Lord Luani (18 June 1959 – 12 May 2010), born Sione Laumanuʻuli Luani, was a Tongan

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, and the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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

Education

The son of MP Tongaleva Luani, Luani attended

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

in Australia between 1972 and 1977, playing in the First XV

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

team in his final two years of school. He was selected for NSW schoolboy rugby union team that won the 1977 National Title at TG Millner Field. In 1978 he attended

Ohlone College Ohlone College (Ohlone or OC) is a public community college with its main campus in Fremont, California and a second campus in Newark. It is part of the California Community College System. The Ohlone Community College District serves the cit ...

, Fremont, California. Luani received a bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

after studying there from 1979 until 1982. In 1999 he was awarded a Diploma in Public Sector Management from Massey University in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Public service career

In 1985, Luani joined the Prime Minister's Office and served as a Senior Executive Officer and the Principal Training Officer. As Senior Tourist Officer he joined the Tonga Visitors Bureau in 1990, becoming Deputy Director of Tourism in 1997. He joined the Tonga Broadcasting Commission in 2000 and rose to the office of Deputy General Manager.

Parliament

In 2006 Luani was elected as the Nobles No.2 Representative for Vava’u in the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. He was a member of the Standing Committee on Finance since 2006 and since 2007 was Chairman of the Special Parliamentary Select Committee on Political Reform. He was reelected to parliament in 2008.

Governor

Hon. Luani was appointed to the Noble title of ''Luani'' in 1987 and as Governor of Vavaʻu in July 2009. He died in office on May 12, 2010, at the governor's residence, "Niue", in Neiafu, Vavaʻu.

Honours

;National honours * Order of the Crown of Tonga - ribbon bar

Order of the Crown of Tonga The Royal Order of the Crown of Tonga ('' Tongan: Fakalangilangi 'o Kalauni 'o Tonga'') is an Order of Merit awarded for exceptional services to Tonga and the Crown of Tonga. History It was established 16 April 1913 by George Tupou II to rewa ...

, Commander (31 July 2008).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luani, Lord 1959 births 2010 deaths Tongan nobles Tongan Methodists Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga People educated at Newington College UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Governors of Vavaʻu Commanders of the Order of the Crown of Tonga