More Top Stories
$12.9m approved for solar battery project, NZ confirms
12 March 2025
Crown Law Office on track for record number of lawyers
12 March 2025
‘Nothing to worry about’: Prime Minister Brown on China agreement
16 February 2025
‘Serious questions’: Opposition challenges China partnership
15 February 2025
No-confidence motion against PM and his Cabinet faces delays
15 February 2025
Ruta Mave: People’s Republic of China red flag
10 February 2025
No debt in China deal
8 February 2025
Thomas Wynne: Haka with the taniwha or dance with the dragon?
8 February 2025
‘Paedophile’ gets 13 years in prison
22 January 2025
Thomas Wynne: Where were our leaders while children suffered?
25 January 2025
$541.7m tourism earnings
25 January 2025
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
Anxiety on the rise: Cook Islands faces mental health challenge
7 September 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Articles by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne
Thomas Wynne: Milk and honey lost?
Saturday 22 March 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
The land of milk and honey? Or did we leave the milk and honey behind, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Defining Christian nation
Saturday 15 March 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
If we are to make the Cook Islands a Christian nation, we must first ask: what version of Christianity are we talking about? Thomas Tarurongo Wynne writes.
Thomas Wynne: Protecting the future
Saturday 8 March 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
As we celebrate 60 years of self governance, with the theme “Kua kite au i toku turanga, e avaiki toku – I know who I am, I have a homeland” – we also reflect on significant moments for us as a country, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Readying the sails for home
Friday 28 February 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Four years ago, in December 2019, like so many of our people, I made the difficult decision to leave behind all I knew and had built – my wife, my parents, my family – to seek new skills and new learnings beyond the reef in another government and Parliament, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: What does China want from Cook Islands?
Saturday 15 February 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
There is a question that rests heavily on my heart – one that goes beyond politics and economics, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Haka with the taniwha or dance with the dragon?
Saturday 8 February 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
The Cook Islands finds itself in a precarious dance – one between the promises of foreign investments and the integrity of our own sovereignty. As we sway between partners, we must ask: Do we continue to haka with the Taniwha, our constitutional partner, or do we dance with the dragon? Thomas Tarurongo Wynne writes.
Thomas Wynne: A time to reflect, change
Saturday 1 February 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the mama who was tragically taken while simply walking down the road in our village of Arorangi this week. May God comfort you all in this time of grief and loss, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Where were our leaders while children suffered?
Saturday 25 January 2025 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Let’s break the silence and protect those who most desperately need our protection, writes 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.