Dalton Emani Makamau Tagelagi (born 5 June 1968) is a Niuean politician and Premier of Niue since June 2020. He was elected premier by the Niue Legislative Assembly on 11 June 2020, defeating O'Love Jacobsen by 13 votes to 7. Tagelagi is the son of Sam Pata Emani Tagelagi, who served as Speaker of the Niue Legislative Assembly from 1976 to 1993.

Bowls career

He has competed in bowls for Niue, at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. In 2022, he competed in the men's pairs and the men's fours at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

in Birmingham.

Political career

Tagelagi was first elected to the Niue Assembly at the 2008 Niuean general election. Following the 2014 Niuean general election he was appointed Minister of Infrastructure. He was re-elected at the 2017 Niuean general election, and subsequently served as Minister for the Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. As Environment Minister he represented Niue at the

2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25, was the 25th United Nations Climate Change conference. It was held in Madrid, Spain, from 2 to 13 December 2019 under the presidency of the Chilean government. The confere ...

, calling for rich nations to show greater ambition. Dean Rex, Dalton Tagelagi, Cindy Kiro, Richard Davies 2022

He was re-elected in the 2020 Niuean general election and subsequently elected premier. After being elected he announced that his first priority would be investigating government finances. As Premier his government ratified the

PACER Plus PACER Plus is a free trade agreement between members of the Pacific Islands Forum (the Forum Island Countries plus Australia and New Zealand). The agreement expands the existing Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) to include furth ...

regional trade agreement. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

he negotiated a one-way travel-bubble allowing Niueans to travel to

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 ...

, and oversaw a vaccination program which saw Niue gain full herd immunity to the virus. In November 2021 he began a one-year term as Chancellor of the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the go ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tagelagi, Dalton Premiers of Niue Agriculture ministers of Niue Environment ministers of Niue Infrastructure ministers of Niue Members of the Niue Assembly 1968 births Living people People from Alofi Bowls players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Niue