Niue

More than forty thousand people of Niuean descent live in New Zealand and a large proportion live in South Auckland, mainly in the electorate of Mangere, where New Zealand’s Minister for Pacific People Aupito William Sio is their elected representative....

Don’t be fooled by the big smile – weightlifter David Liti gets nervous when he walks out to the stage and doesn’t mind admitting he’s feeling pressure ahead of his second Commonwealth Games. It’s easy to see the relaxed persona...

A Niuean businessman who began exporting taro to New Zealand last year is now broadening the goods he's sending into the Auckland market. Brad Etuata started exporting taro after the Covid-19 pandemic brought a halt to tourism In Niue and increased demand for the crop. Initially, as a trial, Mr Etuata flew a small quantity on an Air New Zealand flight but is now filling containers with hundreds of 20 kilogramme sacks of taro.

The Niue government has announced the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will be used to innoculate the population against Covid-19. In a statement, the government says Pfizer is the only vaccine currently approved by Medsafe in New Zealand. The government plans to vaccinate everyone over the age of 16. New Zealand government gave Niue $NZD9 million last month to help its response to Covid-19.

Sir Toke Talagi, the former long time leader of Niue, has died. The four-term premier has been ailing for the past few years, to the point where much of his last year as premier was spent in New Zealand for medical treatment.

New Niue MP-elect, Richard Hipa, has confirmed his intention to put his name forward for the country's Premiership and says the weekend's election results indicate people want change. Mr Hipa told BCN he was grateful to the people of Niue after he gained the highest number of votes with 440.

Niue's premier Sir Toke Talagi has been receiving medical treatment in Auckland for more than a month. So far the government has not made public the state of Sir Toke's health or when he will return. It is expected that he will be back in time to pass the Budget. Sir Toke was very ill in 2016, when he required medical evacuation from the island on two occasions. The acting premier is Dalton Tagelagi.