| Office | President of the Assembly of French Polynesia |
|---|---|
| Term start | 6 November 1962 |
| Term end | 17 May 1968 |
| Predecessor | Frantz Vanizette |
| Successor | Jean Millaud |
| Term start 2 | 20 May 1959 |
| Term end 2 | 2 March 1961 |
| Predecessor 2 | Georges Leboucher |
| Successor 2 | Frantz Vanizette |
| Office 7 | Minister of Economic Affairs |
| President 7 | Pouvanaa a Oopa |
| Term start 7 | 11 December 1957 |
| Term end 7 | 28 October 1958 |
| Constituency am 10 | Windward Islands |
| Assembly 10 | French Polynesian |
| Term start 10 | 3 November 1957 |
| Term end 10 | 16 May 1968 |
| Birth date | 4 February 1920[1] |
| Birth place | Papeete, French Polynesia[1] |
| Death date | 12 February 1980[1] |
| Death place | Nouméa, New Caledonia[1] |
| Party | Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People Here Ai'a |
Jacques Tauraa (4 February 1920 – 12 February 1980) was a French Polynesian politician and Cabinet Minister who was the longest-serving president of the Assembly of French Polynesia. He was a member of the Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People (RDPT).
Tauraa was born in Papeete and was a farmer.[1] He was president of the Chamber of Agriculture until 1957, when his membership of the pro-independence Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People caused him to lose the position.[1]
He was elected to the Assembly of French Polynesia in the 1957 French Polynesian legislative election and appointed Minister of Economic Affairs in the government of Pouvanaa a Oopa.[1][2] He was a proponent of "yes" (remain part of France, rather than become independent) in the 1958 French Polynesian constitutional referendum.[1] He lost his position as a Minister when the French colonial government dissolved Oopa's government following the referendum, but was subsequently elected by the Assembly to the resulting interim government.[3] In May 1959 he was elected president of the Assembly.[1]
Following Oopa's prosecution, conviction and exile for arson he became the leader of the RDPT.[4] He was re-elected in the 1962 election and elected president of the Assembly, a position he held for the next six years.[1] As president of the Assembly, Tauraa opposed the use of French Polynesia as a nuclear test site.[5][6] He also supported an income tax to provide financial independence from France.[7]
Following the dissolution of the RDPT by the colonial authorities, Tauraa joined Teariki's Here Ai'a.[1] A dispute with Teariki over who the party should back in the 1965 French presidential election saw Tauraa and many of the RDPT's MP's expelled from the party in 1966.[1] In 1967 he founded a new party, the Regrouping of the Tahitian People, to contest the 1967 election, but failed to secure re-election.[8]
Personal life
Tauraa's brother-in-law was Jacques Drollet.[9]
References
- ^ "Jacques TAURAA" (in French). Assemblée de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ "Leftist Party Takes Over in French Polynesia". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXVIII, no. 9. 1 April 1958. p. 21. Retrieved 17 June 2023. – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "1957-1959 : La première autonomie interne: Composition des conseils de gouvernement" (in French). Assemblée de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ "The Complicated Politics of Polynesia". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXXIII, no. 6. 1 January 1963. p. 9. Retrieved 17 June 2023. – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Le premier ministre s'efforce d'apaiser les inquiétudes suscitées par l'installation du centre d'essais nucléaires du Pacifique" (in French). Le Monde. 27 July 1964. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ "TAHITIANS UNHAPPY AT BOMB TESTS". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 35, no. 9. 1 September 1964. p. 57. Retrieved 17 June 2023. – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "TAHITIANS STAND FIRM AGAINST INCOME TAX PLAN". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 36, no. 2. 1 February 1965. pp. 29–30. Retrieved 17 June 2023. – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "STRONG VOTE FOR AUTONOMY IN FRENCH POLYNESIA". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 38, no. 10. 1 October 1967. p. 25. Retrieved 17 June 2023. – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ The French Pacific Islands: French Polynesia and New Caledonia, by Virginia Thompson and Richard Adloff; published 1971 by University of California Press; ISBN 0-520-01843-5; p. 62