Hunuki Saletogia Hunukitama (died July 2003) was a Niuean politician and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

member of the

Niue Assembly The Niue Assembly ( niu, Niue Fono Ekepule) is the legislature of Niue. It consists of 20 members; 14 representatives of the villages and 6 elected on a common roll. Members are directly elected by universal suffrage, and serve a three-year t ...

from 2001 until his death in 2003. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Hunukitama served as the Secretary to the

Premier of Niue The Premier of Niue is Niue's head of government. They are elected by the Niue Assembly, and forms a Cabinet consisting of themselves and three other members of the Assembly. Sir Robert Rex was continuously re-elected every three years from N ...

. Additionally, Hunukitama served in managerial roles across a number of governmental and business organizations.

Political career

Hunukitama was elected to a common roll seat in the Niue Assembly in a April 2001 by-election that occurred after MP

Hima Douglas Hima Ikimotu Douglas (also known as Himalea I Takelesi) (born 1946 or 1947) is a Niuean broadcaster, politician, and diplomat. He is Speaker of the Niue Assembly. Douglas was educated in New Zealand and holds an accounting degree. He worked as a ...

resigned to take an appointment as the

High Commissioner of Niue to New Zealand The High Commissioner of Niue to New Zealand is the top-ranking diplomatic representative of Niue to New Zealand. Niue is in free association with New Zealand and lacks full sovereignty. New Zealand is the only country in the world in which Niu ...

, defeating a

Niue People's Party The Niue People's Party (also known as the Niue People's Action Party) was a political party in Niue. Founded in 1987 by Niueans living in New Zealand, it was disbanded in 2003. It was, during that time, the country's only political party. The par ...

candidate by a significant margin. Hunukitama was re-elected to the Niue Assembly in the

2002 Niuean general election General elections were held in Niue on 21 March 2002 to determine the composition of the twenty member Assembly. All twenty outgoing members were re-elected, of which eight (all of them village representatives) were running unopposed. Voter tu ...

as a common roll member. In that year, Hunukitama ran against

Young Vivian Mititaiagimene Young Vivian is a Niuean politician and diplomat, who served as Premier of Niue twice, the first time from December 1992 to March 1993 following the death of Sir Robert Rex, and the second from 2002 to 2008. He also served as a ...

for

and lost 6 votes to 14. In 2002, Hunukitama and former

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Sani Lakatani Sani Elia Lagigietama Lakatani (born 1936) is a former Premier of Niue. He was a member of the Niue People's Party. Early life Lakatani served in the New Zealand Army as a corporal. He was deployed to Vietnam as part of the Whiskey2 deployment ...

visited

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

to broker a deal with a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

group called the Christian Ambassador Mission Holy People University that wanted to set up a holy city in Niue that would act as the group's headquarters on 121

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s of farmland in

Vaiea Vaiea is one of the fourteen villages of 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 20 ...

. The facility was planned to house 600 people, construct a temple, and be fully walled and guarded and disallow police access. In addition to meeting with the group, Hunukitama and others in the Niue government conducted background checks for the organization. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Hunukitama served as the Secretary to the

Business career

Hunukitama was the inaugural chairman of the first Polynesian radio station in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and was a manager of the

Auckland Office of Pacific Island Affairs Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...

. As of 2001, Hunukitama was the chief executive officer of the Niue Growers Association, which markets

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

grown in Niue on the Auckland market.

Death

In July 2003, Hunukitama died at the Lord Liverpool Hospital after he collapsed at the Limu Reef pools. Hunukitama's family filed a formal complaint with the police regarding his treatment at the hospital. The

2003 Niue Common Roll by-election The 2003 Niue Common Roll by-election was held in August 2003 to fill a vacant common roll seat in the Niue Assembly after the death of Hunuki Hunukitama in July 2003. The seat was won by Krypton Okesene of Tuapa Tuapa is one of the fourteen v ...

was held in August 2003 to fill Hunukitama's seat in the Niue Assembly.

Krypton Okesene Krypton Okesene is a Niuean politician who was elected to a common roll seat in the Niue Assembly in the 2003 Niue Common Roll by-election that was held after the death of Hunuki Hunukitama. Okesene is a retired medical technician from Tuapa T ...

defeated five other candidates, including Lofa Rex and Kupa Magatongia, to take the vacant position.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunukitama, Hunuki Members of the Niue Assembly 2003 deaths 21st-century New Zealand politicians Year of birth missing