A second diplomatic confusion has erupted over Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s matai ceremony, days after the New Zealand and Samoan governments hosed down media reports that he had asked for the title.
Both governments now say that is incorrect.
Overnight, a new controversy broke out, again relating to unsubstantiated claims by Samoan Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Polataivao Leuatea Fosi Schmidt about the title.
La’aulialemalietoa said New Zealand officials called him at 3am to call off Luxon’s matai ceremony, hours before it was due to go ahead. Luxon has refused to go into the detail of this latest claim, saying he believes the issue has been dealt with.
The Herald understands there were behind-the-scenes discussions about whether to go ahead with the matai ceremony, given the embarrassment caused by the comments, later retracted, that Luxon had asked for the honour. The New Zealand side ultimately opted to proceed, saving further embarrassment.
Luxon is in a challenging position politically and diplomatically. He wants to protect his political reputation in New Zealand from some of the claims made about him in Samoa, but without offending his hosts and causing a diplomatic incident.
La’aulialemalietoa was speaking in Samoan at a state dinner in Apia last night, attended by Luxon and other Government ministers. His speech was translated by a Herald journalist. Luxon and a delegation of about 80 people are visiting Samoa and Tonga as part of a three-day Pacific trip.
The comments continue the days-long debacle surrounding Luxon’s new matai title that began after the Samoan leader told local media that New Zealand’s Prime Minister had requested he be given such an honour.
Since then, Luxon’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade have denied the claims, and the Samoan Government issued a statement confirming Luxon had not asked for a matai title.
Luxon has tried to move on from the issue and told media it was “finished” in his mind. At a media stand-up in Apia on Tuesday, Luxon repeatedly refused to confirm or deny the Samoan Prime Minister’s latest claims. He instead stressed how productive and positive the previous 24 hours had been.
At Monday night’s state dinner, La’aulialemalietoa told guests that about 3am on the day of the matai ceremony, he was told by New Zealand officials the bestowal would not go ahead.
He said he asked the officials “why?” and said he was told that Luxon felt it should not go ahead because of the negative responses he was receiving or seeing being shared on social media.
“I prayed to God at that time,” La’aulialemalietoa said in Samoan.
“Because we know that darkest of times happen just before dawn,” he continued, becoming visibly emotional.
La’aulialemalietoa said he was asked who was in the delegation visiting Samoa with Luxon and was given the name of All Blacks legend Sir Michael Jones, who holds the Samoan chief titles of Savae and La’auli.
“I called [Jones] and said, ‘La’auli, what has happened? Tell the Prime Minister of New Zealand not to worry about a thing. All of Samoa has prepared for his special event on this day’.”
The Herald understands Jones relayed some of Samoa’s positions to the New Zealand Government.
Switching to English, La’aulialemalietoa told Luxon not to worry about the “nuisance” he was getting on Facebook and to let the village of Apia address those who felt negatively about him getting a matai title.
He said New Zealand and Samoa were more than just friends, they were “family” and whatever was “good for New Zealand, was good for Samoa”.
The pair had a Cabinet meeting earlier on Monday where they addressed joint ways of cracking down on transnational drug trafficking, and how their respective Customs and police forces could share information to be more effective at targeting the criminals.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.