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Commonwealth Day, on the second Monday in March, is the annual celebration observed by people all over the Commonwealth in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, the Pacific and Europe, where we can come together and celebrate the values and aspirations which unite us. Here in Tonga, four members of the Commonwealth are represented: our hosts, the Kingdom of Tonga, and Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom through our High Commissions.

On Australia Day we reflect on our nation’s history and celebrate its achievements and all its people, including the 33,000 Australians that identify as having Tongan ancestry. Australia’s identity is complex; in addition to our first nations heritage and our British and European history, laws and systems of government, we are a country of people from more than 270 ancestries. - Statement from the Australian High Commission in Tonga.

This week South Pacific Defence Ministers and senior military leaders came together in Tonga for what was a vital meeting. Australia will be there as a partner and a friend, as together we confront common threats to our collective security, including climate change, transnational crime, cyber-attacks and natural disasters. I’ll be working with the Defence Ministers right across the region to boost our defence cooperation, to find more opportunities for our servicemen and women to work alongside each other in a spirit of partnership, so that our forces become more capable and more interoperable. - The Hon Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.

A team of scientists is undertaking coastal marine surveys in Tongan waters to evaluate impacts to coral reefs and fisheries following the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai eruption in January 2022. Special Management Areas (SMAs) and aquaculture areas are of prime concern. With support from the Waitt Institute, the research vessel, “Plan b”, will arrive in Tongatapu today, 23 August, and conducting surveys until 5 September.

Mr. ‘Alo-ki- hakau Maileseni was appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Ports Authority Tonga on 1 August 2022, for a term of four years. The Chairman of the Transport Sector Board of Directors, Dr. Sione Ngongo Kioa and Board of Directors approved the appointment, which was endorsed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Public Enterprises, Hon. Poasi Mataele Tei.

Ko e me’a fakafiefia ma’u pe kiate kimautolu ke kau fakataha ‘i he kātoanga foaki ‘oe ngaahi tokoni mei Siaina ki Tonga. Ko e tu’otolu ‘aki ‘eni he ta’u΄ ni ‘a e kau fakataha ‘a e ‘Ofisi Faka’amipasitoa Siaina mo e ‘Ofisi ‘o e Palēmia ke fakahoko e kātoanga foaki ‘o e ngaahi palau ‘a ia ko hono fakakātoa ko e palau ‘e 70 kuo foaki ki he Pule’anga Tonga. Ko e ngaahi palau koia ‘e 30, ko e taha ia ‘o e makatu’unga malohi ‘o e ‘a’ahi mai ki Tonga΄ ni ‘a e Fakafofonga ‘o e Kōsiliō Fakafonua moe ‘Eiki Ministā ki Muli ‘a Siaina he ‘aho 31 Me ki he 1 Sune. Fai ‘e he ‘Amipasitoa Cao Xiaolin ‘i he kātoanga foaki ‘o e ngaahi Palau mei Siaina ki Tonga ‘aho 10 Sune, 2022

This year sees the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne and her Platinum Jubilee. We believe this is the first time this has happened in a Commonwealth country in recent history, and it is a very significant historical moment. But it is much more than that – it is a moment to celebrate Her Majesty’s lifetime of service and devotion to her realms and to the Commonwealth, to celebrate ‘both the institution of the Crown and the exceptional individual who wears it’, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said so well. In the UK this weekend there will be a four day celebration. It will begin on Thursday 2 June. I will plant a tree in my garden here in Tonga in the coming weeks, to mark the Platinum Jubilee as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative. - Lucy Joyce, British High Commissioner to Tonga.

Nine scholarships were awarded to young students with a passion for science, on May 4, by Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML), a subsidiary of The Metals Company, under its 2022 Scholarship Program in Tonga. Winners were presented with their certificates of merit by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Lord Tu'i'afitu and Ms Pele Pome'e.

After the challenges we have experienced to connectivity as a result of COVID-19, I am delighted the physical links between Australia and Tonga are building back. We are looking forward to greater flight connectivity between Tonga and Australia beginning this June, and I thank the Government of Tonga for taking the initiative to increase the frequency of passenger flights between our countries. While our physical links were temporarily less frequent, the link of friendship has always been strong. As members of the Pacific family, Australia and Tonga share a close relationship, built over more than fifty years of diplomatic relations. - Rachael Moore, Australian High Commissioner to Tonga