Prime minister gets Samoan chief title he didn’t ask for
Monday, 16 March 2026
APIA, SAMOA: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been bestowed the Samoan chiefly title of matai he didn’t ask for.
His three-day trip to Samoa, then Tonga, got off to an awkward start before it began, after Luxon’s counterpart in Samoa claimed he personally asked for the honour.
Speaking to a Samoan radio show on Saturday, Samoa Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt said the High Commissioner of New Zealand to Samoa told him Luxon had requested a matai title ahead of his visit.
This was reported by picked up by local media and quickly denied by the New Zealand Government.
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“As is normal in the preparation for a prime minister’s visit there were detailed discussions with the host government about arrangements,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
“The High Commissioner asked for advance notice of any important announcements or honours to ensure that the prime minister could be properly prepared.”
It set the scene for stressful start to the trip for Luxon with officials no doubt working in overdrive to ensure his first day on the ground was smooth sailing.
The Samoan Government issued a statement before Luxon’s programme began for the day that stated New Zealand Prime Minister did not ask for the honour.
“Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa would like to confirm that neither the New Zealand Prime Minister nor any of his representatives requested that a matai title be bestowed on Christopher Luxon during his visit to Samoa,.”
It said the title bestowal for visiting leaders was a traditional courtesy and “it was always the [Samoan] Government’s intention to extend this honour to Prime Minister Luxon.”
It also clarified the matai title did not carry special obligations about immigration settings.
“La’aulialemalietoa confirms that it was never intended that the bestowal of a matai title would place an obligation on P.M. Luxon with respect to New Zealand Government decisions, including on immigration policy.”
Hundreds of people gathered in Apia this morning to watch an ava ceremony and Luxon’s matai bestowal ceremony.
He was given the chiefly title, Tuisinavemaulumoto’otua.
“Thank you for this great honour, we are now connected forever,” Luxon told the crowd.
Luxon is the sixth New Zealand prime minister to receive a matai while in office, joining Sir Bill English (2017), Sir John Key (2009), Jim Bolger (1997), David Lange (late 80s) and Sir Robert Muldoon (1981).
His Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters also holds a matai title, bestowed in 2007.
Luxon’s trip comes about a month after a group of six Pacific nations (Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu) brought a petition to Parliament last month, asking visitors to New Zealand be treated the same as travellers from 60 other countries.
At the moment Pasifika people have to apply for a visitor visa, as opposed to being eligible for the cheaper, more straightforward electronic authority to enter the country.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters accepted the petition, presented by National’s first Pasifika MP Arthur Anae, but Luxon has expressed support for the idea.
In a pre-trip interview with The Post, he said coalition recently set up a year-long trial to lower visa fees for Pasifika people and both Samoa and Tonga presented a “high risk” for overstaying.
“If we don’t screen through some form of visas that problem would be much bigger,” Luxon said in a pre-trip interview.
The prime minister’s programme is focused on collaborative efforts to curb transnational crime, with no scheduled visit to the Manawanui wreck on the south side of Upolu Island.
The energy crisis and how pressured supply chains might affect the Pacific will be discussed in a bilateral meeting later today.