Mateni Tapueluelu is a

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

n journalist, politician, and

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

. He has worked as a correspondent for

Radio New Zealand International RNZ Pacific or Radio New Zealand Pacific, sometimes abbreviated to RNZP, is a division of Radio New Zealand and the official international broadcasting station of New Zealand. It broadcasts a variety of news, current affairs and sports programme ...

in Tonga, then became editor of the '' Keleʻa'', the newspaper of the pro-democracy movement and of the

Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands The Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands () is a political party in Tonga. The party's leader at its foundation was 'Akilisi Pohiva. The party was launched in September 2010, and included several sitting People's Representatives who were p ...

, led by his father-in-law ʻAkilisi Pohiva. Tapueluelu's wife Laucala, Pohiva's daughter, is the newspaper's publisher., ''Tonga Herald'', 10 July 2014"Election Over, Tonga Awaits Selection Of Next Prime Minister"
''

Matangi Tonga ''Matangi Tonga'' is an online newspaper providing Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is abou ...

'', 28 November 2014 In 2013, he was fined T$ 130,000 for having published in ''Keleʻa'' a

letter to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a Letter (message), letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through ...

found to have defamed members of the government. Tapueluelu and his wife published an editorial criticising the ruling, whereupon they were found to be in

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

, and subjected to an additional fine of T$2,700. In the build-up to the 2014 general election, the Democratic Party suffered a split, de-selecting several of its own sitting members of the Legislative Assembly. Among those de-selected was

Semisi Tapueluelu Semisi Palu ‘Ifoni Tapueluelu (born October 28, 1949) more commonly known as Semisi Tapueluelu, is a Tongan politician. He is the father of Mateni Tapueluelu. After working as a prisons superintendent, he went into politics. His career in nati ...

, MP for Tongatapu 10 and Mateni Tapueluelu's father. Under Mateni Tapueluelu's lead, ''Keleʻa'' published allegations of a sex scandal against his father. In the election in November, Semisi Tapueluelu lost his seat to the party's endorsed candidate in his constituency, while Mateni Tapueluelu was elected MP for Tongatapu 4. In so doing, he defeated incumbent MP and long-time key party figure ʻIsileli Pulu, who had also been de-selected and had therefore stood as an independent. In December 2015 Tapueluelu's election was annulled by the Supreme Court on the grounds of unpaid fines owing from the 2013 criminal libel case. He successfully appealed against the ruling and was reinstated as an MP in April 2016. In March 2017 he was appointed Minister of Police in a reshuffle following

ʻAisake Eke ʻAisake Valu Eke is a Tongan politician who has served as prime minister of Tonga since 22 January 2025. He also served in the Cabinet as Minister for Finance and National Planning from 2014 to 2017. Education Eke received a degree in economic ...

's resignation, replacing Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa. He was reappointed after the DPFI landslide in the 2017 election, but offered his resignation in March 2018 after a dispute with Armed Forces Minister

Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi 'Siosaia Lausiʻi, Lord Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi, also known as Lord Maʻafu (of Vaini and Tokomololo) (1 July 1955 – 12 December 2021), was a Tongan politician, military officer, and member of the Tongan nobility. Biography Lausiʻi was born in ...

. His resignation was not accepted. Following the death of

ʻAkilisi Pōhiva Samiuela ʻAkilisi Pōhiva (7 April 1941 – 12 September 2019) was a Tongan pro-democracy activist and politician. A key leader of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands (DPFI), he served as the Prime Minister of Tonga from 2014 to his ...

he was not appointed to the cabinet of Pohiva Tuʻiʻonetoa. He contested the

2021 Tongan general election General elections were held in Tonga on 18 November 2021 to elect 17 of the 26 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Following the elections, four MPs were unseated for bribery. Background The 2017 general election resulted in a landslide vict ...

, but was unsuccessful. He was re-elected again in the 2022 Tongatapu 4 by-election. On 28 January 2025 he was appointed to the cabinet of

as Minister for Revenue and Customs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapueluelu, Mateni Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Living people Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands politicians Government ministers of Tonga Tongan journalists People from Tongatapu 20th-century Tongan writers 21st-century Tongan writers Year of birth missing (living people)