Niue rejects the "Pacific solution"

Back in December, Niue's premier Toke Talagi offered to become part of Australia's "Pacific solution" and become a dumping ground for Australia's refugees. But the offer was not popular, and yesterday Niue's parliament rejected the idea:

But in a pre-emptive strike by opposition MPs, a motion that Mr Talagi's proposal "not be considered" was overwhelmingly passed 10-3 on Wednesday, with a number of MPs and cabinet ministers abstaining in the 20-member parliament.

Niue Star editor Michael Jackson said MPs opposed to housing refugees told him they cast their vote "according to the will of the people in the village meetings".

I guess they didn't want to end up like Nauru, whose hosting of an Australian concentration camp is rapidly corrupting its entire political system.