Niue's High Commissioner calls for more people to return home
Niue's High Commissioner to New Zealand says the country's 40th anniversary of self-governance signals it is time for more Niueans to return home.
Transcript
Niue's High Commissioner to New Zealand says the country's 40th anniversary of self-governance signals it is time for more Niueans to return home.
Niue is independent in free association with New Zealand and celebrates its self-rule this week.
The 2013 New Zealand census shows almost 24,000 Niueans live in New Zealand while Niue has a population of about 1600.
Amelia Langford spoke to the high commissioner, O'love Jacobsen, about Niue's relationship with New Zealand and the significance of its 40th anniversary of independence.
O'LOVE JACOBSEN: I always say that we are New Zealand's most closest relative. Our other cousins in the Pacific, they are relatives too but they are the distant relatives. I hope that one day New Zealand will see an element of importance to pay attention to the realm languages because if indeed they are our official languages then that makes it all the more important for our relationship and why it is that we have the Queen as our head of state and the Governor-General as our Governor-General as well. It does make every essence of importance in terms of our relationship with this country - well over 100 years - and in the last 40 years we were able to gain self-determination and govern ourselves but still with the privilege of being able to be part of New Zealand, who have assisted us all this time.
AMELIA LANGFORD:Yes, how significant is this anniversary?
OLJ: I think it is very significant because as Niueans we need to own it and say it is time, we need to take it on ourselves as much as we can and the only way that this can be done is for us to lure our people to come back home. We can't do it with the numbers we've got. We are very low in numbers. You can't have total independence with numbers like 1000 or so people. You need a little bit more than that. You know, things only happen when people behind the scenes make it work. So even though sometimes the people at the top put out a policy to do such and such - at the end of the day it is those who do the work who are going to make it happen.
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