Nuihau Laurey (born 29 December 1964) is a

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

n politician and former

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

. He was vice-president of

from 2014-2017 and one of the two senators for French Polynesia from 2015 to 2020. He was acting president of French Polynesia in 2014 between

Gaston Flosse Gaston Flosse (born 24 June 1931) is a French politician who has been President of French Polynesia on five separate occasions. He is currently a member of the Senate of France and has been a French junior minister under Jacques Chirac. He receiv ...

and

Édouard Fritch Winfred Édouard Tereori Fritch (born 4 January 1952) is a French politician who has served as President of French Polynesia since 2014. He previously presided over the Assembly of French Polynesia on three occasions: from April 2007 to February ...

's presidencies.

Early life

Laurey worked for the government-owned Socredo bank before working as a consultant. In 2009, he published ''Énergies renouvelables plaidoyer pour une véritable politique de l'énergie en Polynésie française'' (Renewable energy: Advocacy for a real energy policy in French Polynesia), published by Au Vent des Îles. In 2010, he was technical advisor to

Teva Rohfritsch Teva Rohfritsch (born 3 February 1975) is a French Polynesian politician and former Cabinet Minister. Since 2020 he has been one of French Polynesia's two senators in the French Senate, sitting with the Rally of Democrats, Progressives and Indepe ...

, then Minister of Energy, before returning to work again as a conultant.

Political career

He was elected to the

Assembly of French Polynesia The Assembly of French Polynesia (french: Assemblée de la Polynésie française, Tahitian: Te apo'ora'a rahi o te fenua Mā'ohi) is the unicameral legislature of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic. It is located at Plac ...

in the 2013 French Polynesian legislative election. and appointed to the Cabinet of

as Vice-President and Minister of Economy, Finance, Budget and Labour. As Finance Minister he increased taxes and reduced the size of the public service. He was Acting President from the dismissal of Gaston Flosse on 5 September 2014 until the election of Édouard Fritch on 12 September. He was retained as Vice-President by Fritch, and continued to serve in Cabinet as Minister for the Economy and Finance, Budget, Civil Service, Enterprise, Industry and Export Promotion from 16 September 2014. In March 2015 he was nominated as a candidate for the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 34 ...

by Fritch, against the wishes of Flosse. In April 2015 Flosse expelled him from Tahoera'a Huiraatira over the issue. The expulsion was a significant factor in the collapse of Tahoera'a and the formation of

Tapura Huiraatira ''Tapura'' is a genus of plant in family Dichapetalaceae.Stephens, P.F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/ Species include: * ''Tapura africana'' Oliv. * ''Tapura arach ...

. Llaurey was elected senator of French Polynesia on May 3, 2015 during a by-election. He sat in the UDI-UC group in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. He resigned the vice-presidency on 13 January 2017 but retained the Ministry of Budget, Finance and Energy until 28 February 2017. In June 2020 he left the Tapura Huiraatira party after a dispute with Edouard Fritch over the handling of the

COVID-19 pandemic in French Polynesia The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas collectivity of French Polynesia in March 2020. As of 24 August 2021, French Polynesia has been the worst affected country in Oceania both in terms of proportion relative t ...

. He remained in the

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

, sitting as an independent. In August 2020 he founded

A here ia Porinetia A here ia Porinetia () is a political party in French Polynesia. The party was formed in August 2020 and advocates a reduction in the size of the Assembly of French Polynesia to 39 members, the introduction of term limits to renew the political cl ...

with former Tapura Huiraatira MPs

Nicole Sanquer Nicole Sanquer (born 16 June 1972) is a French Polynesian politician, and former Cabinet Minister. She was a member of the French National Assembly from 2017 to 2022. Elected as a member of Tapura Huiraatira, she sits in the UDI and Independents ...

Bernard Natua Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

, Teura Tarahu-Atuahiva, and

Félix Tokoragi Félix Tokoragi is a French Polynesian politician and Member of the Assembly of French Polynesia. He has served as Mayor of Makemo since 2014. He was elected to the Mekemo town council in 2014 and subsequently elected mayor. In December 2017 To ...

, as well as Tahoera'a Huiraatira MP Vaitea Le Gayic who was "loaned" by Tahoera'a. The group lost its parliamentary recognition in January 2021 after Le Gayic resigned and rejoined Tahoera'a, leaving its members as independents. In September 2020 he failed to win re-election to the Senate, losing his seat to Teva Rohfritsch. In February 2023 he was named at the head of

's list for the 2023 French Polynesian legislative election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurey, Nuihau 1964 births Living people People from Papeete Union of Democrats and Independents politicians French Senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of French Polynesia A here ia Porinetia politicians