Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster | |
---|---|
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment | |
Assumed office 20 October 2021 | |
Prime Minister | FiamēNaomi Mataʻafa |
Preceded by | FiamēNaomi Mata‘afa |
In office 24 May 2021 –3 June 2021 | |
Prime Minister | FiamēNaomi Mataʻafa |
Preceded by | Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi |
Succeeded by | FiamēNaomi Mata‘afa |
Minister of Tourism | |
In office 20 October 2021 –1 October 2023 | |
Prime Minister | FiamēNaomi Mataʻafa |
Preceded by | FiamēNaomi Mataʻafa |
Succeeded by | FiamēNaomi Mataʻafa |
Member of the Samoan Parliament | |
Assumed office 9 April 2021 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Constituency | Aʻana Alofi No. 4 |
In office 4 March 2011 –4 March 2016 | |
Preceded by | Vaeolenofoafia Tapasu |
Succeeded by | Afamasaga Rico Tupai |
Constituency | Aʻana Alofi No. 3 |
Personal details | |
Political party | FAST (since 2021) |
Other political affiliations | Tautua Samoa Party (until 2021) |
Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster is a Samoan environmentalist,politician and Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the FAST Party. [1]
Schuster is from the village of Satapuala. [2] He was educated at the University of Victoria and at Brandeis University in the United States. [2] He has previously worked for the World Wide Fund for Nature, [3] the Samoan government's Division of Environment and Conservation,Seacology,and as an environmental consultant. [2] Schuster is the cousin of Lefau Harry Schuster [4] and the father of swimmer Brandon Schuster. [5]
Schuster was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa at the 2011 Samoan general election,as a candidate for the Tautua Samoa Party. [4] In August 2012 he took part in a roadblock in his village of Satapuala which sought to block access to land the village was claiming. [6] [7] He was subsequently charged with unlawful assembly and obstruction. [8] in August 2013 he was convicted of unlawful assembly,resisting police,obstruction and using foul language and fined US$635. [9] He subsequently apologised to Parliament for the incident. [10]
In April 2014,Schuster became the first Samoan MP to join International Parliamentarians for West Papua. [3]
He lost his seat at the 2016 election. [1]
In October 2020 Schuster announced he would stand as a candidate for the F.A.S.T. Party in the April 2021 election. [1] He was elected. [5] On 24 May 2021 he was appointed Minister of Natural Resources and Environment in the elected cabinet of FiamēNaomi Mataʻafa. [11] The appointment was disputed by the caretaker government. On 23 July 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled that the swearing-in ceremony was constitutional and binding,and that FAST had been the government since 24 May. [12]
On 1 June 2021,while returning from FAST's first-anniversary celebration,Schuster was arrested for drunk-driving. [13] On 3 June he resigned his portfolio,which was later reassigned to prime minister FiamēNaomi Mata‘afa. [14] [15] On 20 July he pleaded guilty to three traffic offences and applied for a discharge without conviction. [16] On 15 October 2021 he was fined $2,000 and discharged without conviction. [17] He returned to Cabinet on 20 October 2021 as Minister for Natural Resources and Environment and Tourism. [18] [19]
In a cabinet reshuffle on 6 September 2023 he surrendered the tourism portfolio to Prime Minister FiamēNaomi Mataʻafa,but gained responsibility for the Samoa Trust Estates Corporation and the Samoa Land Corporation. [20]
In December 2023 he was in Dubai as chair of the Alliance of Small Island States for COP28. He was arguing for stringer recognition saying that they "would not sign their own death certificate". [21] In the event the COP28 agreement was made when the Alliance of Small Island States's chief negotiator,Samoan Anna Rasmussen,was not in the room. [22]
SusugaTuilaʻepa Lupesoliai Neioti Aiono Saʻilele Malielegaoi is a Samoan politician and economist who served as the sixth prime minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021. Tuilaʻepa is Samoa's longest serving prime minister and was leader of the opposition from 2021 to 2022. Since 1998,he has led the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP). Tuilaʻepa first entered parliament in 1981 when he won a by-election to represent the electorate of Lepā. He also served as deputy prime minister and minister of finance in the government of Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana,and also held the portfolios of Tourism and Trade,Commerce &Industry.
AfiogaFiamēNaomi Mataʻafa is a Samoan politician and High Chiefess (matai) who has served as the seventh Prime Minister of Samoa and leader of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party since 2021.
SusugaLaʻaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt is a Samoan politician,businessman,Cabinet Minister,and former speaker and deputy speaker of the Samoan Parliament. He is the Member of Parliament for the Gagaʻifomauga No. 3 constituency and is the founder and chairman of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party.
Lefau Harry Schuster is a Samoan politician and Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the FAST Party and was a founding member of the Tautua Samoa Party. He is the cousin of fellow FAST MP Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster.
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