Cabinet reshuffle. He was later appointed Deputy Prime Minister. As Finance Minister he was responsible for managing the recovery from Cyclone Heta and was the subject of public criticism over the distribution of aid and allocation of new houses. As a result, he narrowly missed out on a common roll seat at the 2005 election, falling two votes behind Maihetoe Hekau in provisional results. The final result showed an exact tie, and Talagi was declared elected after his name was drawn from a hat. He was subsequently dropped from Cabinet. Premier Talagi was re-elected at the 2008 election, topping the common roll in what was seen as a vote for change. He was elected Premier on 19 June 2008, defeating Young Vivian by fourteen votes to five, with one abstaining. As Premier, he introduced a new consumption tax to balance the budget, established diplomatic relations with China, and attempted to negotiate with New Zealand for greater control of aid funding. When those negotiations were unsuccessful, he used the threat of seeking Chinese assistance to leverage a better deal. A major driver of his policies was to develop Niue and gain greater economic independence from New Zealand. In August 2008 Talagi became chair of the Pacific Islands Forum. At the 2008 Forum meeting in Niue he used the position to focus on climate change and the need for new elections in Fiji following the 2006 Fijian coup d'état. The latter led to a diplomatic dispute with Fiji, calls for the Forum to split, and in May 2009, the suspension of Fiji from the Forum. At the next forum meeting in 2009 Talagi suggested that Fijians should take responsibility for their destiny and rise up against the military regime. In May 2009, Talagi co-chaired the 5th Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting (PALM) with then Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in Hokkaido. Talagi was re-elected at the 2011 election and re-elected as Premier. In his second term Talagi reformed the tax system and began free-trade negotiations with China. He continued to push for stronger international action on climate change and announced an ambition for Niue to become 100% solar powered. In November 2011 Niue became a founding member of the Polynesian Leaders Group, a regional grouping intended to cooperate on a variety of issues including culture and language, education, responses to climate change, and trade and investment. In 2013 he won a significant shift