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When Jacinda Ardern arrived in the tiny Pacific nation of Niue, it was a family gathering.
As the Prime Minister stepped off the plane on the second leg of her journey through the region, she was greeted with a warm hug by her father, New Zealand High Commissioner to Niue, Ross Ardern.
Her young niece, sister Louise and mother Laurel were also waiting at the airport.
While this is Ardern’s first overseas trip as prime minister, her father’s position and his previous role as Niue’s police chief make this country of about 1,500 residents a second home to her.
In traditional ceremonies and prayers today, she is referred to as the “Daughter of Niue”.
“They call you Niuean daughter because your parents live here,” Minister Tamako Tota-Vivian told the audience.
“We’re looking forward to better things.”
Ardern recalled her first visit to the island in 2004 after Cyclone Herta caused devastation, and its “tremendous” development since then.
Despite the warm welcome, the Prime Minister has a daunting task ahead of him.
Like other countries she is visiting during her Pacific tour this week, Canberra is looking to burnish its image with a foreign policy “reset” amid growing interest from other deep-pocketed nations.
“We are gradually moving away from this donor-recipient relationship to a true partnership and wanting to achieve common goals,” Ardern told an audience in the capital, Alofi.
Niue Prime Minister Toke Talagi also spoke about the changes in relations between the two countries.
“We’re seeing our relationship with New Zealand increasingly aligned with funding investments to ensure we can grow our economy,” he said.
He said New Zealand hoped to one day raise enough money on its own to not have to look to New Zealand for operating funds.
“In some ways, I don’t care if you’re skeptical. I care about what we try to do to make sure we achieve what we say we’re going to achieve.”
Niue currently has an annual GDP of about $25 million and has received about $54 million in aid from New Zealand over the past three years.
Its foreign policy and defence are dependent on New Zealand. Its residents are New Zealand citizens.
During the day, Ardern will sit down with Taraji and lay the foundation stone for New Zealand’s new embassy building with her father.
The New Zealand delegation will depart for Tonga in the afternoon.
Ross Ardern has served as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Niue since 2014, and her term is due to end this year.
-AAP
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