Dear Editor, Good on Minister Mokoroa for coming out straight and saying he wasn’t consulted on the Crypto Bill (‘I was not consulted’: Minister blindsided by crypto bill drafted by private firm, April 16, 2024).

However, how could he then proceed to table such a Bill in Parliament that he knew little or nothing about? Isn’t he also the Minister for the Financial Services whom it is understood had raised concerns about the Bill before it was introduced to Parliament? The question he should have asked was whether the Bill had been vetted by Crown Law and if the answer was no that should have been the end of the matter for him.

But no, he proceeded to take it to Parliament so it’s hardly all about Tim Arnold, isn’t it?

Speaking of whom, Tim Arnold is the mouth piece for Drumcliffe so we probably shouldn’t be interested in hearing from a foreign actor who appears to have seized the opportunity to use its sea bed mining connection to the Cook Islands to exert influence on our politicians and legislative process.

We need to hear the truth from our own government and hold them accountable as to why Crown Law was being sidestepped from the legislative process. What was it about the fight against international cybercrime that warranted a complete disregard of our government’s own legal advisor? Or is cybercrime just a front for a much bigger and dangerous agenda?

Let’s hope our sovereignty hasn’t been sold to a foreign party. To the Select Committee chair Tukaka Arna and your committee members, the country looks to you for integrity and to do the right thing.

A concerned Cook Islander

(Name and address supplied)