Transcript
MALAKAI KOLOAMATANGI: There is the issue of needed quick and easy access in and out of Tokelau particularly for medical reasons. There might be other other reasons as well, but for an island int he 21st century to be virtually isolated because of, no fault of its own, because of its geography, that should not be a problem. I mean there should be ways around getting quick service in and around Tokelau, and that of course means an air service and not by ferry. And I think there is a responsibility for New Zealand as the power that's administering Tokelau, so it has to be, it's not a political matter at all, it's a practical one and one that New Zealand and Tokelau need to sit down properly and talk this over, and hopefully at some stage in the near future will be able to resolve getting some air service to service Tokelau.
DON WISEMAN: I imagine New Zealand is going to say it will be too expensive and they'd be thinking airstrips on each atoll and this sort of thing, but they nearly had this interim air service with helicopters,a nd it does seem like, initially, a good idea.
MK: Yeah I think if it's viable and it does seem like having a helicopter service will by-pass any need for an airstrip and associated infrastructure, then it sounds like a good idea. I'm not sure about seaplanes - I'm not an aircraft expert - but surely there are ways around this and all it needs is will and the funds to do that. Given disasters that can come from not having this quick service for Tokelau, I think the costs involved are outweighed by the benefits. And it is better to prevent these things, rather than picking the pieces later on, and having regrets about not having an air service for Tokelauans.
DW: Has there been any thought about this within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before, do you know?
MK: Well I don't know. I hope that these various options have been looked at by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials. Look,, transportation is a problem for the Pacific generally anyway, because of the distance from markets and so on and so forth. And Tokelau is just in a real bad situation because of its isolation. And so I would think that any government, whether it's New Zealand or Australia or others, would have had to think about the transportation issues for Pacific Islands and of course, Tokelau is a special responsibility for New Zealand and so I am hoping that Foreign Affairs here have looked at this properly.
