What does the Pacific reset mean for Niue and the Pacific?

Premier Sir Toke Talagi is expected to meet with New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.

Sir Talagi is attending the Pacific Exposition in Auckland, a trade and tourism expo organized by the Indonesian Government which invited the Premier to the event as a keynote speaker.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand government team in Wellington has provided clarification through the New Zealand High Commission in Niue on what the ‘Pacific Reset’ mean for Niue and the Pacific.

 At the centre of the Pacific Reset is an emphasis on deeper partnerships with Pacific Island countries.

This means a fundamental shift in the way New Zealand’s government works with Pacific Partners by moving away from donor-recipient dynamics of old, to building genuine and more mature political partnerships where international, regional, and bilateral issues of mutual interest can be progressed.

 New Zealand is doing more on priority issues that matter to the region including economic resilience; climate change; health and education; governance; gender; and human rights, and youth. This includes New Zealand Agencies renewing their attention to Realm Countries.

New Zealand is also enhancing its diplomatic presence, with 10 new diplomatic and development roles in the Pacific. This includes Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Honolulu and four new Pacific-focused roles in key capitals outside the region, Beijing, Brussels, New York and Tokyo.

All of these new positions are expected to be filled by the last quarter of 2019.

The NZ Government states it is also investing in leadership diplomacy to support strengthened partnerships in the region, including through Prime Ministerial, Ministerial and Parliamentary, and senior official travel into the Pacific.

This will result in more bilateral engagements and visits by the New Zealand Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

Earlier this year in April, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Fletcher Tabuteau visited Niue to open the new New Zealand High Commission building and held discussions with Niuean government officials on a broad range of mutual interests. 

Story by Sofaia Koroitanoa