The President of the Atafu Tokelau Community Group, Lehi Tenise Atoni, raises the Tokelau flag outside the group's community centre in Porirua. Photo / RNZ Pacific, Johnny Blades
By Johnny Blades of RNZ
On the map, Cannons Creek is a very long way from Tokelau’s northernmost atoll, but moves are afoot to bring the Porirua suburb much closer to Atafu.
The community of Atafu has embarked on a project to build connections between the atoll and its diaspora. By necessity that means linking to Porirua and its wider Wellington region which has the largest Tokelau population demographic anywhere in the world.
As a realm territory dependent on New Zealand, Tokelau seeks support in infrastructure, human capacity, and other services. To access that support Tokelau’s three remote atolls need new ways to connect with the engines of government in Wellington. That’s why the people of Atafu are developing a ‘digital and service corridor’ linking Atafu and Wellington in order to improve connectivity and services.
“What it looks like is a services hub project. Administration, grant writing and other back office tasks done in Wellington to support Atafu,” the Faipule of Atafu, Kelihiano Kalolo, tells RNZ Pacific over video link from his Matālele residence on the atoll.
The intention is for the corridor to be a space for regular online meetings, training sessions, mentoring, media and content production. Areas where New Zealand-based skills could be utilised to deliver benefits on Atafu range from online banking and e-commerce to linking up with Atafu’s scholarship students to provide them online pastoral care, the Faipule explains.
“It matters a lot because it brings the diaspora to partner to co-deliver services and solutions, give Atafu a way to tap into skills and technology that are hard to sustain or not available on a small atoll.”
He says the corridor can also open up “a potential accountability channel between home and diaspora, and this is also a way for us to be transparent to what we’re doing at home, for people to see”.
New Zealand’s 2023 census showed there are almost 10,000 Tokelauans in the country, almost half of whom live in the Wellington region, and over half of them live in Porirua.
For many of those local Tokelauans from Atafu, their community’s focal point is the Matauala centre in Cannons Creek, perched on a hill that overlooks the Porirua basin.
It’s the third to last day of the year when RNZ Pacific rolls up to the centre to meet the President of the Atafu Tokelau Community Group, Lehi Tenise Atoni. He says membership has been steadily building up over several decades since the community opened the hall bearing the Matauala name.
“Even though we are predominantly for the community from Atafu, we’re very inclusive of the other motus as well. So, pretty much a Tokelau organisation,” he says, adding that their community launched a strategic plan in 2016.
“We invited the people from home, and we looked at the ways of how we partner with the atoll in terms of some of our initiatives here, particularly around culture and education. We have people on the ground here that are teachers and nurses and builders, so how do we support our economy and infrastructure back in the islands?”
Finding ways to support people back home through the digital corridor make sense, Atoni says, because one of the biggest challenges for people living on Atafu is navigating complex processes of accessing support from afar.
“Like for example with the referral scheme, people coming over to seek medical support here. What is it that we can do from here? Because we can see where the issues are from our end. They can see it as well, but it’s how to navigate around some of the issues, some of the barriers on our end.
“And it’s working with the ministry (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) to see how can we build capability within our communities here to support our communities back home.”
Climate resilience is another area where Atafu’s community hopes to “build capability for our community here, and in a case of a some environmental disaster or the sea level, in terms of migration from the home island here to New Zealand”.
Atafu’s roadmap to self-reliance makes clear the aim to deepen partnership with the Kaiga Matauala in Porirua.
“We use the term Matauala because Matauala is a name given when Tokelauans are preparing their hooks in order to catch the fish for them to live, they always improve on the shapes and sizes of the hooks, for more productivity,” Faipule Kelihiano says.
“So I think that idea is also behind that, we are seeking improvement to the productivity by keep changing the shapes and the size of the hooks.”
However the corridor is a fledgling project and there have been fish hooks, including the breakdown of the sea cable connecting the atoll to Tokelau’s central atoll Nukunonu and the regional Southern Cross network. This critical link carrying internet, phone and data services for Atafu, broke a couple of years ago.
The Faipule says the failure of the cable followed repeated delays to preventative maintenance by Tokelau’s government, and the people of Atafu suffer the consequences.
“Social and economic pain, like the schools, health, government services, private business, family connections have fallen on hard times on Atafu,” he notes.
Tokelau is now working with New Zealand to secure cable replacement materials and a cable ship to carry out repairs. Meanwhile, Atafu’s been left relying on satellite for backup internet.
“It restores basic services, but it’s costly and fragile. Every extra month of satellite is money not going to education, health and village development.”
Back in Cannons Creek, before we wrap up, Lehi Tenise Atoni raises the Tokelau flag high above the Matauala hall. It flutters proudly in the face of a gale. From the hilltop the Tasman Sea can be seen to the northwest. To the northeast, Atafu is far from sight, some 3700km away, but somehow close and front of mind.