Window to the past for Vanuatu PM
Visiting Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai discovered a unique piece of his country’s history at the University of
Auckland last week.
Mr Salwai and his delegation visited the Western Pacific Archives, held in the University library’s Special Collections,
as part of a general visit to the University where they took the opportunity to meet students from Vanuatu and
strengthen educational ties between the two countries.
The archive is a record of all aspects of colonial administration in the Western Pacific from 1877 to 1978 and includes
the records of the Western Pacific High Commission, the British Consul in Tonga, and the New Hebrides British Service.
Among its 2,800 boxes of material are highly valuable letters, maps, civil and criminal legal records, black and white
photos and other documents recording a colonial life long past.
Those relating to Vanuatu – the New Hebrides British Service - date back to 1902, shortly before it became an
Anglo-French Condominium.
The Prime Minister’s party were fascinated to see places and names they recognised, like a plan for a prison in Port
Vila which separated ‘whites’ from ‘natives’ that still exists - although not segregated by race – today; old photos
showing traditional thatched houses and an original map of the island of Pentecost, Mr Salwai’s home island.
After a movement for independence in the 1970s, the country became the Republic of Vanuatu in 1980 and now has three
official languages; Bislama, French and English.
Welcomed by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Adrienne Cleland, head of Pacific Studies Damon Salesa, Special Collections manager
Stephen Innes and staff at the NZ Institute of Pacific Research, the delegation were also impressed by the Fale
Pasifika, the iconic building that acts as a touchpoint between the University and Pacific communities.
Mr Salwai wished the Ni-Vanuatu students, who study across a range of disciplines, every success and told them “their
country was waiting for them”.
The official visit was the first since Mr Salwai became prime minister in February this year, and involved talks with
Prime Minister John Key and a series of events in Auckland, Wellington and Tauranga.