Tonga Netball Association CEO Salote Sisifa says comments that New Zealand aid is like 'welfare' are inaccurate.
New Zealand funds sports programmes in Tonga with the aim to use sport as a gateway to promote healthy lifestyles, gender equality, disability awareness, sanitation, and hygiene.
Submitters to the Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee in New Zealand have likened New Zealand aid in the Pacific to “welfare” as there is "no transparent method by which any investment return can be identified".
Mrs Sisifa told Daniela Maoate-Cox that Tonga Netball has a partnership with New Zealand and calling it welfare is not an accurate representation.
This interview is part of a series on the Speaker-led delegation to Tonga and Fiji. The full coverage can be found here.
CEO of Tonga Netball Association Salote Sisifa holds a picture of young Tongan netballers with New Zealand netballer Irene van Dyk. The picture is a gift for New Zealand's Speaker Trevor Mallard Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
