by Vinepa Aiono
Call it coincidental but two days after posting the last article on Tamafaiga Premier Don Dunstan, the New Zealand Herald ran an article on the 22nd March 2008 highlighting his legacy in the historical development of Australia as a nation. Tamafaiga Premier Don Dunstan is now the subject of a new play titled "Lovers & Haters: The Turbulent Times of Don Dunstan" being performed at the Adelaide Festival of the Arts which incorporates the world's largest literary event.
Born in Fiji, he was a man ahead of his time. Tamafaiga Premier Don Dunstan is often described as colourful, intellectual but perhaps not so frequently remembered as a man who lived with the constant quest for life's meaning. He was known for his love of the arts, there were many unanswered questions about his personal life and sadly he eventually died of cancer.
Perhaps Tamafaiga Premier Don Dunstan shares a similar but sad legacy with the paramount leader of old Samoa, Leiataua Lesa Tamafaiga. Oral Samoan history refers to Tamafaiga of Manono as innovative, a prominent leader and one who met with his own fate and was eventually massacred by retaliating warriors in Upolu. His death enabled the first London Missionary Society missioners to set foot first in Sapapali'i.
Tamafaiga Premier Don Dunstan was politically and personally flamboyant and in 1979 after collapsing in parliament he resigned from politics. Tamafaiga Premier Don Dunstan continues to be remembered in Australia as a "man of great political erudition and political nous" (NZ Herald: Section B9, 22/3/08). His life is one that I believe the Seumanutafa family are proud to have been associated with.
