The 26th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth opened on the 4th of January in Canberra, Australia. The Conference brings together the Speakers and Presiding Officers of the national parliaments of the independent sovereign states of the Commonwealth including the Legislative Assembly of Tonga.
In the Opening day, Speakers held discussions on the topics of Parliamentarians and the Pandemic and also Security with regards to Parliaments.
During the discussion some of the Speakers from different jurisdictions raised that security should not be limited to protecting the building but also extend to protecting the members. The conference heard how some Members of Parliaments were killed while doing their job.
(L-R) Hon Curtis Pitt Queensland Speaker, RT Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle UK Speaker, Lord Fakafanua Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga
There was also concern on how some people use the social media to attack and insult Members of Parliament and their families’ lives with false information. It was also mentioned how it was difficult and costly to bring these people to face justice because they may be using fake identities or they live in other countries.
In his intervention, Lord Fakafanua proposed that Speakers in the Conference should work together to solve these issues.
In jurisdiction like Singapore, they have Legislations in place to combat these illegal activities. Lord Fakafanua also reminded Speakers that Climate Change is a threat to the security of Parliaments, using the destruction of the Parliament House by Cyclone Gita as an example.
Lord Fakafanua had a bilateral meeting with the president of the Australian Senate Senator Hon. Sue Lines and the Deputy Speaker of the Australia House of Representative Hon. Sharon Claydon.
During the meeting Lord Fakafanua thanked the Australian government for their kind assistance with the budget support, their continuous commitment to the Pacific ‘s priority on Climate Change and support to the loss and damage and the 1.5%. It was also discussed during the meeting the problems that Tonga faces with regards to the Pacific Labour Scheme including the labor shortage in the home country and the social problems.
Lord Fakafanua also raised the issue regarding Tongans deported from Australia and the social problems caused by some of the deportees which is something that both countries should look at.
Lord Speaker noted that Tonga’s stand against the aggression in Ukraine shows alignment in Tonga’s foreign policy and Australia. Lord Fakafanua expressed his appreciation for the all the high-level delegations that had visited Tonga recently and he extended and open invitation to the Speaker of the Australian Parliament to visit Tonga. In response, the Speaker The Hon. Milton Dick accepted the invitation and expressed he wanted to visit Tonga.
Lord Fakafanua also had an opportunity to meet the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association(CPA) Stephen Twigg. They discussed how the CPA can assist the Legislative Assembly and the Members of Parliament.
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Lord Fakafanua, Curtis Tu’ihalangingie from the Tonga High Commission Office in Canberra and Deputy Clerk.
Lord Fakafanua was accompanied by the Deputy Clerk Dr. Sione Vikilani. The meeting continues today.