2 June 2011 The Address from the Throne at the State Opening of Parliament on Thursday 2 June 2011.

My Lord Speaker. I give thanks to the Almighty that you are well as are the Lord Prime Minister, Their Lordships and Ministers of the Cabinet , the Lord Peers and Members of the Parliament.

There is wide spread rejoicing in the Realm at the completion of the first stage of our new democratic reforms which we may credit to the legacy of the previous government and Parliament who, without a single voice of dissent, enacted these historic reforms. The essence of these reforms is that the power to propose and to enact future reforms is firmly vested in the parliament so that we might make small adjustments often as opposed to sudden changes of great magnitude after long periods of inactivity.

The Government shall propose supporting legislation for the appointment of the Great Office of State the Lord Chancellor who shall be empowered to protect the Courts and the Judges while preserving the integrity and impartiality of the Judiciary.

The new Legislation will grant powers to the King, on the advice of the Lord Prime Minister, to appoint a temporary Lord Chancellor and a temporary Attorney General in order to complete the membership of the Judicial Appointments and
Disciplinary Panel for only then may a substantive Lord Chancellor and Attorney General be appointed.

The political reforms of the past are small in scale and import when compared to the substantial changes to our economic and social organisation designed to change the country from an impoverished country which missed out on most opportunities to improve its circumstances in the 20th Century to a prosperous one of the 21st Century.

The political reforms were nevertheless of the highest priority. It is essential that the Parliament, now representing the whole country, should solicit public consensus for the great changes to come and which are planned by the Government. In parallel, we rely upon the Churches to guide the people's spiritual
welfare while an independent and unassailable Judiciary shall guarantee the independence and impartiality of the Courts which shall champion the cause of justice equally on behalf of the powerful as well as the humble.

In addition the Government is faced with the task of encouraging economic growth in spite of the cost of energy and past conflicts between policies and the priorities adopted by our state enterprises. It is the intention that these efforts are coordinated with a general policy to encourage our commercial activities, primary production and competent marketing to achieve a growth rate to 2% in the year 2013.

We extend our gratitude to the Governments of Japan, the People's Republic of China, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Government of New Zealand for their generous assistance to our country in the past year. We are also grateful to the help which we have received from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Union for their invaluable help.

I send you all my Greetings.

GEORGE R.

KO E FOLOFOLA ‘A E PILINISESI PULE, PILINISESI SALOTE PILOLEVU TUITA, ‘I HE HUUFI ‘O E ‘ULUAKI FAKATAHA ‘A E FALE  ALEA ‘O TONGA ‘I HE ‘AHO TU'APULELULU, 13 ‘O SANUALI, 2011

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Tapu mo e ‘afio ‘a e ‘Otua Mafimafi ‘i hotau lotolotonga. Tapu moe ‘Eiki Sea ‘o e FaleAlea, Tapu mo e Hou'eiki Fakafofonga Nopele, Tapu mo e ‘Eiki Palemia, kae'uma'a ‘a e Hou'eiki Minisita ‘o e Kapineti. Tapu mo e kau Fakafofonga ‘o e Kakai. Tapu pea mo e Hou'eiki ‘o e fonua, kae'uma'aa ‘a e kainga Tonga kotoa pe, ‘oku a'u atu kiai ‘a e ouau mahu'inga ‘o e pongipongi ni.

2.        ‘Oku tau fakafeta'i ki he ‘Otua Mafimafi ‘i he fakalaolao ‘a e me'a kotoa pe, kae faingamalie ke tau fakataha heni he pongipongi ni, ki hono huufi ‘o e ‘uluaki fakataha ‘a e Falealea ‘o Tonga, hili ‘a e fili Falealea ‘o e ‘aho 25 ‘o Novema ‘o e ta'u kuohili. Ko e ngaue koeni, ‘oku fakahoko he ‘aho ni, ko e fakakakato aipe ‘a e fiema'u, ‘a e fakalelei fakapolitikale, ‘oku tu'utu'uni ‘e he lao ‘o e Falealea. ‘Oku fiema'u ai ke ui ha fakataha ‘a e Falealea kimu'a, ‘i he ‘osi ‘a e uike ‘e  6, hili ‘a e ma'u ‘a e ola ‘o e fili Falealea. Ko e ouau huufi ‘o e ‘aho ni, ‘oku fakalotofale pe, ka ‘e toki fakahoko ‘a e huufi fakapule'anga, ‘o e Fakataha ‘a e Falealea, lolotonga ‘a e mahina ko Me ‘o e ta'u ni.

3.       Ko e ‘uluaki fatongia ‘o e fakataha koeni, ko hono fakafuakava'i ‘o e Hou'eiki Minisita ‘o e Kapineti pea pehee foki ki he Hou'eiki Fakafofonga Nopele, pea mo e kau Fakafofonga ‘o e Kakai. ‘E hoko atu leva ‘a e Fale ki hono vakai'i ‘o ha ngaahi fatongia, kuo tuku mai mei he Pule'anga. ‘Oku tau  amanaki foki ‘e 'ikai ma'uloloa ‘a e fakataha ko ‘eni, he ‘oku fiema'u ‘a e taimi lahi mo fe'unga, ke fai ai ‘a e teuteu ki he fakataha ‘i  Me.

4.        Na'e tokangaekina ‘e he Tonga kotoa pe, ‘o tatau pe ‘i Tonga ni pea mo muli foki, ‘a e ngaahi fakalakalaka pea mo e ngaahi laakanga ko e fakalelei fakapolitikale, ‘aia na'e fakakakato'aki ‘a e fili Fale Alea ‘o e 2010.  Ko e ngaue lahi ‘eni ki he Pule'anga, mo e Falealea, ‘a hono vakai'i pea mo fakalelei ‘a e Konisitutone, pea mo e ngaahi lao ‘oku fekau'aki pea mo hoko fokotu'utu'u ‘o e ngaahi mafai ki he Fakataha Tokoni,  Kapineti,  Falealea,  mo e Fakamaau'anga, pea mo fokotu'u foki ‘a e founga fili fakafofonga Falealea, ‘e maau mo fakafiemalie.

5.        ‘Oku ou fie fakamalo ai heni, ki he Pule'anga, mo e Falealea ‘o e ta'u kuohili, ‘i he ngaue lahi mo ‘aufuato kuo nau ikuna. ‘E tohi tongi ‘i he loto ‘o e Tonga kotoa, ‘i he ngaahi to'utangata ka hoko mai, ‘a e ngaue lahi kuo lava.

6.        ‘Oku fakalanga manatu foki ‘a e tou'anga ‘a e Hou'eiki, mo kinautolu ‘i he kuohili, na'a nau fakatoka ‘a e makatu'unga ki he fa'unga ‘o e Pule'anga Faka-Tu'i, Faka-kalisitiane, Fakafonua mo Faka-temokalati.  Ko e fakafeta'i'anga ia, ‘o e ‘aho ni, pea ‘oku tau polepole ai ‘i he langi mama'o ‘a e kuohili, ‘i hono fa'u ‘a e Konisitutone mo e ngaahi lao, ‘o toki fakalelei pe, ke tuha mo taau, mo e ta'au ‘a e taimi. ‘Oku tau fakafeta'i  fiefia ‘i he ‘aho ni, koe'uhi ko e tofa mai ‘o e ngaahi vaa'ihala mei he kuohili, pea ‘oku tau fononga ai ‘i he tokamalie, ‘o ‘ikai tu'anaki ki ha fakatamaki ‘i he halafononga.

7.        Ko e ‘epoki fo'ou eni ‘i hotau fonua, ‘i he hoko mai ha kau taki fo'ou, ‘i he hisitolia hotau fonua, ke nau ngaue'i ai ‘a e Pule'anga pea mo e fonua, ‘i he ‘ilo pau, ‘e ‘ikai ha to e taha ke kilala hake kitautolu. Kuopau ke fai ‘etau langa, ‘e kitautolu pe, pea ‘oku matu'aki mahu'inga ke tau tu'u fakataha, ngaue fakataha, mo uouongataha ke langa hake ho tau fonua, langa hake hotau ngaahi kolo, kae tautefito ki he langa lange ‘o e ngaahi famili.

8.        ‘Oku ou tui ‘oku tau kau fakataha kotoa pe, ‘i he fiefia pea mo e loto mafana, koe'uhi ko e fakahoko hono fetongi ‘o e Puleanga, ‘o fai ‘i he funga ‘o e melino, mo e fe'ofo'ofani. Hili ‘a e fili Falealea ‘o e ‘aho 25 ‘o Novema ‘o  e 2010,  na'e fokotu'u leva ‘a e Pule'anga Fakataimi, ‘o toki fakakakato ‘a e liliu ki he Pule'anga Fo'ou, hili hono fakanofo ‘o e Hou'eiki Minisita ‘o e Kapineti, ‘i he ‘aho 29 ‘o Tisema, 2010.

9.        ‘Oku ou fie fakafofonga heni ‘a e fakamalo mo e loto hounga'ia mo'oni, ki he Pule'anga ‘Aositelelia, Pule'anga Nu'usila, Pule'anga ‘o e Lepupilika ‘o e Kakai ‘o Siaina, Pule'anga Siapani, pea pehe ki he ngaahi Pule'anga kotoa pe, ‘oku nau tokoni mai ‘i he ngaahi tapa kehekehe.

11.      ‘Oku ou fie fakamalo foki heni, fakataha pea mo e ‘eku talamonu, ki he ‘Eiki Sea ‘o e Falealea, ‘Eiki Palemia, mo e Hou'eiki Minisita ‘o e Kapineti, Hou'eiki fakafofonga Nopele, Kau fakafofonga ‘o e Kakai, pea  pehee kiate kimoutolu kotoa pe ‘a e kau ngaue ‘o e Falealea. ‘Oku ou fakatauange mo e tu'amelie, te mou fai homou tukuingata, ke fakakakato ‘a e kaveinga kuo mou fakataha mai ai, ki heni, he ‘aho ni.

12.      ‘Oku ou fakatauange foki ‘e toka mai ‘a e Hoifua ‘a e ‘Otua Mafimafi, ki he feme'a'aki te mou fai, pea oku ou ‘ofaatu ‘aupito

THE REGENT

ENDS

Issued by the: Ministry of Informaton and Communications, authorised by the Prime Minister's Office, Nuku'alofa, 2011.