Tongan Seasonal Worker Program man dies in Australia named

The Tongan man who died last week in Queensland while working as a Seasonal Worker Program employee has been named.

The Toula and ‘Otea communities in Vava’u, Tonga were “reeling” after the Australian Police found 35-year-old Simione Havea’s body in an accommodation on Thursday morning.

His cousin Alex Kaihea told Kaniva News his deceased cousin is survived by his wife and children.

Kaihea, an Australian based Tongan, was currently in Tonga and he said he wished  he was in Brisbane so he could be able to visit Simione’s body.

Simione was the eldest son of his mother Neti from ‘Otea and his father Sinamoni from Toula, Kaihea said.

As we reported yesterday, Simone’s death is the second of a Tongan on the Seasonal Worker Program in the Bundaberg region after Sione Vakameilalo Fifita died in the Royal Brisbane Hospital after falling into a coma in May last year.

According to Australian media, Simione, who is also known as Simi, has become the 14th person to die while working on the controversial scheme.

He had been working on a farm in the Bundaberg region before he died.

The death comes just weeks after a special investigation by The Courier-Mail revealed 13 workers had died on the Seasonal Worker Program, with extreme neglect allegedly contributing to a number of deaths and serious injuries.

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