NZ

The woman, a 34-year-old Tongan national, had confessed to the smack immediately after one of her two children dobbed her in to Child Youth and Family (CYF) in November last year.

CYF were speaking to the family on an unrelated matter when the seven-year-old boy revealed he got smacked on the hand with a large spoon if he broke rules at home.

His mother was subsequently convicted of child assault.

During the investigation it was found she and her husband had been living in New Zealand illegally since 2009. He was deported in November 2015.

They are  Ulakai Fakaosilea , Amoki Matoto Fonua  and Malachi Damien Tuilotolava.

Fakaosilea and Fonua have been charged with importing/exporting and possession for supply.

Tuilotolava has been charged with importing/exporting, possession for supply, participating in an organised criminal group and money laundering.

Tongan Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva  told Parliament when he returned to Tonga after his state visit to New Zealand that he had been told a number of Tongans were involved in the drug deal.

One of the men was based in New Zealand; the other four had come from Tonga for the season.

The victims are father and son, Koli Vaipulu (son) and Sitiveni Vaipulu (father), Halani Fine, Koli Sione Teulaka, and Samuela Taukatelata.

The men were pulling out on to the state highway after finishing their shift when they were hit.

The crash, just after 8 pm NZT yesterday outside the Aongatete Coolstore, closed State Highway 2 for four hours, and police and fire crews with heavy cutting gear attended the scene.

RNZ reports the Kupe Scholarship, awarded by the Education Ministry, aims to encourage more Pacific students into teaching.

Recent government figures showed a twenty percent rise in Pasifika students leaving school with a secondary school qualification over the last eight years.

The figures also showed more Pacific people were now studying at tertiary level.

One of the recipients of a Kupe, Moana Toleafoa, said she hoped to encourage others to break the mould.

The impetus of the HLC last Friday was significant in light of the new USP-New Zealand Partnership Agreement which was recently launched by High Commissioner Mark Ramsden on 15 April 2016. Through this new Agreement, the Government of New Zealand provides a total of NZ$15 million for the current triennium (2016-2018).

RNZI reports the New Zealand Institute for Pacific Research was launched this week, and is a collaboration between the University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology and the University of Otago.

It's funded with US$5 million over five years by the New Zealand government.

The registration opens on Friday, 1 April and closes at 4.00 pm on Friday, 29 April.

Immigration Instructions recognise the special relationship between New Zealand and Samoa, and the Pacific Access Category countries of Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Fiji.

Each year, up to 1,100 Samoan citizens, 250 Tongan and Fijian citizens and 75 I-Kiribati and Tuvaluan citizens are selected by ballot to be considered for the grant of residence in New Zealand.

New Zealand anticipates investing approximately TOP112 million (NZD75 million) in development assistance to Tonga over the next three years.

Mr Kings stated “New Zealand remains a long-standing and close partner of Tonga. It has been excellent to engage in constructive discussions with the Government of Tonga on the immediate and longer term areas of development cooperation. It is pleasing to see the results that New Zealand assistance is bringing to Tonga, particularly in the areas of energy and law and justice.”

The island group was affected by the close passage of Cyclone Winston on Tuesday 16 February and again on Friday 19 February.

While there has been damage to agricultural food crops, some schools, military camp and hospital, Vava’u has emerged without significant damage to major infrastructure.

The money is to pay for a chartered flight from the capital Nuku’alofa to Vava’u once conditions permit, to support the Tonga National Emergency Management Office with technical assistance and to respond to other initiatives if necessary.

The flight would assess damage, deliver essential supplies such as tarpaulins, tents and mosquito nets, and deploy additional emergency personnel to Vava’u.