Taxpayers are covering the Prime Minister’s medical evacuation to New Zealand via private jet for treatment, Acting Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mulipola Anarosa Molioo said, adding that being medevaced is a privilege of being the Prime Minister.

Mulipola said the cabinet approved the decision and that the government paid to medevac the Prime Minister on Wednesday, following concerns about “overdue medical checks.” She said the Prime Minister has health issues involving “his heart and lungs.”

“It is the valve from his heart to his lungs,” she said. She said that the cabinet had approved the medivac. She also mentioned he hadn’t been medically checked since his last medical in September 2025 for his “leg after his surgery.”

“Previously, the Prime Minister travelled for medical reasons at his own expense, with support from his family. However, this time he required assistance from the government,” she said. She added that being medevaced was one of the privileges of being the prime minister.

“One of the privileges of being the leader of the country is that you are eligible for this (medivac).”

The Prime Minister went live on his official Facebook page on Wednesday morning, announcing his departure in the afternoon for his “overdue medical checks”, but stopped short of mentioning that he would be medivaced out of Samoa.

Mulipola also said she was at the airport to farewell the Prime Minister, as he was evacuated to New Zealand. The prime minister indicated the visit would last about a week, but did not clarify whether it would be considered official travel.

This latest trip follows a similar medical evacuation in September 2025, when he was flown to New Zealand on the same aircraft and spent seven weeks receiving treatment at Middlemore Hospital.

It is not yet known which hospital the Prime Minister has been admitted to in New Zealand.