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.
Ala 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]
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