Not a holiday - MPs in the Pacific: Day One

This is part one of five on the Speaker led delegation to Tonga and Fiji. For the other parts, click here. To hear why these trips happen, click here. 

Usually the first we hear of a group of MPs travelling overseas is a media release sent a few days before departure. 

It’ll include words like “parliamentary outreach” and “strengthening relationships” which doesn’t reveal much about what the trip is for. 

So I asked to follow the MPs, to find out if they’re actually working or sneaking in a holiday. 

Delegation members: National MPs Jo Hayes, Tim MacIndoe, Harete Hipango, Labour MP Adrian Rurawhe, and Speaker Trevor Mallard

Day One: Monday in Tonga

4am - Auckland

This day begins in Auckland with a 4am wake-up to make sure we can catch a three hour flight to Tonga.

11am - Fuaʻamotu

We land in Tonga for a briefing from Foreign Affairs staff including New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Tonga, Tiffany Babington. The weather is overcast.

11:45am - Temporary Tonga Parliament: Nuku’alofa

The Tonga Legislative Assembly is temporarily located at the Tongan National Cultural Centre after its building was flattened by Cyclone Gita in February, 2018.

New Zealand, with Australia, is helping to rebuild Tonga’s Parliament.

In September, the Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva passed away in New Zealand.

Tonga’s new Prime Minister Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa and his new Cabinet are sworn in today so the New Zealand delegation go on a tour of the temporary site while Tonga’s Speaker, Lord Fakafanua, is swearing the Cabinet in.

12:30pm - Meeting with Tonga’s Speaker

Lord Fakafanua meets the New Zealand group in his office and points out equipment like a projector, chairs, and couch which were bought with technical assistance money from New Zealand.

“Without the assistance of your Government and Parliament we wouldn’t have been able to set up in time for the sitting of Parliament,” he says.

New Zealand Speaker Trevor Mallard explains the trip is an exercise in building better links between Pacific and New Zealand parliamentarians.

The other objectives include gaining insights into the political landscape, making connections with MPs, looking at existing New Zealand aid and potential areas for assistance, and promoting Pacific women Parliamentarians and leaders.

2pm - check in

This is the first chance the group gets since leaving New Zealand to shower, change, and refresh before the next appointments.

People back home have problems they need help with and don't really care the MPs so they take a few minutes to answer emails and queries from back home.

Outside the rooms there's a pool party and people sipping drinks under coconut trees. The group head into a conference room for the next event.

3:30pm - Tonga Youth MPs

“Don’t bring in a politician to talk to a youth, the kids won’t talk to them, they’re going to talk to the other kids,” says 2018 Youth MP Hans Jensen.

He says this right after we just brought in a bunch of New Zealand politicians to talk to the youth.

“This is different,” says Hans.

“Because I think a lot of people in this room have been through the Tonga Youth Parliament process so the nerves that we had at first have kind of faded. Whereas the younger ones, they’re not going to talk here.”

Tonga held youth parliaments in 2018 and 2019 and also a 'Girls take over Parliament day' in an effort to boost women's representation/interest in parliament. 

Some of the participants are gathered at the Hotel to share their experiences with the New Zealand MPs and Hans is right when he says this group isn't afraid to speak up here. 

One of the youth MPs points out the setting is too formal and everyone needs to relax. 

Another one points out that suggestions to 'make yourselves heard' like the youth-driven climate march isn't the best option here.  

Tongan culture is hierarchical and there’s an emphasis on respecting the voice of authority, so getting Tongan Youth to share their concerns isn’t that easy.

As for the usefulness of the New Zealand MPs presence, 2018 Youth Parliament Prime Minister 'Aulola 'Ake says they appreciate the delegation taking the time to listen to the youth. 

"We're familiar with delegations coming from abroad but this is one of the few oportunities that we've had to actually connect with young people," she says.

"I think what's an important outcome from this meeting is that we can forge a way forward between Tongan youth and New Zealand youth." 

6pm - Evening function at the Official New Zealand Residence

The last event for the day is a drinks and nibbles event at the New Zealand High Commissioner's residence.

It’s on one of the few elevated spots in Nuku’alofa and I’m told the grounds have historical significance so it’s a bit of a mystery as to how New Zealand managed to negotiate the use of the land.

The function doubles as a welcome to the delegation and a chance for them to mingle with newly sworn-in ministers, some youth MPs from the session just before, ambassadors, community and business leaders, and parliamentary staffers.

It’s a pretty casual event bar a few speeches from Tiffany Babington, Lord Fakafanua, and Trevor Mallard.

“This is the second parliamentary delegation that Speaker Mallard has led into the Pacific following a visit to Vanuatu and Solomon Islands last year,” says Tiffany Babington.

“These are the kind of relationships that we need to forge on and build in terms of strengthening the democracies in Tonga and New Zealand,” says Lord Fakafanua.

“Some of us very firmly believe that our parliamentarians have a disproportionate amount of contact with parliamentarians from Europe, less so the United States, and from Asia and don’t always have the best contacts as younger or newer politicians with people in their own backyard” says Trevor Mallard.

“I’m very firmly of the view that we are of the Pacific and we have to be part of the Pacific and for that to work we’ve got to understand better what is occuring in our neighbouring countries.”

That’s it for day one.

Find day two here. Hear why these trips take place here.