Gunnedah council rolls out the red carpet for Tongan delegation

The Tongan delegation was led by Her Royal Highness Princess Angelika Ltfuipeka Tukuaho, the King of Tonga's eldest daughter and High Commissioner to the Commonwealth of Australia.

Last year, Her Royal Highness signed a Sister City Agreement between Gunnedah Shire Council and the Tongan District of Kolomotu'a, making Gunnedah one of the first councils in Australia to enter a sister city partnership with Tonga.

This year's visit commemorates the cities' historic agreement and serves as an opportunity to support the Kolomotu'a District's recovery from a devastating tsunami.

The Tongan delegation arrived in Gunnedah on Friday, July 14, and will depart on Monday, July 17.

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Gunnedah Shire mayor Jamie Chaffey said he was excited to further cement the ties between Kolomotu'a and his hometown.

"The key areas we are pursuing in our partnership are arts and culture, sports, education and employment and the economy. This visit will help in strengthening those partnerships, with tours of agricultural businesses, a mine, aged care and education facilities," Cr Chaffey said.

The visit kicked off with the annual mayoral breakfast at the Smithurst Theatre, where guest speaker Ana Bing Fonua delivered a speech about the relationship between Kolomotu'a and Gunnedah.

The delegation also visited McLean Care, Puggles Child Care Centre and Gunnible Pastoral Company.

The first public event took place at 9.15am on Saturday, July 15, where locals were invited to the Wolseley Park rotunda to give the Tongan delegation a warm welcome.

The visitors then proceeded to attend a rugby union game at Gunnedah Rugby Club at 2pm, and finished the day with the much-anticipated Gunnedah Chamber of Commerce Gala Ball.

The ball was the highlight of the visit and served as a fundraiser for a new library for Kolomotu'a Middle School, which suffered significant damage from a tsunami that struck the region in January last year.

School principal Lose Kuluka said restoring the school's library would be a huge testament to Gunnedah and Kolomotu'a's shared commitment to support one another in times of adversity.

"The loss of the library was terrible since it served as the foundation of knowledge, learning and curiousity," Ms Kuluka said.

"Having a library would be a triumph and victory over difficulty and hardship."

Publicly-accessible events continued on Sunday with a combined church service at 10am, and in true Aussie fashion, Gunnedah Shire Council hosted a farewell barbecue for the Tongan delegation that afternoon.

Attendees at the barbecue enjoyed lunch for a gold coin donation, with funds raised again going towards rebuilding the Kolomotu'a Middle School library.

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