Tonga's King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau'u attended the ANZAC Day Dawn Service today, April 25, at the seafront cenotaph in Nuku'alofa. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the service of Australian and New Zealand forces in the First World War, on the Western Front (France and Belgium) in the Battle of the Somme, with the support of Pacific Island nations, including Tonga.
You are here
Results for People
Monday 25 April 2016
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Sunday 24 April 2016
Premium content
Auckland
One of Tonga’s greatest musicians, Bill Sevesi (born Wilfred Jeffs), passed away yesterday April 23. He was aged 92. Bill Sevesi was an early pioneer of modern Pacific Island Music and is credited with popularising and introducing the Hawaiian guitar key to Tonga and other Pacific Islands. Bill also introduced Tongan music to the airwaves for the first time. He was inducted in the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2015.

Saturday 23 April 2016
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Obituary. A Tongan life peer, Taniela Hoko'ila Tufui (Dan), formerly Lord Tufui of Talaheu, died on April 19 at the age of 83, in Ballarat, Australia. A barrister, he was the first Tongan to head the Law Department, was a long serving Chief Secretary to the Government of Tonga and Secretary to Cabinet, and a Privy Councillor.

Thursday 21 April 2016
1 comment
Premium content
Wales, UK
Former Mate Ma’a Tonga winger Mateaki Mafi (43) was a prize winner at the 2016 Crufts dog show in Birmingham, England, according to local news media. One of his dogs a Neapolitan Mastiff won the best of breed award in the “working dogs” category. His dog is named “Freddo Dei Mastini Della Rupe”.

Thursday 21 April 2016
Premium content
Dunedin, New Zealand
A combined student body of Tongan Teritiary Students' Associations in New Zealand is holding its first leadership programme this weekend with the sponsorship of the University of Otago, Dunedin. “I think this is a great opportunity to empower the future leaders of our Tongan community,” said student president Mary Jane Kivalu.

Friday 15 April 2016
1 comment
Premium content
Invercargill, New Zealand
Thirteen Tongan New Zealand artists will showcase their artwork as part of the "Tonga ‘i Onopooni: Tonga Contemporary" art exhibition, the first to focus exclusively on the work of artists of Tongan heritage living in New Zealand. The exhibition opens tomorrow Saturday April 16, at the City Gallery in Invercargill, and runs until 4 June.

Friday 15 April 2016
2 comments
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tongan women who wish to become candidates for district and town officer elections in June this year, yesterday learned from a visiting New Zealand member of parliament, Jenny Salesa, how they can work with the support of other women.

Wednesday 13 April 2016
Premium content
Sydney, Australia
Rev Sione Pinomi (51) of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Australia passed away on Thursday, 7 April. The reverend was a central figure in the Tongan community in Australia, estimated to be around 40,000, said Tonga’s Honorary Consul in Sydney, Louise Waterhouse.

Wednesday 13 April 2016
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
New Zealand MP for Manukau East, Jenny Salesa will hold an open meeting with women, particularly those who are interesting in running for public office, in Nuku’alofa on Thursday, 14 April. Salesa will share her experience and encourage attendees on the role women play in politics and decision-making positions

Monday 11 April 2016
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A local sewing program for women has produced 10 successful trainees who received certificates at Tu’atakilangi village on Saturday 9 April.

Friday 8 April 2016
Premium content
Auckland, New Zealand
A bizarre Facebook feud between former New Zealand X factor star Ashley Tonga and a Tongan woman living in New Zealand is currently drawing attention from New Zealand media.

Wednesday 6 April 2016
Premium content
North Carolina, USA
A Tongan-American boy scout, Lehi Tonga Jnr (16) has won recognition after he built ‘buddy benches’ for a local elementary school in his small town of Hollys Grove in North Carolina to help tackle school bullying.

Tuesday 29 March 2016
Premium content
Auckland, New Zealand
Metui Finau, a vocalist for the band Spacifix, passed away last week in Auckland after reportedly collapsing during a run with his wife. Tributes are pouring in for the 29-year old whose funeral is scheduled for this Saturday, April 2.

Monday 28 March 2016
1 comment
Sydney, Australia
A prominent Tongan-Australian performer and climate change activist, Latai Taumoepeau, is raising awareness of climate change in her latest fringe theatre performance “Disaffected”. Latai along with fellow performers Valerie Berry and Ryuichi Fujimura, reveal the impacts of climate change through body language and abstract display. "The work is a powerful and evocative performance but more than that, it is a call to arms," stated the Sydney Arts Guide.
Friday 25 March 2016
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A dramatic Good Friday procession gathered a crowd in Nuku'alofa today as members of the Catholic Church marched along Hala Vuna from Hala Alamea to the St Mary’s Cathedral, Ma’ufanga. The event was dramatized: a white robed carrier of the cross wearing a crown of thorns was whipped, kicked and punched by companions dressed as Roman soldiers.

Friday 25 March 2016
1 comment
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Shaken by the proximity of Tuesday’s terror attacks in Brussels, a Tongan family who live in the city say they are trying to go on with their normal activities and are thankful to be all okay. “We use the Maelbeek metro station where the explosions happened...all the time," said Haati and Josephine Sanft.

Wednesday 23 March 2016
Premium content
Auckland, New Zealand
A group of Tongan students performed for Princess Pilolevu Tuita during her visit to Northcote College in Auckland, on 22 March.

Monday 14 March 2016
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The 90th Anniversary of Queen Salote College was celebrated on Saturday, 12 March attended by the Queen Mother Halaevalu Mata’aho and Crown Princess Sinaitakala in Nuku’alofa. Photos by Merylatai Fihaki.

Tuesday 8 March 2016
1 comment
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga Police fronted by its women officers held its first Open Day to mark International Women’s Day 2016, today 8 March, connecting with youth and encouraging students to look at a professional career in policing.

Friday 4 March 2016
Premium content
Queenstown, New Zealand
Tonga’s King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau’u were in Queenstown, New Zealand, this week to attend the 60th birthday party of Louise Waterhouse, the Sydney-based honorary consul for Tonga.
