Counting blessings and talking travel
Thanks to the pandemic, New Zealanders scattered across the globe are celebrating Christmas in different ways. As we count down to the big day, Kiwis on each continent share what the festive season will look like for them. In part 5 of 7, Katarina Williams speaks to Mark Blumsky in Niue.
Former Wellington Mayor Mark Blumsky is among the almost1700 Niue residents counting his blessings. While many parts of the world are being bowled over by fresh Covid-19 incursions and outbreaks, the South Pacific paradise, about 261 square kilometres in size, has traversed the pandemic without recording a solitary case.
Like New Zealand, this has meant locking down its borders and clipping the wings of what Blumsky described as a ‘‘very mobile population’’, which was now preparing to celebrate Christmas without its New Zealand family.
Blumsky was due to go golfing with friends in the Bay of Islands when New Zealand began to shut down in March. It was the third country his group had been shunted from because of the virus, after Bali and Australia shut their borders.
He quickly booked a seat on the last regular passenger flight back to his home of 10 years, and months later, he’s still there – a particularly odd situation considering he would fly to New Zealand ‘‘every two or three months religiously’’.
Blumsky was Wellington’s mayor from 1995 to 2001, before becoming a National PartyMP between 2005 and 2008.
He then went on to become New Zealand High Commissioner to Niue from 2010 to 2014, marrying his Niuean wife Pauline Rex during his tenure. He also represented Niue in the bowls competition at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Now running a retail business, Kendras Kollection, Blumsky said the absence of tourism, which accounts for virtually all of the island’s income, had had amajor impact.
New Zealanders have recently been told quarantine-free travel bubbles with Australia and the Cook Islands are likely to be operating within the first quarter of 2021. There have been positive sounds about a Niue travel bubble too.
Last Thursday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Niue Premier Dalton Tagelagi announced the next steps towards quarantine-free travel between the two countries.
The leaders agreed officials would ‘‘progress discussions ... to enable improved access for essential travel and to support Niue’s economic recovery’’. However, no concrete timeline on when one and two-way travel could resume was provided.
Blumsky said while the progress was ‘‘very pleasing’’, many commentators on the island had expressed frustration about the time it was taking to get a plan off the ground.
‘‘Niue will always be super-cautious, looking to minimise all risk, so [I] don’t see things moving faster,’’ Blumsky said.
‘‘I will be watching the Cooks’ experience in the initial weeks with great interest and then decisions will be made.’’
Many Niueans have been able to access the wage subsidy, which has helped businesses stay afloat.
The same day the bubble update was given, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced New Zealand would buy enough Covid-19 vaccines to cover Pacific countries, including Niue.
‘‘Pacific countries have worked hard to keep Covid-19 out, or to stamp it out, and New Zealand has been committed to supporting them in this. But their success has been hard-won. A safe and effective vaccine will be key to the region’s economic and social recovery,’’ Mahuta said.
Usually, this time of the year would see planeloads of people travelling between Niue and New Zealand, with the self-governing nation enjoying ‘‘free association’’ with New Zealand and strong family ties here.
The 2018 census showed 30,867 people in New Zealand identified as Niuean.
When Stuff spoke to Blumsky, he was awaiting a shipment of Christmas trees and decorations to be delivered for sale in his store.
‘‘I bought about half my stock up in November, and half was coming up in December. I’ve sold out of that.
‘‘People here are pretty frugal, so there are some decorations from last year hanging around. Inmy shop, we’ve got a lovely little tree up and some people have got some wonderful solar light displays outside,’’ Blumsky said.