Tialavea Fea Leniu Tionisio Hunt is a Samoan politician and former

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’, � ...

. He is a member of the

Human Rights Protection Party The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP, sm, Vaega Faaupufai e Puipuia Aia Tatau a Tagata) is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1982 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defea ...

. Hunt was educated at St. Peters school in

Falefa Falefā is located on the north eastern coast of Upolu island in Samoa. It was the ancient capital during the ‘''Malo’'' (‘government’) of ''Tupu Tafa'ifa'' (King) Fonoti. After having defeated his siblings Va'afusuaga and Samalaulu for co ...

, Marist Brothers Mulivai and St Josephs College, Lotopa. he worked in printing and construction before becoming a member of the board of the

Samoa Shipping Corporation The Samoa Shipping Corporation is a government-owned company in Samoa which provides freight and passenger services between Savai'i, Upolu and American Samoa. Established in 1974, the corporation is managed as a public trading body under the Publ ...

and the

Development Bank of Samoa Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa at the

2011 Samoan general election General elections were held in Samoa on 4 March 2011, to determine the composition of the 15th Parliament. Two parties contested the election, the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), which had been in power for most of the time since ...

, and appointed Associate Minister of Finance and Associate Minister of Police and Prisons. Following the

2016 election The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 A ...

Hunt was appointed as Minister of Revenue. A cabinet reshuffle in June 2016 saw him gain the prisons and corrections portfolio. In June 2017 he was responsible for a controversial policy to tax church ministers. When churches refused to pay, he threatened to seize their assets. Ministers were subsequently prosecuted for failing to pay tax, and taxes were deducted from bank accounts. In September 2017 he advocated for the deportation of foreigners convicted of crimes in Samoa. later that year he opposed the repatriation of Samoans convicted in American Samoa. In early 2018 he faced calls to resign after he released a prisoner to attend a '' matai'' ceremony. In March 2020 Hunt was given responsibility for the Police as well as his existing Corrections portfolio. In July 2020 he called for judicial corporal punishment for rapists. In August 2020 he defended using prison inmates as unpaid labour for "personal projects" such as clearing land belonging to his family. He lost his seat in the

April 2021 Samoan general election April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. It is the first of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the second of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. April is commonly associated with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Tialavea Tionisio Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Government ministers of Samoa Human Rights Protection Party politicians