* Henry Naisali, politician, administrator. Died aged 75
The Honourable Henry Faati Naisali was one of Tuvalu's most influential figures in the island nation's transformation from a British colony.
He later became widely respected for his work as Secretary-General of the South Pacific Forum, based in Suva, which he restructured to make it an effective influence in the region.
Born into a noble islands family, educated in New Zealand and trained as an accountant, Naisali was instrumental in the negotiations in London when the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony became independent.
In 1974, the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands voted for separation from the ethnically different Micronesians of the Gilberts, becoming the separate British colony of Tuvalu and then, in 1978, a tiny independent state with a 26sq km land area and about 10,000 people on nine coral atolls.
Naisali was Financial Secretary of the new Tuvalu Administration from 1976. He negotiated with the Australian and New Zealand Governments for financial help to establish the Tuvalu Deep Sea Wharf, the Air Sea Service, and the Maritime Training School, which trains young men for jobs in merchant shipping.
He became MP for Nukulaelae, and Minister of Finance in 1982, and then Deputy Prime Minister.
One of his major feats was establishing the Tuvalu Trust Fund, an aid deal involving the British, Australian, New Zealand and South Korean Governments in 1987. The fund also benefits other Pacific states.
He was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia, a CMG and an MBE. In his retirement at Torbay, Auckland, he was an adviser both to politicians and to the local Tuvaluan community, and a staunch member of the local Presbyterian church.
He is survived by his wife, Vaimaila, four children and 10 grandchildren.
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