Supreme Court orders return of NZ-bought tractor at centre of ownership dispute

The Supreme Court has ordered the return of a tractor that has been at the centre of a dispute involving a Catholic priest.

Lord Chief Justice Paulsen made the order after a trial in which he heard evidence concerning the purchase of a Massey Ferguson tractor  in New Zealand to help out the family of a Catholic priest in Tonga.

In his judgement, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said the  Massey  Ferguson  265  tractor was bought  in New Zealand  in August 2013. It was paid for by Vilisoni Paul Hemaloto and sent to Tonga for Ma’asi Tauelangi to cultivate  his  land.

In  February 2015 Vilisoni asked to use the  tractor. Ma’asi gave him permission to do so but since  then Vilisoni has refused to return the tractor and has registered it in his own name.

The decision about who owned the tractor turned on whether it was given as a gift with no strings attached, or whether it had been given conditionally.

Ma’asi claimed that the tractor was a gift and sought the return of  the tractor and a direction that it be registered in his name and court costs awarded to him.

Vilisoni denied that the tractor was a gift.  While it was bought for Ma’asi, he claimed they had agreed that  Ma’asi would send him containers of food to reimburse him for the purchase price.

He said he had kept the tractor because the containers of food were  never sent. Vilisoni filed a counterclaim seeking a declaration that he owned the tractor.

At the time the tractor was bought, Vilisoni and his wife, Malia Hemaloto were living in New Zealand. They returned to Tonga in in 2015  and were members of Fr ‘Ofa  Tauelangi  Tauelangi’s congregation.

At some stage, Vilisoni and  Malia  became  aware  that  Fr  Tauelangi’s family in Tonga needed financial  assistance  and  expressed  their  general willingness  to  help the priest  and  his family, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said.

On or about July 24, 2013, Ma’asi travelled from Tonga to New Zealand to buy a tractor and take it back to Tonga. He told the court he had previously discussed this with his brother as a way to generate food and an income for his family in Tonga. He had no money for a tractor and was entirely dependent on Fr Tauelangi to buy the machine.

Fr  Tauelangi told Vilisoni his brother was a hard worker and  needed a tractor to grow  crops  to feed  his family  and sell the surplus in Tonga.

An initial plan to buy a Leyland tractor from Trademe came to nothing.

Vilisoni  told the court that  he, Fr Tauelangi  and  Ma’asi agreed  that  he would  buy a tractor  for  Ma’asi  in return for the shipment  of  containers  of crops back  to  Vilisoni  in  New  Zealand  in  late  2014.

“It is not clear how many containers were to be sent to Vilisoni, who seemed to believe that there would be one or  two  containers which he would sell, keeping enough of the proceeds to reimburse himself for the purchase price of  the tractor and send the remaining funds back to Fr  Tauelangi’s  family,” the judge said.

Both Ma’asi and Tauelangi denied  there had been any discussion or agreement regarding containers of crops.

On August 30, 2013, Vilisoni , Ma’asi and Fr Tauelangi went to the Tractor Centre at Pukekohe where they found the Massey Ferguson tractor. Vilisoni paid NZ$15,000 for the machine and new tyres for NZ$1,350.

The tractor  was  sent  to Tonga  in a  container provided by Maika Haupeakui, an uncle of Ma’asi and Father Tauelangi, which arrived   in   Nuku’alofa   on   November 4,   2013.

Vilisoni said he returned to Tonga several times between November 2013 and his relocation to Tonga in 2015. He told the court that each time he visited Ma’asi and saw the tractor had been used only to transport material to Ma’asi’s property,but had not been used to cultivate any land or grow crops.

When he asked Ma’asi about this, Ma’asi responded that he did not have the necessary ploughing equipment to use the tractor to cultivate land. Vilisoni claimed that on one of these occasions he asked Ma’asi about the containers of crops and when he would receive them. In response, Ma’asi asked for more money so he could clear trees on  his property.

In  early  2015,  Vilisoni   and  Malia  relocated  to  Ma’ufanga. On  or about  February  16, 2015, Vilisoni  went  to  Ma’asi’s  house to ask  if  he  could  borrow  the  tractor  to mow lawns  on  the property  of  the  Noble  Fakafanua.   Vilisoni  did not return the tractor and  registered it in his name. Ma’asi  said  Vilisoni ignored  his repeated  requests for the  return the machine.

During the trial, Vilisoni told the court that after he took hold of the tractor he bought ploughing equipment. He had been able to cultivate 40 acres and grow enough cassava to send a container to Australia and sell food at a market in Tonga  each day. He employed three workers and paid them with the income generated by the use of the  tractor.

In his summing up, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said:

“Of particular importance is Vilisoni’s evidence  that  if  he  had  not received the containers of food, but had seen  that  the  tractor  was being used as he had imagined,  he would  not have taken the  action he did.

“This  statement  accords  with  my  overall  impression  of Vilisoni and assessment of his motivation for purchasing the tractor.

“Vilisoni sought to assist Fr Tauelangi and understood that purchasing   a   tractor   for   his  brother   would   relieve   many   of the pressures placed on him by his family in Tonga. The receipt of containers of food grown using the tractor was not a condition of that.”

As a result, he found that the tractor had been gifted by Vilisoni  to Ma’asi.

He ordered Vilisoni  to  return  the  tractor  to  Ma’asi  within 14  days and to  provide  for  a  transfer  or  registration  of  ownership  of the tractor  in Ma’asi’s  name.

The main points

  • The Supreme Court has ordered the return of a tractor that has been at the centre of a dispute involving a Catholic priest.
  • Lord Chief Justice Paulsen made the order after a trial in which he heard evidence concerning the purchase of a Massey Ferguson tractor in New Zealand to help out the family of a Catholic priest in Tonga.
  • The decision about who owned the tractor turned on whether it was given as a gift with no strings attached, or whether it had been given conditionally.
  • The judge ordered the tractor be returned within 14 days.

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