{"id":35429,"date":"2025-10-15T10:36:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T23:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=35429"},"modified":"2025-10-15T10:36:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T23:36:24","slug":"supporting-a-safe-and-strong-tonga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/10\/15\/supporting-a-safe-and-strong-tonga\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting a safe and strong Tonga"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Assistant Minister for Defence, Peter Khalil, will travel to the Kingdom of Tonga today to represent the Australian Government at the commissioning ceremony for His Majesty\u2019s Armed Forces\u2019 new landing craft, VOEA Late<\/em>, at the Masefield Naval Base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delivered under the Albanese Government\u2019s Pacific Maritime Security Program, VOEA Late<\/em> will strengthen Tonga\u2019s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster relief during times of need, as well as its ability to deter, detect and disrupt illegal maritime activities across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His Majesty King Tupou VI will formally commission the vessel, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Tupouto\u2019a \u2018Ulukalala, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for His Majesty\u2019s Armed Forces, will also attend the ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia will continue to support the Tongan Royal Navy via a through-life maintenance and sustainment package, along with training for crew members to ensure the vessel\u2019s operational readiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commissioning of VOEA Late<\/em> is the latest demonstration of the enduring strength of the Australia and Tonga bilateral relationship and follows the recent signing of a Statement of Intent announcing a shared commitment to elevate ties between our two nations under the proposed \u2018Kaume\u2019a \u2018Ofi<\/em>\u2019 (close trusted friendship) Partnership Agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s ceremony marks the vessel\u2019s official entry into service, following its delivery and handover at Masefield Naval Base on 29 August 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assistant Minister for Defence, Peter Khalil:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honour to attend VOEA Late<\/em>\u2019s commissioning by His Majesty King Tupou VI, and see the vessel officially transition into active service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAustralia is proud to partner with Tonga on maritime security and disaster preparedness so we can further the close relationship between our defence forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur Pacific Maritime Security Program is a 30-year commitment to invest in maritime security partnerships throughout the Pacific and reinforce Australia\u2019s role as the security partner of choice for our Pacific neighbours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow more than ever, we remain focused on supporting the maritime security needs of our partners in the region.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Assistant Minister for Defence, Peter Khalil, will travel to the Kingdom of Tonga today to represent the Australian Government at the commissioning ceremony for His Majesty\u2019s Armed Forces\u2019 new landing craft, VOEA Late, at the Masefield Naval Base.  Delivered under the Albanese Government\u2019s Pacific Maritime Security Program, VOEA Late will strengthen Tonga\u2019s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster … Continue reading “Supporting a safe and strong Tonga”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35429"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35430,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35429\/revisions\/35430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}