Mother and son slain on island

A FORMER Tasmanian woman and her three-year-old son have been brutally murdered on the Pacific Island of Kiribati.

Australian bureaucrat Sarah Moses, 46, and her son Jack were found dead after suffering stab wounds at their home at Betio on Saturday.

Kiribati Police Service told local media the incident, which is being treated as a domestic violence case, happened between 5am and 6am on Saturday.

A man, believed to be a member of Ms Moses’ extended family, has been arrested by police in connection with the deaths.

Her funeral was held on Tuesday and attended by the Kiribati President Taneti Maamau, Australia’s High Commissioner to Kiribati, Bruce Cowled, and several Cabinet ministers.

The Pacific nation, with a population of about 110,000, comprises 33 atolls and reef islands.

Ms Moses, originally from Hobart, was a lifelong public servant and the director of the Kiribati Institute of Technology, a governmentrun organisation also funded by Australian foreign aid programs.

Tasmanian Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Jenny Gale said Ms Moses was a valued colleague and her death was a great shock.

“Sarah was a much loved and respected colleague in the Tasmanian public service,’’ she said.

“She worked for a number of years in both Treasury and the Department of Education.

“This will come as shocking news to many in our community and our thoughts are with her family and her friends.”

A graduate of Deakin University, Ms Moses, formerly Sarah Goodwin, was also a public servant in the Commonwealth Department of Finance and the International Monetary Fund in Afghanistan.

She married Nauruan national Bryce Moses in 2013.

Mr Moses changed his Facebook profile on Saturday to an image of his wife and Jack.