The Tokelau self-determination referendum of 2006, supervised by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, was held from February 11 to February 15, 2006. The defeated proposal would have changed

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, a ...

's status from an unincorporated

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

territory to a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand, akin to the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

and

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

. After 581 of the 615 eligible voters cast a proper ballot (3 ruined ballots were also cast), the referendum fell 38 votes short of the two-thirds majority required to succeed in a change of status. The majority of Tokelauans reside in New Zealand, and were ineligible to vote in the referendum, in line with standard practice in United Nations mandated votes on

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

. However concerns among this community may have influenced those who were eligible to vote, thereby contributing to the referendum's failure. The passage of the referendum would have removed Tokelau from the

United Nations list of non-self-governing territories Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter defines a non-self-governing territory (NSGT) as a territory "whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government". In practice, an NSGT is a territory deemed by the United Nations Gener ...

, as the Cook Islands and Niue were removed from this list when they were granted self-governance in 1965 and 1974, respectively. Outgoing Tokelau ''Ulu'' (head of government)

Pio Tuia Pio Iosefo Tuia (born 1943) has been , Heads of Government of Tokelau, head of government of Tokelau, six times. The position of ulu rotates annually between the three (one for each of the three atolls), who are elected for terms lasting three ...

suggested in February 2006 that since the vote failed to pass by such a small margin, the issue was likely to be revisited in a few years' time. In June 2006, his successor

Kolouei O'Brien Kolouei O'Brien (1939 – 11 May 2015) was a politician from Tokelau and faipule of Fakaofo Fakaofo, formerly known as Bowditch Island, is a South Pacific Ocean atoll located in the Tokelau Group. The actual land area is only about 3 km2 ( ...

announced that the

Fono The Legislative Assembly ( sm, Fono Aoao Faitulafono a Samoa), also known as the Parliament of Samoa ( sm, Palemene o Samoa), is the national legislature of Samoa, seated at Apia, where the country's central administration is situated. Samoan P ...

had agreed to hold a similar referendum again in late 2007 or early 2008; in the end, it was decided to hold a second referendum on self-determination in October 2007. An unintended result of the

' recent efforts to promote

decolonization Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...

in Tokelau has been the re-emergence of a

Tokelauan Tokelauan is a Polynesian language spoken in Tokelau and on Swains Island (or Olohega) in American Samoa. It is closely related to Tuvaluan and is related to Samoan and other Polynesian languages. Tokelauan has a co-official status with Engli ...

claim to

Swains Island Swains Island (; Tokelauan: ''Olohega'' ; Samoan: ''Olosega'' ) is a remote coral atoll in the Tokelau Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The island is the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute between Tokelau and the United States, whi ...

, which is legally part of

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

, hitherto a somewhat dormant issue.

Voting schedule

Results

The proposal: "Do you agree that Tokelau become a self-governing state in Free Association with New Zealand on the basis of the Constitution and as in the draft Treaty notified to Tokelau? ".

References

Referendums in Tokelau

Self-determination referendum 2006 elections in Oceania 2006 in international relations

Separatism in New Zealand {{tokelau-stub