Reuben Uatioa

Te Reuben Kiraua Uatioa MBE (1924 – 1977) was a Gilbertese politician. After being elected to the House of Representatives in 1967, he became the first Chief Elected Member of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony and then Leader of Government Business, serving until unexpectedly losing his seat in 1974. He then served as Speaker of the House of Representatives until 1975.

Reuben Uatioa
Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
1974–1975
Leader of Government Business
In office
1971–1974
Succeeded byNaboua Ratieta
Chief Elected Member
In office
1967–1971
Member of the Legislative Council
In office
1971–1974
Succeeded byAbete Merang
ConstituencyUrban Tarawa
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
1967–1971
ConstituencyUrban Tarawa
Member of the Advisory Council
In office
1963–1967
Personal details
Born1924
Onotoa, Gilbert and Ellice Islands
Died1977
South Tarawa, Gilbert Islands

Biography

Uatioa was born on Onotoa in 1924.[1] He was adopted by a family from Nonouti and was educated at the London Missionary Society's Hiram Bingham High School in Rongorongo on Beru.[1] He began working as a radio operator in the Phoenix Islands in 1940, before joining the naval reserve in Fiji in 1941.[1] Following World War II he worked for the New Zealand Meteorological Service in Fiji, before returning to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1950.[1]

Uatioa was appointed as the islands' first broadcasting and information officer in 1955. In 1963 he was appointed to the new Advisory Council.[2] He established the Tungaru, a Gilbertese cultural movement, and in 1965 founded the Gilbertese National Party, an offshoot of the movement.[1] He was awarded an MBE in the 1966 New Year Honours.

In the first elections to the new House of Representatives, he was elected from the Urban Tarawa constituency. Following the elections, he was elected Chief Elected Member.[3] After being re-elected to the reconstituted Legislative Council in 1971, Uatioa was elected the first Leader of Government Business.[4] However, he surprisingly lost his seat in the 1974 elections, losing to union leader Abete Merang.[5] Following the elections, he became Speaker of the House of Representatives, a role he held until resigning in 1975.[4]

Uatioa continued in local politics, serving as president of Teinainano Urban Council until 1977.[1] In 1977 he was appointed Public Service Commissioner.[4] While planning to contest the 1978 elections, he died later in 1977.[1] The Reuben K. Uatioa Stadium was subsequently named for him.

gollark: Yes, and it happens that "make money" lines up conveniently with "let people sit", so you don't just have to hope that someone will come along and give you a nicer chair.
gollark: And secondly, if there's a group of people who will preferentially buy shorter chairs for themselves, then there's an incentive for someone to come along and make Shorter Chairs Co or something.
gollark: Different chairs for everybody? Because, well, firstly, that sounds impractical.
gollark: How does anarchism fix that, exactly?
gollark: Can you explain *why* and *how* capitalism would benefit from this?

References
  1. Death of Reuben Uatioa: The first architect of Gilbertese Independence Pacific Islands Monthly, December 1977, p14
  2. Historic Meeting Of First GEIC Advisory Council Pacific Islands Monthly, December 1963, p8
  3. Top post for outstanding Gilbertese Pacific Islands Monthly, February 1968, p71
  4. Decolonization United Nations, July 1979
  5. GEIC elections Pacific Islands Monthly, May 1974, p13
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