Kōrero: Pacific Islands and New Zealand

Fiji’s new flag is raised during independence celebrations on 10 October 1970. Unlike many other Pacific peoples who were eager to cut colonial ties, many in Fiji were reluctant. By the mid-1950s the Indo-Fijian population was larger than that of indigenous Fijians. Facing the possibility that Indo-Fijians might come to dominate the government, ethnic Fijian leaders demanded that the majority of parliamentarians and the prime minister should always be indigenous Fijians. Although this did not eventuate, an electoral system was put in place that ensured that indigenous Fijian representatives, if allied with Europeans and part-Europeans, would outnumber Indo-Fijian representatives.