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Frank Lui

Summary

Frank Fakaotimanava Lui CNZM (19 November 1935 – 9 July 2021) was a Niuean politician, who served as the premier of the Pacific Island state of Niue from 1993 to 1999.

The Honourable
Frank Lui
CNZM
Premier of Niue
In office
12 March 1993 – 26 March 1999
Governor-GeneralCatherine Tizard
Michael Hardie Boys
Preceded byVivian Young
Succeeded bySani Lakatani
Member of the Niue Assembly
for Alofi North
In office
1969 – 19 March 1999
Preceded byArumaki Strickland
Succeeded byVa'aiga Tukuitonga
In office
1963 – 9 April 1966
Preceded byArumaki Strickland
Succeeded byArumaki Strickland
Personal details
Born(1935-11-19)19 November 1935
Alofi, Niue
Died9 July 2021(2021-07-09) (aged 85)
Alofi, Niue
Political partyIndependent
SpouseIris Lui

Early life edit

Lui was raised by his grandparents on Niue after his parents and older siblings migrated to Wellington, New Zealand. His parents sent for him when he was nine years old and he attended Newtown School. Soon afterwards, he transferred to Naenae School in Lower Hutt when his parents took the tenancy of a State house there. Lui left Naenae school in 1950 to attend Wellington High School (then Wellington Technical College).[1][failed verification]

On leaving school, he joined the New Zealand merchant navy, and was immediately caught up in the prolonged and acrimonious waterfront workers strike of 1951. He returned to Niue in 1956[1][failed verification] to care for his grandparents and has lived there since. There, he was subjected to colonial discrimination which motivated him to political activity to change an oppressive, paternalistic system run by the New Zealand Government (e.g., "natives" of Niue were not permitted to buy liquor, and were paid wages lower than expatriate New Zealanders).[citation needed] He organised the first ever strike on Niue.[2]

Political career edit

Lui was elected at the 1963 Niuean general election at the age of only 28, becoming the youngest ever person elected to the Niue Assembly.[2] He lost his seat at the 1966 election, but was re-elected in 1969.[2][failed verification] He was re-elected again in 1972 and appointed Minister of Works and Police in the Cabinet of Robert Rex.[3] He was re-elected unopposed[citation needed] in the 1975 election and was appointed Minister of Electricity, Fisheries, Forests, Tourism, and Works.[4] He served in a variety of other Cabinet positions over the next fifteen years.[citation needed] In September 1990, he was sacked from Cabinet after an attempt to oust Rex.[5][6]

Premier edit

Following the death of Robert Rex in December 1992, Young Vivian was elected Premier. Lui was re-elected to the Assembly at the following 1993 election, and on 12 March was elected Premier, defeating Vivian 11 votes to 9.[7] In March 1994, Finance Minister Sani Lakatani resigned from Cabinet, but was reinstated by Lui in the leadup to a confidence vote.[8] Lakatani subsequently resigned from Cabinet on 8 November after losing the finance portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle.[9] He joined the opposition, which organised itself into the Niue People's Party and effectively deadlocked the assembly.[10] A series of tied confidence votes followed, and the government was effectively unable to pass legislation through the Assembly for the rest of its term.[9] An attempt to break the deadlock by declaring the seats of opposition MPs vacant was ultimately declared illegal by the Niue Court of Appeal.[11]

In the 1996 election, Lui was re-elected to his seat, and he was narrowly re-elected as Premier, defeating Robert Rex Jr., by 11 votes to 9.[12] Lui's second-term was more stable, and the government was able to pass anti-corruption laws and a ban on drift-net fishing in its Exclusive Economic Zone.[13] It also partnered with Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca to set up an "international business centre" providing shell companies to international clients,[14] and established a free internet service with the Niue Internet Users Society.[citation needed]

Lui lost his seat in the 1999 election, and announced his retirement.[15] He was replaced as premier by Sani Lakatani.[16]

After politics edit

Following his retirement, Lui ran a video rental business.[17]

In 2010, he became chair of the IUSN Foundation, a charitable foundation which provides Niueans with free internet access.[18]

He died on 9 July 2021 at the age of 85.[19]

Recognition edit

Lui was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours.[20]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Former Niue Premier to be honoured by Wgtn High School". Pacific Scoop. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Frank Fakaotimanava Lui CNZM". Wellington High School. 29 October 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. ^ "No election fuss". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 43, no. 6. 1 June 1972. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "No Rex dynasty for Niue". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 46, no. 6. 1 June 1975. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Challenge shakes Rex". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 60, no. 10. 1 October 1990. p. 18. Retrieved 2 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ Stephen Levine (Spring 1992). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1990 to 30 June 1991" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 4 (1): 203–5. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  7. ^ Stephen Levine (Spring 1994). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1992 to 30 June 1993" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 6 (1): 185–189. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  8. ^ Stephen Levine (Spring 1995). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1993 to 30 June 1994" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 7 (1): 154–159. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  9. ^ a b Stephen Levine (Spring 1996). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1994 to 30 June 1995" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 8 (1): 191–97. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  10. ^ Stuart Parker (25 January 1995). "Niue political impasse". Canberra Times. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ Kalauni v Jackson, 1996 1 (Court of Appeal of Niue 23 January 1996).
  12. ^ Stephen Levine (Spring 1997). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1995 to 30 June 1996" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 9 (1): 236–42. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  13. ^ Stephen Levine (Spring 1998). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 10 (1): 216–22. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  14. ^ Michael Daly (5 April 2016). "The Polynesian 'Rock' That Made Millions From Panama Papers' Crooks". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  15. ^ "NIUE PREMIER FRANK LUI LOSES ASSEMBLY SEAT". Pacific Islands Report. 22 March 1999. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  16. ^ Stephen Levine (Spring 2000). "Political Review: Niue" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 12 (1): 231–236. doi:10.1353/cp.2000.0020. S2CID 258059013. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  17. ^ "NIUE ELECTION GUESSING". Pacific Islands Report. 22 February 2002. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Former premier Lui to chair Niue internet foundation". RNZ. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Former Niue premier, Frank Lui, passes away". Radio New Zealand. 10 July 2021.
  20. ^ "The Queen's Birthday Honours List 1999 (including Niue)". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 7 June 1999. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
Government offices
Preceded by Premier of Niue
1993–1999 		Succeeded by

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