Fiame Naomi Mata'afa

Fiame Naomi Mata'afa is a Samoan high chieftess (matai) and the Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa. She is a Member of Parliament (HRPP) for the electoral constituency of Lotofaga in the political district of Atua. She is the current Minister of Women, Community & Social Development in Samoa. Following the March 2006 general elections in which she was reelected for a sixth term she was nominated by Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi to her new portfolio at her request. She was Minister of Education for 15 years (three terms). She is one of the longest standing Members of Parliament in Samoa and the first female member of Cabinet.

Fiame Naomi Mata’afa

MP
Fiame Naomi Mata'afa in 2013
Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa
Assumed office
19 March 2016
O le Ao O le MaloTuimalealiifano Va'aletoa Sualauvi II
Prime MinisterTuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi
Preceded byFonotoe Nuafesili Pierre Lauofo
1st Minister of Natural Resources and Environment
Assumed office
19 March 2016
Prime MinisterTuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi
Preceded byOffice Established
Personal details
Born1957 (age 62–63)
Nationality Samoan
Political partyHuman Rights Protection Party
MotherLaulu Fetauimalemau Mata'afa
FatherFiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu’u II
Fiame Naomi Mata'afa speaking at the Advancing Gender Justice Programme BRIDGE training workshop, in Samoa, 19 January 2014
Fiame Naomi Mata'afa (standing, far left) at a meeting of Pacific Islands leaders with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (center), in Samoa, 26 July 2008

On 19 March 2016, she was sworn in as Samoa's first ever female deputy prime minister.[1]

Mata'afa and Fuivaili’ili Egon Keil, Commissioner of Police, represented Samoa on August 16, 2019, at the acceptance ceremony in Henderson, Western Australia, for the Nafanua II.[2][3] Present at the handover ceremony, representing Australia, were Linda Reynolds and Melissa Price, Australian Minister for Defence and Minister for Defence Industry.

Family

Her father, Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu’u II, a paramount chief, was the first Prime Minister of Samoa. Her mother, Laulu Fetauimalemau Mata'afa, was a diplomat, educator and politician. Her maternal grandfather, Le Mamea Matatumua Ata was one of the framers of the Samoan constitution.

She was studying at university in New Zealand when she was recalled by her 'aiga (extended family) to take up one of her father's matai titles, Fiame from Lotofaga.

Her mother, Laulu Fetaui, had entered parliament in 1975 from the constituency of Lotofaga, following her husband's death. On Laulu Fetaui's retirement from politics Fiame Naomi contested the seat and was elected. She has held the seat since then.

gollark: I MEAN WE COULD HOOK UP SOME GRAPHS MAYBE
gollark: Anyway, if it was me making this electoral system, it would be stupidly overdone, have a shiny web UI, and full transparency logs, but be made about 5 days late with code nobody can ever understand, and probably randomly crash.
gollark: Look, don't make excuses, *vote rationally*.
gollark: I'm sure you know anyway.
gollark: The constituency system unfairly biases against some people, but we didn't copy that.

See also

References
  1. Samoa swears in first female deputy PM, NZ Herald, 19 March 2016
  2. Ridzwan Rahmat (2019-08-16). "Australia hands over Guardian-class patrol vessel to Samoa". Jane's Navy International. Singapore. Retrieved 2019-08-16. Nafanua II will be operated by the Police Maritime Wing of the Samoan Police Service. The vessel is part of the Australian government’s Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (SEA 3036) programme, which will see the donation of 21 new patrol vessels to 12 Pacific Island countries, and Timor-Leste.
  3. "Samoa receives Guardian-class Patrol Boat". Mirage News. Henderson, Australia. 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-16. The Australian Government has today handed over the newest Guardian-class Patrol Boat Nafanua II to the Samoan Government at a ceremony in Henderson, Western Australia. Nafanua II was received by Samoa’s Deputy Prime Minister the Honourable Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and the Commissioner of Police Mr Fuivaili’ili Egon Keil.


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