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The Honourable SusugaLaʻauli Leuatea Polataivao
La'aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt in 2020
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Scientific Research
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 May 2021
Prime Minister	Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa
Preceded by	Lopao'o Natanielu Mua
In office 19 March 2016 – 22 August 2017
Prime Minister	Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi
Preceded by	Le Mamea Ropati
Succeeded by	Lopao'o Natanielu Mua
Deputy Leader of Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 March 2021
Leader	Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa
Preceded by	Olo Fiti Vaai
Other offices held Leader of Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi In office 30 July 2020 – 9 March 2021 Deputy Olo Fiti Vaai Preceded by Position Established Succeeded by Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa In office 18 March 2011 – 16 March 2016 Preceded by Tolofuaivalelei Falemoe Lei’ataua Succeeded by Toleafoa Faafisi
Member of the Samoan Parliament for Gagaʻifomauga No. 3
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 March 2006
Preceded by	Vagana Peleiʻupu Tamate
Personal details
Born	Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt
Political party	Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (since 2020)
Other political affiliations	Human Rights Protection Party (until 2020)

Susuga Laʻaulialemalietoa 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.

Early life and political career

Schmidt is the son of former Government Minister and founding member of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) Polataivao Fosi Schmidt. He was first elected to the Fono as a candidate for the HRPP in the March 2006 elections. From 2006 to 2011 he served as Deputy Speaker. He was re-elected at the 2011 election and served as Speaker from 2011 to 2016. He was again re-elected at the 2016 election and appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Scientific Research. He subsequently served as acting Prime Minister.

In August 2017, Schmidt resigned as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and remained Member of Parliament as he had a lengthy legal battle with HRPP MP Peseta Vaifou Tevaga. He was subsequently charged with more than a hundred counts of forgery and theft. He was acquitted of all charges in June 2020.

Departure from HRPP and by-election

In May 2020 he was sacked from the HRPP by Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi after voting against proposed constitutional amendments. He subsequently announced he had resigned from the HRPP and that he would be forming a new political party to contest the 2021 election.

On 30 June 2020, the Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee found that Schmidt had misled Parliament over the disputed price of a generator during a debate and recommended that he be suspended from Parliament for three months without pay. Schmidt apologised to the House and verbally resigned his seat. After some initial doubt, the verbal resignation was deemed to be effective, and a by-election was called.

On 30 July Schmidt registered the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) Party to contest in the 2021 Elections. He ran as a candidate for the party in the 2020 Gagaifomauga No. 3 byelection and was successfully re-elected.

Government

Schmidt was re-elected in the 2021 Samoan general election. On 24 May 2021 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in the elected cabinet of Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa. 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.

Notes

1. Disputed: 24 May 2021 – 23 July 2021
2. As Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries

References

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14. Lanuola Tusani Tupufia – Ah Tong (1 June 2020). "Former Speaker La'auli resigns from H.R.P.P." Samoa Observer. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
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16. "La'auli, how dare you steal Tuilaepa's thunder?". Samoa Observer. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
17. Lanuola Tusani Tupufia – Ah Tong (30 June 2020). "Parliament Committee recommends for La'auli to be suspended". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
18. Lanuola Tusani Tupufia – Ah Tong (30 June 2020). "La'auli resigns from Parliament". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
19. Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (30 July 2020). "F.A.S.T. political party officially registers". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
20. "Two candidates for Samoa by-election". RNZ. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
21. Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (18 August 2020). "La'auli declared by-election winner". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
22. "Former Speaker tops prelim results in Samoan by-election". RNZ. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
23. Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (28 August 2020). "La'auli opens new political chapter". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
24. Marieta H Ilalio (25 May 2021). "Fiame Sworn in as Prime Minister under Marquees on Parliament Grounds". Samoa Global News. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
25. Lanuola Tusani Tupufia - Ah Tong (23 July 2021). "F.A.S.T. declared new Government as appeal upheld". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
26. "First FAST Cabinet Down to Work – When the Impossible Happens". Talamua Online. 29 July 2021. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
27. "Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries". www.samoagovt.ws. 15 October 2021. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.

• Living people
• Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa
• Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa
• People from Gaga'ifomauga
• Human Rights Protection Party politicians
• Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi politicians
• Government ministers of Samoa