Niue premier Young Vivian has moved to assure people that the country is not returning to pre-self government days.
Niue is preparing to meet Prime Minister Helen Clark and her 60 strong delegation later tonight.
The two leaders will sign a Memorandum of Arrangement, during the next two days.
The MOA affirms onoging support from New Zealand, but Mr Vivian says while he recognises this as part of Niue's economic development, decisions about the country's future lie squarely on the shoulders of the island's people.
"We have the political structure to be able to tell people this is our country. I think New Zealand also must be cautious of that and I think they are aware of it it. They want us to grow up and they don't want to go back to the good old colonial days. They want to have a clean slate."
