‘Is it to satisfy you or to satisfy us?’ Why New Zealand’s Pacific colony doesn’t want independence

Despite officials from New Zealand and the United Nations hoping that Tokelau would vote for independence, the islands have resisted

In 2006, two lacquered wooden chests and a crate of champagne were ferried 507km from Samoa to Tokelau, a collection of atolls scattered across the Pacific which are home to 1,500 people. Over three days the chests were carried between atolls to collect ballots in a referendum on whether Tokelau should move, finally, towards self-governance.

Since 1946, Tokelau - one of the most remote places in the world - has been classed by the United Nations as a non-self-governing dependent territory: a colony. First colonised by Britain in 1877, in 1925 Tokelau was essentially given to New Zealand, which has administered it since.