Tiakana Numanga Explained

Office1:Deputy Premier
Term1:1974–1977
Office2:Minister of Fisheries and Police
Term2:1972–1974
Predecessor2:Apenera Short
Office3:Minister of Education
Term3:1968–1972
Successor3:Geoffrey Henry
Office4:Minister of Health
Term4:1967–1968
Successor4:Inatio Akaruru
Office5:Minister of Police and Social Development
Term5:–1967
Predecessor5:Julian Dashwood
Office6:Minister for Public Works and Survey
Term6:1965–
Predecessor6:Tangaroa Tangaroa
Successor6:Julian Dashwood
Office7:Member of the Legislative Assembly
Term7:1965–1977
Successor7:Iaveta Short
Constituency7:Takitumu
Party:Cook Islands Party
Birth Date:3 August 1909
Birth Place:Titikaveka, Cook Islands
Death Date:1977

Tiakana Numanga (3 August 1909 – 1977) was a Cook Islands politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly between 1965 and his death and held several ministerial portfolios, including being Deputy Premier.

Biography

Numanga was born in Titikaveka in 1909.[1] He began work as a schoolteacher in 1927, later becoming a planter and running a bakery and store.[1] [2] In 1931 he married Meoroa, with whom he had two daughters and a son.[1]

Numanga contested the 1965 elections as a Cook Islands Party candidate in the Takitumu constituency, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly. Following the elections, he was appointed to the Executive Council and became Minister for Public Works and Survey and Associate Minister of Labour.[3] He swapped portfolios with Julian Dashwood, becoming Minister of Police and Social Development for a short period,[2] before a cabinet reshuffle in January 1967 saw him appointed Minister for Health.[4]

He was re-elected in 1968 and became Minister of Education. Following the 1972 elections he was appointed Minister of Fisheries and Police.[5] After being re-elected again in 1974, he was dropped from the cabinet. However, after threatening to join the opposition, he was appointed Deputy Premier.[6]

In 1977, Numanga was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal.[7] He died in 1977.

Notes and References

  1. Pacific Islands Year Book and Who's who, issue 10, p635
  2. David J. Stone (1971) Self rule in the Cook Islands: The government and politics of a new micro-state
  3. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-325849146/view?partId=nla.obj-325897229#page/n28/mode/1up Era of Self-Government Begins In The Cook Islands
  4. External Affairs Review, Volume 17, p51
  5. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-332219489/view?sectionId=nla.obj-337564536&partId=nla.obj-332274565#page/n136/mode/1up In a Nutshell
  6. Thomas R. A. H. Davis & R. G. Crocombe (1979) Cook Islands Politics: The Inside Story, p35
  7. Book: Taylor . Alister . Coddington . Deborah . Alister Taylor . Deborah Coddington . Recipients of the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal 1977: nominal roll of New Zealand recipients including Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau . Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand . 1994 . New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa . Auckland . 0-908578-34-2 . 431.