Michael Ala MBE (30 March 1923 – 4 January 1985) was a Vanuatuan medical practitioner, clergyman and politician. He served as a member of the Advisory Council from 1964 to 1975.
Michael Ala | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Advisory Council | |
| In office 1969–1975 | |
| Constituency | Aoba, Banks and Torres Islands |
| In office 1964–1969 | |
| Constituency | Northern |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 March 1923 Ambae, New Hebrides |
| Died | 4 January 1985 (aged 61) Ambae, Vanuatu |
Biography
editAla was born in Saranambuga in Ambae in 1923.[1] He was educated at the Melanesian Mission School at Pawa in the Solomon Islands and Queen Victoria School in Fiji.[1] He qualified as a medical practitioner at the Central Medical School in Suva and returned to the New Hebrides to work in Port Vila as part of the British National Medical Service.[2][1] He married May Banivagahao in 1950; the couple had six children.[1] After working at the Paton Memorial Hospital as an assistant medical practitioner, in 1954 he was posted to Ambae to set up a local clinic.[3] He later became an Anglican priest.[4]
In 1962 he became the first chairman of Ambae local council,[1] a position he held for 13 years.[5] In 1964 he was elected to the Advisory Council by Northern District Council.[6] He was re-elected in direct elections in 1969, representing the constituency of Ambae, Banks and Torres Islands.[7] He was awarded an MBE in the 1971 Birthday Honours.[8] He contested the Ambae–Maevo constituency in the 1975 elections as an independent, but failed to be elected.[9] He later joined the Vanua'aku Pati.[4]
In 1979 he served as a member of the commission of enquiry into violence on Tanna.[10] He died on Ambae in January 1985 at the age of 62.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Pacific Islands Year Book and Who's who, Issue 9, p3
- ^ Gideon A. P. Zoleveke (1980) Zoleveke: A Man from Choiseul : an Autobiography, p32
- ^ Assistant Medical Practitioner Michael Ala Pacific Islands Monthly, June 1954, p65
- ^ a b Graham Hassall (1992) Church and state in Vanuatu 1945–1980: A 'Pacific' contest for power South-Pacific Journal of Mission Studies, volume 2, number 2
- ^ a b Michael Ala Pacific Islands Monthly, March 1985, p65
- ^ First Elections For New Hebrides Advisory Council Pacific Islands Monthly, August 1964, p117
- ^ Wider net for New Hebrides Advisory Council Pacific Islands Monthly, October 1969, pp30–31
- ^ People Pacific Islands Monthly, July 1971, p73
- ^ Kalkot Matas Kele-Kele (1977) New Hebrides, the Road to Independence8, p78
- ^ Tense times on Tanna Pacific Islands Monthly, June 1979, p21