More Top Stories
Cook Islands passport proposal
6 January 2025
Top cop position advertised
7 December 2024
Police need numbers and bigger budget
9 December 2024
Niki Rattle: A call for stronger human rights protections
10 December 2024
Solid and Hazardous Waste Bill referred to Parliament committee
10 December 2024
DPM defends CIIC finance and travel policies
6 December 2024
Cook Islands has its first mosque
14 November 2024
CI Muslim opens up about her faith and journey
16 November 2024
RAC to address mosque legality
19 November 2024
I don’t expect much change: PM Brown on US Elections
6 November 2024
Fifth weekly Sydney flight to Rarotonga announced
23 October 2024
CIIC directors seek $350,000 in damages over defamatory claims
21 October 2024
Man found guilty of rape, burglary
24 September 2024
Tenants face water bill burden
8 October 2024
Concerns over Minister’s role in inmate work releases: PAC
5 October 2024
Tourism contribution set to surpass half-billion dollar mark
25 September 2024
Parliament Clerk sparks outrage over deep sea mining statement
23 September 2024
Deep sea dilemma: Cook Islanders weigh the cost of mineral riches
21 September 2024
Anxiety on the rise: Cook Islands faces mental health challenge
7 September 2024
Cook Islands deep sea mining poll sparks controversy
7 September 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Rising seas, rising costs: Climate impacts on Cook Islands economy
2 September 2024
Inflation eases but concerns remain
31 August 2024
Prime Minister defends $659,000 MPs travel bill
23 August 2024
Taxpayers foot $659,000 bill for MPs travel and allowance
22 August 2024
Corruption report exposes ‘bribe and sexual favours’
17 January 2023
PM Brown eager to hand over Forum chair role to Tonga
13 August 2024
Challenging ‘rape culture’
8 July 2024
Articles by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne
Thomas Wynne: We value education deeply’
Saturday 18 January 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Education has always been deeply valued by Cook Islands people. Our historical practices, cultural traditions, and contemporary efforts reflect an unwavering commitment to learning, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Stay home and get to work, MPs
Saturday 11 January 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Every day spent out of the country is a day not working. Members of Parliament are elected to be in Parliament, not in the Koru Club or frequent flyer club, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Re-examining Cook Islands’ path forward
Saturday 4 January 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Unlike in 1965, when Free Association was a decision made by the few, our path forward must be a decision made by the people – or not at all, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Leave the ancient mountain where it is
Saturday 28 December 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
For this current government to potentially threaten our ability to hold a New Zealand passport is a concern not just to those at home but to all of us who hold this passport and have akapapa or genealogical ties back to our beautiful Ipukarea, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Recognising the signs of spiritual manipulation
Saturday 21 December 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Should any religion be free to travel like a vine as it pleases? Or should we learn to discern between something that bears good fruit and something that chokes, kills, and destroys? Thomas Tarurongo Wynne writes.
Thomas Wynne: A history of faith in the Cook Islands
Saturday 14 December 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
The journey of faith and religion in the Cook Islands – from Tangaroa to Rongo, from Christianity to Pentecostalism – has always been marked by resistance, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Righteousness exalts a nation
Saturday 7 December 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
This is part three on the writing and founding of our Cook Islands Constitution. By Thomas Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Roots of justice
Saturday 30 November 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
This is part two of three articles on the writing and founding of our Cook Islands Constitution. By Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Who wrote our founding document?
Saturday 23 November 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
This is part one of three articles on the writing and founding of our Cook Islands Constitution. By Thomas Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Gratefulness should not mean silence on the past
Saturday 16 November 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Our Ariki ceded our sovereignty in 1900 to a curious Great Britain and a sub-empire-building New Zealand colony for many reasons, and some suggest we should simply be grateful for this. Thomas Wynne writes.
Thomas Wynne: Is it his story or your story?
Saturday 9 November 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
In a world increasingly thrown into conflict, be it military, social, or cultural, how have we stopped listening to each other and instead become obsessed with being either right or wrong, for or against, standing with or standing against, condemning or supporting a cause? writes Thomas Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: What is the 16th Island of the Cooks?
Saturday 2 November 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
People often refer to Tokoroa as the 16th Island of the country currently called the Cook Islands, though many may not know, that historically, Niue held this distinction. Thomas Wynne writes.
Thomas Wynne: Do we have a healthy democracy?
Saturday 26 October 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
If we were to give our democracy a scorecard out of ten, what would that number be, and what questions would we ask our government to help us determine that score? A healthy democracy is often characterised by robust institutions, active citizen participation, respect for human rights, and accountability. Thomas Wynne writes.
Thomas Wynne: The debate over Cook Islands passport
Saturday 19 October 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Our identity as Māori is attached to our akapapa and our akapapa is attached to land. Land, that has over time become more fragmented, smaller and occupied by often vacant land owners, but this is not about land tenure and absentee landowners, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Time for a moratorium on travel?
Saturday 12 October 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
At the stroke of a pen, 50 nautical miles outside of every island that makes up the country we now call the Cook Islands was protected. This also allowed for pockets of commercial activity, managed in balance with the environment and aimed at creating revenue for our country and its people.
Thomas Wynne: Addressing concerns and protecting our interests
Saturday 5 October 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
To address potential concerns and further strengthen the protection of the Cook Islands’ interests, I have emailed the Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA) the following additions or amendments to the draft seabed mining regulations.
Thomas Tarurongo Wynne: The deeper debate on deep-sea mining
Saturday 28 September 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Some say there is not enough evidence or data so stop, and some say well, it is from God so we must proceed, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Be a good ancestor
Saturday 21 September 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
We are more than just warriors, we are data collectors too. We all have that person in our family who is the data collector – generally a genealogy data collector, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Tarurongo Wynne: Honouring the unsung heroes of home
Saturday 14 September 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
For the many at home who keep the fires burning, who keep the economy going, and who maintain the family homes and land – clean, trimmed, and functioning – I just want to say meitaki maata, meitaki ranuinui, atupaka, korereka, ngao, and atawai wolo, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Two faces of power
Saturday 7 September 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
I was fortunate to sit on two paepae this week – one for the funeral of the Māori King, Tūheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, whose daughter, Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō, was crowned with a Bible soon afterward, and another for those who were abused by another crown, where the Bible was sometimes used not to bless but to curse, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.