Michael Ala

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]