Career
Hailing from Uripiv island near Malekula, he became lands minister in the last pre-independence government of the New Hebrides in November 1979. In February 1983 he succeeded Timakata as deputy prime minister. In January 1988 he became minister of education, youth and sports, and in December 1991 he again became deputy prime minister.
Later he served as chairman of the electoral commission.
In 1994 he led a group which broke away from Lini"s National United Party and formed the People"s Democratic Party. In October 2004 he was seconded for a three-year appointment to Saint Andrew"s, Suva, Fiji.
They have five sons, including Ralph Regenvanu, formerly the long-time director of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre and currently Minister for Lands in the government of Moana Carcasses. He has written an autobiography, Laef Blong Mi (2004).
