2019 in Oceania explained

Events in Oceania, during 2019.

Sovereign states

Australia

See main article: 2019 in Australia.

• Chief of state: Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952)^[1]
• Governor-General –
  • Sir Peter Cosgrove (until 1 July)
  • David Hurley (starting 1 July)
• Prime Minister – Scott Morrison (since 2018)

Christmas Island

• Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia:
  • Sir Peter Cosgrove (until 1 July)
  • David Hurley (starting 1 July)^[2]
• Administrator

Natasha Griggs (since 2018)

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

• Governor General:
  • Sir Peter Cosgrove (until 1 July)
  • David Hurley (starting 1 July)
• Administrator: Natasha Griggs (since 2018)

Norfolk Island

• Administrator: Eric Hutchinson (since 2017)^[3]

East Timor / Timor-Leste

• President of East Timor

Francisco Guterres (since 2017)

• Prime Minister

Taur Matan Ruak (since 2018)

Fiji

See main article: 2019 in Fiji.

• President of Fiji

George Konrote (since 2015)

• Head of Government

Frank Bainimarama (since 2007)

• Speaker

Epeli Nailatikau (starting 11 February)

Kiribati

• President: Taneti Mamau (since 2016)

Marshall Islands

• President

Hilda Heine (since 2016)^[4]

• Speaker of the legislature

Kenneth Kedi (since 2016)

Micronesia

• • • President of the Federated States of Micronesia Peter M. Christian (until 11 May)
  • David W. Panuelo (starting 11 May)^[5]
• Vice President of the Federated States of Micronesia

Yosiwo George (since 2015)

Nauru

• President of Nauru
  • Baron Waqa (until 27 August)
  • Lionel Aingimea (starting 27 August)
    • Speaker of Parliament Cyril Buraman (until August)
  • Marcus Stephen (starting 27 August)

Palau

• President of Palau

Thomas Remengesau Jr. (since 2013)^[6]

• Vice President

Raynold Oilouch (since 2017)

Papua New Guinea

• Monarchy of Papua New Guinea

Elizabeth II

• Governor-General

Bob Dadae (since 2017)

• • • Prime Minister Peter O'Neill (until 29 May)
  • James Marape (starting 29 May)

Realm of New Zealand

The Realm of New Zealand consists of the sovereign state of New Zealand, the associated states of the Cook Islands and Niue, and the dependent territory of Tokelau. It also includes the Antarctica territorial claim of the Ross Dependency.

• Monarchy of New Zealand

Elizabeth II

• Governor-General of New Zealand

Patsy Reddy

New Zealand

• Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives

Trevor Mallard

• Prime Minister of New Zealand

Jacinda Ardern (since 2017)

• Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand

Winston Peters (since 2017)

Cook Islands

• Queen's Representative

Tom Marsters (since 1973)

• Prime Minister of the Cook Islands

Henry Puna (since 2010)

• Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament

Niki Rattle (since 2012)

Niue

• Premier of Niue

Toke Talagi (since 2008)

Tokelau

• Administrator of Tokelau

Ross Ardern (since 2018)

• Head of Government of Tokelau
  • Afega Gaualofa (until 12 March)
  • Kerisiano Kalolo (starting 12 March).

Samoa

• Head of state: O le Ao o le Malo: Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II (since 2017)
• Prime Minister of Samoa

Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi (since 1998)

Solomon Islands

• Governor-General
  • Frank Kabui (until 7 July)
  • David Vunagi (starting 7 July)^[7]
• Prime Minister
  • Rick Houenipwela (until 24 April)
  • Manasseh Sogavare (starting 24 April)

Tonga

• Monarch

King Tupou VI (since 2012)^[8]

• Prime Minister
  • ʻAkilisi Pōhiva (until 12 September)
  • Semisi Sika (12 September-8 October)
  • Pohiva Tuʻiʻonetoa (starting 8 October)

Tuvalu

• Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor-General of Tuvalu
  • Iakoba Italeli (until 22 August)
  • Teniku Talesi Honolulu (starting 22 August)
• Prime Minister of Tuvalu
  • Enele Sopoaga (until 19 September)
  • Kausea Natano (starting 19 September)

Vanuatu

• President of Vanuatu

Tallis Obed Moses (since 2017)^[9]

• Prime Minister of Vanuatu

Charlot Salwai (since 2016)^[10]

Dependencies

British Overseas Territories

• Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952)

Pitcairn Islands

• Governor (nonresident) of the Pitcairn Islands: Laura Clarke (since 2018)^[11]
• Mayor and Chairman of the Island Council: Shawn Christian (until 31 December)

Chile

See main article: 2019 in Chile.

• President of Chile

Sebastián Piñera (since 2018)^[12]

Insular Chile

• Intendant of Valparaíso Region

Jorge Martínez Durán

• Commune of the Juan Fernández Islands
  • Mayor: Felipe Paredes Vergara
• Province of Easter Island
  • Governor: Laura Alarcón Rapu (since 2018)

France

See main article: 2019 in France.

• President of France

Emmanuel Macron (since 2017)^[13]

• Prime Minister of France

Édouard Philippe (since 2017)

French Polynesia

• President of French Polynesia

Édouard Fritch (since 2014)^[14]

• High Commissioner of the Republic
  • René Bidal (until 6 May)
  • Dominique Sorain (starting 6 May)
• President of the Assembly of French Polynesia

Gaston Tong Sang (since 2018)

New Caledonia

• High Commissioner
  • Thierry Lataste (until 10 July)
  • Laurent Prevost (starting 10 July)^[15]
• President of the Government
  • Philippe Germain (until 6 July)
  • Thierry Santa (starting 6 July)
    • Vice President of the Government Jean-Louis d'Anglebermes (until 5 July)
  • Gilbert Tyuienon (starting 5 July)

Wallis and Futuna

• Administrator Superior of Wallis and Futuna

Thierry Queffelec (since 10 January)

• President of the Territorial Assembly

• • David Vergé (until 29 November)
  • Atoloto Kolokilagi (starting 29 November)
• There are three traditional kings with limited powers.

United States

See main article: 2019 in the United States.

See also: 2019 in United States politics and government.

• President of the United States

Donald Trump (since 2017)^[16]

• Vice President of the United States

Mike Pence (since 2017)

American Samoa

• Governor: Lolo Matalasi Moliga (since 2013)
• Lieutenant Governor: Lemanu Peleti Mauga (since 2013)

Guam

• • • Governor Eddie Baza Calvo (until 7 January)
  • Lou Leon Guerrero (starting 7 January)^[17]
• Lieutenant Governor
  • Ray Tenorio (until 7 January)
  • Josh Tenorio (starting 7 January)

Hawaii

• Governor of Hawaii

David Ige (since 2014)

• Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii

Josh Green (since 2018)

Northern Mariana Islands

• Governor: Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres (since 2015)^[18]
• Lieutenant Governor
  • Victor Hocog (until 14 January)
  • Arnold Palacios (starting 14 January)

Events

April

• April 3
  • General elections were held in the Solomon Islands.^[19] They were the first general elections since the RAMSI mission concluded in 2017. On 24 April 2019, Manasseh Sogavare was elected by the 11th National Parliament as Prime Minister of Solomon Islands.^[20]

August

• August 13
  • Samoan police confirmed they had foiled an assassination plot against Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.^{[21] [22]}
• August 24
  • Parliamentary elections were held in Nauru.^[23] President Baron Waqa lost his seat in Boe Constituency, making him ineligible for a third term.^[24] Following the elections, Lionel Aingimea was elected president, winning a parliamentary vote 12–6 against David Adeang.^[25]

September

• September 9
  • General elections were held in Tuvalu.^[26] Enele Sopoaga, the caretaker prime minister was re-elected to parliament. However, the members of parliament elected Kausea Natano as prime minister.^{[27] [28] [29]}

November

• November 23 – 2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum.
• 81 deaths from measles outbreak from lack of vaccination in Samoa

December

• 5 December
  • The deadly measles epidemic in Samoa has led to the United Nations' World Health Organization to deploy 128 medical teams to assist in vaccination efforts. The UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated $2.7 million to support the response.^[30]
• December 7 A non-binding independence referendum was held in Bougainville,^[31] an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea, between 23 November and 7 December 2019.
• December 11 - The results of the referendum are announced. Over 98% of the votes are in favour of independence.^[32]

See also

• List of state leaders in Oceania in 2019
  • List of elections in 2019 in Oceania 2019 Oceania Cup (rugby league)

Articles on Elections

• Micronesian parliamentary election, 2019 5 March 2019
• Australia
  • New South Wales state election, 2019 23 March 2019
  • Tasmanian Legislative Council election, 2019 4 May 2019
  • Australian federal election, 2019 18 May 2019
• Solomon Islands general election, 2019 3 April 2019
• Nauruan parliamentary election, 2019 24 August 2019
• New Zealand local elections, 2019 12 October 2019
• Bougainvillean independence referendum 23 November 2019
• Marshallese general election, 2019 18 November 2019
• Kiribati parliamentary election, 2019 December 2019

Notes and References

1. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom/ CIA Factbook: United Kingdom
2. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/christmas-island/ CIA Factbook: Christmas Island
3. https://www.regional.gov.au/territories/norfolk_island/administrator/index.aspx Administrator of Norfolk Island
4. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/406763/new-president-for-marshall-islands New president for Marshall Islands
5. https://www.postguam.com/news/local/panuelo-sworn-in-as-new-fsm-president/article_37f1d8b4-b1a2-11e9-bdd2-775df0e3a857.html Panuelo sworn in as new FSM president
6. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/palau/ CIA Factbook: Palau
7. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/ CIA Factbook: Solomon Islands
8. Web site: Tonga country profile . BBC News . Apr 24, 2020 . 23 January 2018.
9. Web site: Vanuatu country profile . BBC News . Apr 25, 2020 . 11 June 2018.
10. Web site: Cain . Tess Newton . Vanuatu elects new prime minister as country reels from devastating cyclone . The Guardian . Apr 25, 2020 . 20 April 2020.
11. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pitcairn-islands/ CIA Factbook: Pitcairn Islands
12. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/chile/ CIA Factbook: Chile
13. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/france/ CIA Factbook: France
14. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/french-polynesia/ CIA Factbook: French Polynesia
15. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/new-caledonia/ CIA Factbook: New Caledonia
16. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/ CIA Factbook: United States
17. https://www.nga.org/governors/guam/ National Governors Association: Guam
18. National Governors' Association: Northern Mariana Islands
19. https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/382258/votes-for-sale-in-solomon-islands-election Votes for sale in Solomon Islands election
20. Web site: Manasseh Sogavare elected prime minister of Solomon Islands. 2019-04-24. Radio New Zealand. en-nz. 2019-04-26.
21. News: Ensor . Jamie . Plot uncovered to assassinate Samoan Prime Minister - report . 9 September 2019 . Newshub.
22. News: Three men charged in connection with plot to assassinate Samoa PM . 9 September 2019 . RNZ . 16 August 2019.
23. Web site: Rodio New Zealand. Nauru election to be held August 24th. 16 July 2019. 16 July 2019.
24. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-25/naurus-president-loses-bid-for-re-election/11446064 Nauru President Baron Waqa loses bid for re-election
25. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/397576/aingimea-chosen-as-waqa-s-successor-in-nauru Aingimea chosen as Waqa's successor in Nauru
26. Web site: Tuvalu to go to the polls on 9 September. Radio New Zealand. 17 June 2019. 16 July 2019.
27. Web site: Evan Wasuka & Alan Weedon. Pacific climate change champion Enele Sopoaga is no longer Tuvalu's PM — so who's next in? . 19 September 2019. 19 September 2019.
28. Web site: Kausea Natano new PM of Tuvalu; Sopoaga ousted . 19 September 2019. 19 September 2019.
29. Web site: Colin Packham & Jonathan Barrett. Tuvalu changes PM, adds to concerns over backing for Taiwan in Pacific . 19 September 2019. 19 September 2019.
30. Web site: 2019-12-05. UN team aids Samoa response to deadly measles epidemic. 2021-04-21. UN News. en.
31. News: Bougainville referendum: region votes overwhelmingly for independence from Papua New Guinea. Lyons. Kate. 11 December 2019. The Guardian. 12 December 2019. en-GB. 0261-3077.
32. Web site: Jessie Yeung and Angus Watson. Bougainville votes for independence from Papua New Guinea. 2020-08-05. CNN.