Oct 18, 2007, 15:51 GMT
Wellington - Tokelau, a group of microdot coral islets in the middle of the South Pacific that calls itself the last paradise on earth, will go to the polls this weekend in a referendum to decide whether to cast off the remnants of 130 years of colonial shackles.
Ruled firstly by Britain and then New Zealand since 1877, Tokelau is the only one of 16 non-self-governing territories still listed by the United Nations Committee on Decolonization actively considering going it alone.
Nearly 800 registered voters will start voting in a referendum on October 20, the second time in 15 months they have faced the question.
A similar plebiscite in February last year fell just 36 votes short of the required 67-per-cent majority needed for a change that would give them self-government in free association with New Zealand.
That would be a situation still short of full independence, for Tokelau would clearly not be viable as a sovereign independent nation.
Set halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii, its three main atolls cover only about 12 square kilometres of land spread over 160 square kilometres of ocean. None of the 128 islets set in their reef-fringed lagoons is wider than 200 metres or more than five metres above sea level.
Tokelau has no capital, no airport, no harbours and its nearly 1,500 residents are a 28-hour boat ride away from their nearest neighbours in Samoa where the civil servants who administer Tokelau's internal affairs at the direction of village elders live and work.
'There has never been a groundswell of popular opinion for self- government in Tokelau,' says Antony Hooper, a professor of anthropology at Auckland University. 'There have never been any 'freedom fighters.''
So why is this ultimate ministate voting on the issue twice in two years? Hooper says the UN committee on colonialism is committed to reducing the list of non-self governing states and New Zealand wants to be clear of 'any lingering taint of colonialism.'
New Zealand officials concede that they have encouraged Tokelau in its move towards an act of self-determination, but insist the decisions to hold both referendums were made entirely by the General Fono (parliament) of elected elders, who agreed last August that a second ballot should be held.
A 'yes' vote in the referendum on October 20-24, would produce a small change from Tokelau's present status as a non-self-governing territory of New Zealand, but in international law an important one.
It would remove Tokelau from the UN list of non-self-governing territories and open the way for aid from other countries previously withheld by diplomatic protocols that saw it as solely New Zealand's colonial responsibility.
New Zealand is not seeking to cut its colony adrift and will maintain aid money accounting for 80 per cent of Tokelau's budget - the balance comes from fishing licence fees, copra, handicrafts, stamps and coins - and sign a treaty guaranteeing continued assistance.
Tokelauans would retain the New Zealand citizenship they have had since 1949.
An estimated 12,000 Tokelauans who live in New Zealand, Australia and Samoa are not registered to vote in line with UN advice that only permanent residents should decide such issues.
Tokelau, which was discovered by a British navy ship looking for mutineers from Captain William Bligh's HMS Bounty, became a British protectorate in 1877 and its administration was passed to New Zealand in 1926.
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