Paul Karalus on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Paul Karalus is a former
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 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 resigned following the MV ''Princess Ashika'' disaster.
Karalus is from Taranaki
Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the ...
. He had worked in airline management, and as a coffee farmer and exporter before entering politics.
In May 2006 he was appointed Minister for Civil Aviation, Marine and Ports by Prime Minister Feleti Sevele
Feleti Vakaʻuta Sevele, Lord Sevele of Vailahi (born 7 July 1944) is a Tongan politician who served as the prime minister of Tonga from 30 March 2006 to 22 December 2010.
Biography
Early life
Lord Sevele was born in Maʻufanga, Nukuʻalofa. H ...
. Following the 2006 Nukuʻalofa riots
The 2006 Nukualofa riots, also known as the 2006 Tongan riots, started on 16 November, in the Tongan capital of Nukualofa. The Legislative Assembly of Tonga was due to adjourn for the year and despite promises of action, had done little to ad ...
he was responsible for organising the rebuild of Nukuʻalofa
Nukualofa ( , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the country's southernmost island group.
History
First western records of Nukualofa
On 10 June 1777, British ...
's central business district. The funding of the rebuild via a US$50 million loan from China caused controversy and further pro-democracy protests.
On 5 August 2009 the MV ''Princess Ashika'' sank, killing 74 people. Karalus resigned six days later. During the subsequent Commission of Inquiry Karalus was criticised by officials for mishandling his portfolio and making decision swithout their advice; he in turn blamed officials for the disaster. The final report of the inquiry found that he had lied and provided false information to the government and parliament about the state of the vessel. In August 2010 he sought a judicial review of the adverse findings. The appeal was rejected. Following the conviction of ''Ashikas captain in a criminal trial, relatives of the victims called for Karalus' prosecution. In April 2011 he apologised for the disaster.
In September 2012 a parliamentary select committee found that the loan for the rebuilding of Nukuʻalofa was illegal and has been misspent and recommended criminal charges. Karalus and former Prime Minister Feleti Sevele later sought a judicial review of the report. The application was rejected in May 2013.
Karalus later became manager of Tonga's Air Terminal Service.
Honours
;National honours * Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III
The ''Most Illustrious'' Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III is a knighthood order of the Kingdom of Tonga.
History
The Order was established on 28 June 2008 by His Late Majesty King George Tupou V to commemorate the grand figure of his grandmot ...
, Knight Grand Cross (31 July 2008).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karalus, Paul Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Taranaki Transport ministers of Tonga Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III