Big-city salary for little island job

By VERNON SMALL deputy political editor

Former Alliance deputy leader Sandra Lee will be paid almost $100,000 a year and a range of allowances in her new job as High Commissioner to the 1800 people of Niue.

Her salary is at the bottom of the scale paid to New Zealand's diplomats in the Pacific, according to papers released to the Herald under the Official Information Act.

They show that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade did not nominate an internal candidate for the Niue post.

Ms Lee, who has Niuean grandchildren, takes up the post in February for a three-year stint.

Her husband, Anaru Vercoe, will accompany her on the 260 sq km atoll.

When her appointment was announced in November she said she hoped her experience as a former councillor on Waiheke Island, with transport issues and tourism issues, would be of use.

"I'm used to living on islands, I cope with them much better than cities."

Niue has about 1800 inhabitants, although more than 20,000 Niueans live in New Zealand.

Its fragile economy relies substantially on aid, particularly $6.25 million in annual grants from New Zealand.

Niue was annexed by New Zealand in 1901, but became self-governing in 1974.

In October, ministry secretary Simon Murdoch wrote to Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff to say a senior ambassador who may have wanted the job did not want to take it up.

Ms Lee had expressed an interest in the post to Mr Goff.

The papers show Mr Goff gave the go-ahead for talks with Ms Lee, noting he had "checked it off" with Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Of the nine heads of mission in the Pacific, three, including Ms Lee, are paid between $90,000 and $100,000.

The top earner receives between $130,000 and $140,000.

The salaries were based on cost of living and other data provided by management consultancy ECA International, said the ministry's personnel director Bronwen Chang.

But they could not be released because ECA's data was commercial-in-confidence.

An individual's package, however, could include an expatriate's allowance, a location allowance, a representational supplement, a holidays provision, a domestic assistance provision, a car insurance provision, a health and fitness provision and a cost of living adjustment.

A lifestyle in the grand tradition

Sandra Lee's $100,000 job as New Zealand High Commissioner to Niue will give her one of the highest salaries and the best home on the small atoll.

The High Commissioner's residence, with its pool, impressive grounds and view over the ocean and the main village of Alofi, is rated the most desirable house on the island.

Niue-watchers say she will have the services of a gardener and a housekeeper/cook to help with the chores.

But with boredom the main challenge on the island of 1800 inhabitants she may prefer to do some of the work herself.

Her most sensitive job during the two to three-year posting is likely to be managing the emerging debate over links with New Zealand. Niue was annexed in 1901 but became an associated state with its own Government in 1974.

Her predecessor John Bryan was told: "You might ... find it useful to keep in touch with other diplomatic missions in Niue." That will not be easy for Ms Lee. New Zealand is the only country with a permanent diplomatic presence there.