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Political Reviews Political Reviews michael lujan bevacqua, elizabeth (isa) ua ceallaigh bowman, zaldy dandan, monica c labriola, nic maclellan, tiara r na'puti, gonzaga puas peter clegg, lorenz gonschor, margaret mutu, salote talagi, forrest wade young 187 political reviews • polynesia 249 www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/ period, we’ve seen Niue’s application NZindex.aspx for membership in the Asian Develop- ———. 2019b. Report of the Working ment Bank (adb) accepted; an apol- Group on the Universal Periodic Review: ogy from Radio New Zealand (rnz) New Zealand. A/HRC/41/4. 1 April. for unsubstantiated allegations made https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/ against Premier Sir Toke Talagi; oppo- UNDOC/GEN/G19/087/77/PDF/ sition to and court injunctions filed G1908777.pdf?OpenElement against government-funded projects; University of Waikato. 2019. Te and a member of Parliament (mp) who Wharehuia Milroy Remembered. 16 May. brought a packet of marijuana into https://www.waikato.ac.nz/news-opinion/ an assembly sitting. Throughout this media/2019/te-wharehuia-milroy period, the premier also spent signifi- -remembered cant time in New Zealand for medical Waitangi Tribunal. 2004. The Mōhaka care. Despite ill health, the premier ki Ahuriri Report, Wai 201. Wellington: was said to have still undertaken work Legislation Direct. https://forms.justice and carried out talks with prospective .govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC diplomatic and development partners. _68598011/Wai201.pdf Niue’s application to become a ———. 2019. Hauora: Report on Stage member of the adb was accepted, One of the Health Services and Outcomes which was a historical decision Kaupapa Inquiry. Wai 2575. Wellington: for the island, as it had unsuccess- Waitangi Tribunal. https://forms.justice fully applied twice before (bcn, 12 .govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC March 2019). This membership is _152801817/Hauora%20W.pdf also significant because it provides Welfare Expert Advisory Group. 2019. the island, the adb’s sixty-eighth Whakamana Tāngata: Restoring to Social member and the forty-ninth from the Security in New Zealand. Wellington: Asia-Pacific region, with an additional Welfare Expert Advisory Group. avenue of funding to help drive social http://www.weag.govt.nz/weag-report/ and economic development (bcn, whakamana-tangata/ 12 March 2019). Young, Nick. 2018. Celebrations as High It will be interesting to see just how Court Upholds Seabed Mining Appeal. the us$100,000 annual membership Press release, 28 August. https://www fee, which is quite high for a small .greenpeace.org/new-zealand/press-release/ state, will be fronted. The full cost celebrations-as-high-court-upholds-seabed and benefits of the membership will -mining-appeal/ be determined in the long run; how- ever, Niue will greatly benefit from the associated financial and techni- cal assistance, including assistance Niue with infrastructure development, It has been business as usual within financial management of the public Niue’s governance and politics, with sector and its projects, and capac- surprising events unfolding every now ity building. A focus on building the and then, providing exciting political management capacity of Niue would items to discuss. Within this review be an especially valuable use of this 250 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) adb membership, as, going forward, with Radio New Zealand. Later it was donors and partners will come and revealed that in fact none of this was go, but it would be most effective true and that there was no investiga- for Niue to learn how to manage its tion being undertaken. The premier own affairs with all stakeholders. The received an apology from Radio New Asian Development Bank Member- Zealand for the errors in their report- ship Act 2018 was passed by the Niue ing (rnz 2018a). Assembly, with the cabinet autho- Further pushing the premier into rized on behalf of Niue to carry out the media spotlight, there was con- a number of responsibilities, includ- troversy around a letter that was sent ing the borrowing, acquisition, and by New Zealand’s auditor-general repayment of funds on behalf of Niue to the premier with regard to Niue’s and the issuing of directives necessary “unexplained revenue shortfalls” to satisfy its obligations to the adb and “budget blowout” (Smith 2018). (Government of Niue 2018). A degree It was alleged that these concerns of comfort and reassurance was felt as emerged from an audit of 2015 the premier noted that the government records, in which there were financial will not be rushing to borrow funds discrepancies with a shortfall of and will only seek assistance if needed nz$820,000 and a budget blowout (bcn, 14 March 2019). of nz$1.2 million (nz$1 million = In November 2018, Radio New us$630,332). The auditor-general Zealand published an article alleging made recommendations for Niue that the New Zealand government, to commit extra resources to its tax specifically the Office of the Auditor- office as a preventive measure and for General, was investigating the Niue greater accountability. The premier premier’s shareholdings within Niue’s told local media that Niue had already state-owned enterprises; this article revamped its tax office with stronger has since been taken down. Questions financial systems and processes (rnz and allegations were first raised by 2018b). The auditor-general raised opposition mp and former High Com- further concerns about project man- missioner to New Zealand O’Love agement and the financial record keep- Jacobsen, who allegedly accused the ing for donor-funded projects. The premier of being the sole shareholder premier then hit back again, describ- of state-owned enterprises in Niue. ing the auditor-general’s work as This was driven in part by the fact “shoddy” and calling for an indepen- that the mp had received no answers dent assessment (rnz 2018b). in Parliament regarding the delay in Section 60 of the Niue Constitution a number of state-owned enterprises’ Act 1974 provides a mandate for the budgets being presented to Parlia- New Zealand Office of the Auditor- ment for scrutiny (bcn, 13 Dec 2018). General to audit at least once annu- The opposition mp had allegedly ally the Niue Government Account, asked numerous times in the assem- including all of the executive govern- bly why the budgets were late but ment’s public departments and offices never received a satisfactory answer. and public and statutory authorities’ Jacobsen then raised her concerns accounts and funds (Government political reviews • polynesia 251 of Niue 2006). The delay in audits perceived “strain” on Niue’s relation- undertaken and the failure to provide ship with New Zealand, although nei- financial statements for several years ther will say there is anything wrong. is unacceptable and raises questions The premier accusing New Zealand’s as to Niue’s accounting processes. auditor-general of not doing his job This further emphasizes the need for properly certainly reflects that Niue the Niue government to work closely is not afraid to reaffirm its position with the New Zealand Office of the as an equal partner of New Zealand. Auditor-General, especially as New As Niue has gained more diplomatic Zealand continues to provide finan- partners and joined more international cial administrative assistance to Niue. organizations, it has used its relations Allegations and name-calling will and the changing political landscape neither improve Niue’s accounting nor not only to leverage against demands resolve the backlog and related issues. from New Zealand but also to reassert In October 2018, the premier its position as a capable state. weighed in on comments made by In addition to all of this, observa- broadcaster Heather du Plessis-Allan, tions have shown that media com- who called the Pacific Islands and its mentaries about Niue’s politics and leaders “leeches” on New Zealand governance have all emanated from and questioned the amount of finan- media outlets in New Zealand, not cial assistance continuously provided Niue. This includes items from within to Pacific Island nations, who were the Niue Assembly, often raised by not deemed (by the broadcaster) to be opposition mps. The Broadcasting of any benefit for New Zealand (bsa Corporation of Niue (bcn) does not 2019). The premier called the com- appear to be presenting the same polit- ments “idiotic,” as du Plessis-Allan ical content as in previous years. In all singled out Niue, stating that the pen- of bcn’s news bulletins between July sion portability scheme that Niueans 2018 and June 2019, presentations on are eligible for amounted to “welfare Niue’s politics and governance have sponging” (rnz 2018c). The ill- focused largely on providing updates advised comments by du Plessis-Allan on events within the assembly, oppo- lacked insight into and valuing of sition mps and their activities, and the history and relationship between media statements issued by the Office Niue and New Zealand. Although it is of the Premier in response to ques- understandably the journalist’s role to tions and accusations. The “what,” ask questions and be “thought pro- “why,” and “who” are always cov- voking,” in this case, it was done in ered, but not the “so what.” There is the most ignorant manner. a lack of political commentary and Throughout the review period, analytical depth regarding political the premier of Niue has been in the affairs within Niue, and since bcn is media limelight, issuing comebacks the biggest media outlet on the island, of a hard-hitting nature against those this raises questions regarding the who have published discriminatory relationship between bcn, especially and defamatory comments about him. its board, and the government and the These controversies have created a role they have in determining what 252 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) is broadcasted. Although, with bcn would become both a social and a being a state-owned enterprise, this political challenge, which may prove is expected.
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