new programme supported by the British High Commission in Nuku'alofa

MPs dismayed with a reduction in the allocation for road construction and repair, and point to desperate need by the people of Kanokupolu and Ha'atafu to stop their villages from eroding into the sea. From the House, Minute No. 19, (Monday night) 28 June 2004.

Tonga's Chief Justice, Mr Justice Gordon Ward left Tonga at the end of June to take up a position as the chairman of the Court of Appeal in Fiji. Mr Justice Ward was interviewed by Pesi Fonua on 25 June 2004 a few days before leaving for Fiji. In this interview the Chief Justice notes that Tonga's law is quite clear on the exercise of the king's prerogative power; he also comments on the loss of Tonga's Statutes of Application to British law that has left Tonga with serious gaps in its laws that are only now being identified.

Member questions how heads of departments can sign working contracts on July 1, when their salaries have yet to be confirmed. From the House, Minute No. 14, Tuesday June 22. By Pesi Fonua

Editor's note: the Budget statement and Budget have not been released to the press, so all the figures presented here are sourced from the minutes of the debate and cannot be verified. Likewise, the comparative year figures cannot be clarified or verified without sight of the Budget columns. Debate continued, on Thursday June 17