Storeman Sione Leha'uli, his wife Fitalika and what were then their two children were living with Mrs Leha'uli's parents, grandparents, her brother and his wife and two children - 12 people in a crowded Mangere house.

They were the first to move last August into one of 22 new houses built by the Tongan Methodist Church on a vacant 6.4 ha block in Donnell Ave that it bought from Housing NZ for $210,000 in 1994. It has taken 20 years to get the first houses built, thanks to a $4.3 million grant from the Government's social housing fund in 2012.

Former Tongan prime minister Prince Fatafehi Tu'ipelehake named the land "Matanikolo", or "Gateway", symbolising "the gate for families to enter homes for their children to have space".

Today, the late prince's daughter, Princess Mele Siu'-i-Likutapu Kalanivalu Fotofili, officially opened the houses and unveiled a sign for the new street, Fatafehi Place.

Bruce Stone of Airedale Property, the Methodist social housing agency, said the Government grant paid half of the project's $8.6 million cost. The rest came from the land value and a bank loan. Rents are set at 80 per cent of market value, or $310 for a three-bedroom house.

Housing Minister Nick Smith said the Government would consider a new funding application for the next stage of 14 pensioner units.

Source:

• New Zealand Herald
• Image: New Zealand Herald

Labour MP Louisa Wall's same-sex marriage bill, aimed at legalising same-sex marriage, passed its first reading in Parliament during August. It is now being considered by a parliamentary select committee.

Starting with a prayer, the march took place last Saturday at the Tongan Methodist Church in Mangere. It was organised by leaders from more than 30 Tongan churches and was lead by brass bands, according to a Radio New Zealand report.

Those involved in the march wore red. The banners they carried said things such as "Marriage is a union between a man and a woman".

Filipo Motulalo, who was one of the organisers, said that the churches are not anti-gay but they were marching on behalf of families. For them, family means a man, a woman and children.

Mr Motulalo said that the protest was "about safeguarding marriage. This is about safeguarding family, the foundations of family," against the same-sex marriage bill.

Sources

• Radio New Zealand
• Image: PacificEyeWitness