In 2003 Lavulavu apologised to the House after an altarcation with fellow MP ʻAkilisi Pohiva.
Uata was re-elected for an eighth term in the 2010 election, for the new single-seat constituency of Haʻapai 13, and nominated to the post of Minister of Health on 25 January 2011, following ʻAkilisi Pohiva's resignation from that position.
He is a senior editor at Keleʻa, the newspaper of the pro-democracy movement, owned by ʻAkilisi Pohiva.
The leader of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands, MP ʻAkilisi Pohiva, expressed surprise at the bill being submitted by a member of his party without the party caucus having been at all consulted.
In 2001, he represented ʻAkilisi Pohiva, the main leader of Tonga's pro-democracy movement, when the latter was sued for defamation.