Joses Tuhanuku (born 1 January 1952Biography National Parliament website in
Bellona Island
Bellona Island is an island of the Rennell and Bellona Province, in the Solomon Islands. Its length is about and its average width . Its area is about . It is almost totally surrounded by high cliffs, consisting primarily of raised coral limes ...
,
Rennell and Bellona Province
Rennell and Bellona is one of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands, comprising two inhabited atolls, Rennell and Bellona, or and respectively in Rennellese (a Polynesian language), as well as the uninhabited Indispensable Reef. Rennell and B ...
) is a
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
politician and former
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
leader. He served three terms in Parliament before losing his seat in the 2006 general election.
Having studied at the
Papua New Guinea University of Technology
The Papua New Guinea University of Technology (Unitech) is a university located in Lae, Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.
Courses offered
Unitech offers courses in the following fields:
*Agriculture
*Architecture
*Construction Management (P ...
and then at the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
, he worked at various times as a
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
teacher and as a
senior lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this concep ...
and course coordinator at the
Solomon Islands College of Higher Education
Honiara Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE) is a university in Honiara, Solomon Islands; apart from the University of the South Pacific, which has a satellite campus in the country. It is located in eastern Honiara, south of Ho ...
.
In 1975, he assisted
Bartholomew Ulufa'alu
Bartholomew (Bart) Ulufa'alu (25 December 1950 – 25 May 2007) was the fifth Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands from 27 August 1997 to 30 June 2000.Solomon Islands General Workers' Union
The Solomon Islands Council of Trade Unions (SICTU) is a national trade union center in the Solomon Islands.
It was created in the 1970s by the '' Solomon Islands General Workers' Union'' and had membership of over 90% of SI TUs. After the indep ...
, and replaced him as General Secretary the following year and remained the head of the union to this day, when Ulufa'alu was elected to the country's first ever Parliament and became its first
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
. By 1980, the SIGWU had 10,000 members, half the country's workforce, and renamed itself the Solomon Islands National Union of Workers.
In 1988, he was one of the founders of the
Solomon Islands Labour Party
The Solomon Islands Labour Party is a political party in Solomon Islands. The party was founded in 1988 by the Solomon Islands Council of Trade Unions after the leadership of the union split. Joses Tuhanuku, went on to lead the Labour Party, while ...
, born from the National Union of Workers.
He was first elected to the
National Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
. He was subsequently re-elected in 1993, but lost in 1997 to Joses Tahua. He won reelection in 2002, but lost his seat in the 2006 election to Seth Gukuna. During those years he was, at different times, Minister for Commerce, Employment, Labour and Industry; Minister for Forestry and Conservation; Leader of the Official Opposition; and Shadow Minister for Finance."Joses Tuhanuku on the Solomons situation" Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 19 April 2006 In the early 1990s, as Leader of the Opposition, he criticised Prime Minister
Solomon Mamaloni
Solomon Sunaone Mamaloni (23 January 1943 – 11 January 2000) was a Solomon Islands politician. He was the first Chief Minister of the islands, and later served as Prime Minister for three spells in the 1980s and 1990s.
Biography
Mamaloni was ...
, "accusing imof failing to acknowledge the extent of the country’s financial difficulties", while the
Solomon Islands Council of Trade Unions
The Solomon Islands Council of Trade Unions (SICTU) is a national trade union center in the Solomon Islands.
It was created in the 1970s by the ''Solomon Islands General Workers' Union'' and had membership of over 90% of SI TUs. After the indepen ...
was demanding Mamaloni's resignation for the same reason.
Tuhanuku has been notably outspoken in denouncing
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
. In 1996, the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
described him as "the first ever olomon Islands politicianto go public about attempted corruption when he was a minister in the Sir
Berjaya Group
Berjaya Corporation Berhad (; formerly known as the Berjaya Group Berhad, Inter-Pacific Industrial Group Berhad and Raleigh Berhad) is a Malaysia-based corporation which controls a wide array of businesses, including consumer marketing, Property ...
, one of Malaysia's biggest business empires. He refused." Exposed, Yeong resigned and left the country. As Minister for Forestry, in 1994, Tuhanuku "suspended one Malaysian company, Sylvania, from logging near
Marovo Lagoon
Marovo Lagoon is the largest saltwater lagoons in the world. Located in the New Georgia Islands, surrounded by Vangunu Island and Nggatokae Island, both extinct volcanic islands, at . It is part of the Solomon Islands. It encompasses and is prote ...
. The reasons were illegal and highly damaging practices." As Minister of Commerce, he deported hundreds of Chinese illegal aliens sparking criticisms from fellow Members of Parliament."Solomon Islands--Forest Crisis" Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 14 January 1996 Later, as an Opposition MP, he described business leaders in the logging industry in the country as "a bunch of crooks". He stated:
:''"In the logging industry bribing people is part of the industry. They have been bribing ministers of the Government. They bribe landowners. They bribe certain chiefs. They bribe our provincial ministers and so on. So bribery is actually part of the logging industry and the reason is that most of these Malaysian logging companies that operate there, probably that is how they do business. In fact the person who tried to offer me some money, he said that their company, it is a practice in the South Pacific, that they usually give some small present to government people who assist them or facilitate what they are doing in the various countries. So, actually it is a practice that is not restricted to Solomon Islands."''
During
the riots
''The Riots'' is a play created by Gillian Slovo from spoken evidence, which explains and evaluates the events that took place during the 2011 England riots. The play is written in the style of verbatim theatre using interviews from politicians ...
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and business houses owned by Solomon Islanders of Chinese origin
ho had
Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to:
People Language and ethnicity
* Ho people, an ethnic group of India
** Ho language, a tribal language in India
* Hani people, or Ho people, an ethnic group in China, Laos and Vietnam
* Hiri Mo ...
bribe the new members and some of the old members to put up"
Solomon Star
The ''Solomon Star'' is a Solomon Islands daily, English language
'' specifically accusing Taiwan of using corruption "to manipulate and influence the political processes in Solomon Islands, with the sole aim of keeping
rime Minister
Rime may refer to:
*Rime ice, ice that forms when water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects, such as trees
Rime is also an alternative spelling of "rhyme" as a noun:
*Syllable rime, term used in the study of phonology in ling ...
Kemakeza in office". He added: "The issue in question here is one of national significance. And that is the use of so-called 'aid' funds by
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
(Taiwan) to manipulate and compromise the political processes in Solomon Islands".
In 2007, after losing his seat, he became the head of Transparency International - Solomon Islands. Having become Executive Officer of Transparency Solomon Islands (an anti-corruption watchdog affiliated to
Transparency International
Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...
), Tuhanaku was particularly critical of Prime Minister
Manasseh Sogavare
Manasseh Damukana Sogavare (born 17 January 1955) is the sixth and current Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, serving since 24 April 2019. He previously held the office in 2000–2001, 2006—2007 and 2014–2017; in all he has served over ni ...
's government, saying it had not addressed the country's social and economic problems, and had instead done nothing but "waste time with the Attorney-General and the Police Commissioner", in the Julian Moti affair. As Executive Officer of Transparency Solomon Islands, noting the organisation lacked legal means to compel or constrain the government, he stated his aim was to "educate people to understand the problems and put the pressure on the government".
By 2010, he had become chairman of the Board of Directors of South Pacific Oil, "a company 75 percent owned by the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF) which is in turn owned by the workers of Solomon Islands through their NPF contributions". He sought "a full internal investigation into the company's accounts" upon being informed by the company's internal auditor that she suspected its managing director, Mike Hemmer, of misappropriating millions of dollars of funds. Hemmer struck back by accusing Tuhanuku of having sexually assaulted a female manager, drawing media interest to the controversy. Tuhanuku subsequently sacked Hemmer, with the approval of the board of directors.
During the 2010 general election, he once more accused candidates of being funded by logging companies.
Tuhanuku divorced his first English wife - Anna Craven - who now lives in England. His son lives in England while his daughter married and moved to Germany. His
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n-born wife, Mary-Louise O'Callaghan, is a journalist covering the Pacific region. She won an award for reporting on the Bougainville crisis and the corruption of the Papua New Guinea government. She was credited for exposing the Sandline affair which resulted in the toppling of Prime Minister Sir
Julius Chan
Sir Julius Chan (born 29 August 1939) served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1980 to 1982 and from 1994 to 1997. He is Member of Parliament for New Ireland Province, having won the seat in the 2007 national election. He is also the c ...
's government in PNG and shook up the
Papua New Guinea Defence Force
The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Papua New Guinea. It originated from the Australian Army land forces of the territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into be ...