Tongan king threatens to sue over Auckland estate objections

The King of Tonga, George Tupou V. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

NUKU'ALOFA - Tonga's king has threatened to sue lawyers in the Pacific island nation who are attempting to prevent him selling his sprawling Auckland royal residence.

Solicitors for King George Tupou V said the monarch would seek "substantial" damages if there was any attempt to interfere with the sale of the 1.6 hectare "Atalanga" estate.

"Any claim, in our opinion, will be vexatious," the king's Auckland-based solicitor Nicholas Fisher said in a letter to Tongan lawyer Sione Fonua last week obtained by AFP.

Critics of the sale, led by Fonua, argue the property in the upmarket suburb of Epsom belongs to the state and should not be sold before Tonga elects a new-look democratic parliament on November 25.

Tenders for the property, estimated to be worth up to $10 million, closed last Thursday, although no announcement has yet been made on whether a buyer has been selected.

In his letter, Fisher said Queen Salote Tupou III personally bought the property in 1952 and there was nothing in the New Zealand land registry showing it was being held in trust for the Tongan government.

"Any suggestion of a constructive trust is a nonsense," he said, advising against any attempt "to argue in public to the contrary or interfere with the sale".

Joel Fotu, a New Zealand-based lawyer who attempted to place a caveat on the sale, said the threat to sue was unnecessary and would not prevent attempts to clarify the legal status of the property.

"We're simply trying to determine who owns the property before it is sold," he told AFP. "If we wait until after it's sold, it will be too late."

Fotu said the property was originally bought to house Tongan students attending school in New Zealand and the Tongan government had paid for additions and upkeep over the years, including paying annual rates bill of 28,000 dollars.

Property listings advertising the estate in New Zealand before tenders closed described it as "a truly park-like setting", suggesting it could be a prime site for a retirement village or residential apartments.

- NZPA