Pio Iosefo Tuia

Who is Pio Iosefo Tuia?

Pio Iosefo Tuia was born in 1943 on Nukunonu, one of Tokelau's three coral atolls, and served as faipule (elected representative) for Nukunonu and as a member of the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau across a long political career. He held the rotating office of Ulu-o-Tokelau, the territory's head of government, six separate times: February 1996 to February 1997, February 1999 to February 2000, February 2002 to February 2003, February 2005 to February 2006, February 2008 to February 2009, and again in February 2011. His best-remembered moment came as Acting Ulu at the 2004 Pacific Islands Forum in Apia, Samoa, where he told the assembled leaders of the region's larger independent nations that Tokelau felt "very much like a little bird among eagles" and pressed Tokelau's case for the freedom to decide its own political future, a speech that drew wide and positive coverage across the Pacific. It was under his leadership that Tokelau became, in November 2011, a founding member of the Polynesian Leaders Group, formed to strengthen cooperation among Polynesian nations and territories on culture, education, climate response and trade. He was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to the Tokelau Islands.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Pio Tuia" · New Zealand Gazette, 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours List · Pacific Islands Forum, 35th Forum communique and proceedings, Apia, Samoa, 2004