Tonga Tuʻiʻafitu, styled Lord Tuʻiʻafitu (born October 3, 1962) 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 noble, clergyman, 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 ...

. Tuʻiʻafitu has a BDiv degree from Siaʻatoutai Theological College and two MA degrees, in Political Science and in Public Policy, both from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

. Tuʻiʻafitu began his career in national politics when he was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as Noble's Representative for

Vavaʻu Vavau is an island group, consisting of one large island (ʻUtu Vavaʻu) and 40 smaller ones, in Tonga. It is part of Administrative divisions of Tonga, Vavaʻu District, which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition, ...

in the November 2010 general election. He was appointed Deputy Speaker in the Legislative Assembly. On 5 July 2012, he was appointed Minister for Health in Prime Minister Lord Tuʻivakano's

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, following ‘Uliti Uata's resignation to join the Opposition. On 28 December 2021 he was appointed to the Cabinet of

Siaosi Sovaleni Siaosi ‘Ofakivahafolau Sovaleni (born 28 February 1970), styled Hon. Hu‘akavameiliku, is a Tongan politician who served as the prime minister of Tonga from 2021 until his resignation in 2024. He had previously served as a cabinet minister, a ...

as Minister for Lands and Natural Resources. He was the only noble initially appointed to Sovaleni's Cabinet. Following the resignation of Sovaleni as Prime Minister in December 2024, he resigned from Cabinet.

Honours

;National honours * The_Most_Illustrious_Order_of_Queen_Salote_Tupou_III_Member

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 ...

, Commander (31 July 2008).

References

1962 births Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Tongan nobles Living people Tongan Christian clergy Australian National University alumni People from Vavaʻu Ministers of health of Tonga Government ministers of Tonga {{Tonga-politician-stub