Saturday 3 August 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Nothing is more important to identity and a sense of who one is than being able to celebrate who you are, what you are, and your special place in the world, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 27 July 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Just over 30 per cent of all those who identified as Pacific islanders to the Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care in Aotearoa identified as Cook Islanders, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 20 July 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
What is a patriot? Is it simply a green, red, blue, or gold flag waved, anthems sung, or a political position or party held high like the only hope of a country being great or even great again? Thomas Tarurongo Wynne writes.
Saturday 13 July 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
As our 60th anniversary approaches next year as a self-governing country, flags serve as powerful emblems of nationalism and identity. They represent a nation’s values, history and aspirations, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 6 July 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
As a country, and as Iti Tangata, this week is significant as it heralds two very important events. These events capture the essence and Tu tangata of who we are as a people, who we were, who we want to maintain, and who we hope to become in the future, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 29 June 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
As Aotearoa celebrates Matariki, the Māori New Year, it gives us time to reflect on how we too could add a day to our year that celebrates our Māori worldview, those of our tūpuna, and the vast expanse of ocean they navigated and the knowledge they carried with them, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 22 June 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
I often think, when I have said, and when we say of ourselves that we are ‘punching well above our weight’, what is the measure of that success and why is it us who sing our own song about ourselves? Thomas Tarurongo Wynne writes.
Saturday 15 June 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
What is Tapu, sacred or restricted in use and by whom, and what is Noa or free to be utilised by anyone, be they male or female? How do we make something Tapu and then lift that Tapu to make it Noa or free again? Thomas Tarurongo Wynne writes.
Saturday 8 June 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Two thousand four hundred (2400) miles of excellence, 2400 miles of precision and 2400 miles of discipline and strength, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 1 June 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Land – nothing is more contentious, beautiful, divisive, or unifying than land. Our caretaking of land has been thousands of years in the making as we moved from Moana or ocean, to land, to ocean, and back to land again, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 25 May 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Across the globe, people have had enough of corruption, enough of nepotism, enough of the rule of might by certain families, certain names and political economic and cultural privilege above all others, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 18 May 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Anyone who has worked with leaders has, at some stage, met head on the challenge of conflicting values, voice, or worldview with their own, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 11 May 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Our digital taro patches, our everyday phones and devices, which we use to share photos, communicate with each other, and establish an online presence, are like sitting in the window of CITC in Avarua or a shop, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 4 May 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
The issue of whether women should remain silent in church, or in traditional settings regarding leading Pe’e, and the Bible’s stance on slavery are contentious topics that have sparked debates for centuries including our own community this week, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 27 April 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
As we gathered like many did around commonwealth countries, in squares and parade grounds, memorials to the dead and wounded, we remember also that freedom is paid by someone, somewhere and sometime – it is never for free, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 20 April 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
It is reasonable that today so many Cook Islanders are asking questions around the process that got the Tainted Cryptocurrency Recovery Bill into Parliament and currently before a Select Committee, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 13 April 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Shaming others who can’t speak the language, who are trying to learn, by maligning them in person or online with cruel and crippling words like ‘plastic’ is wrong, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 6 April 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
There is always plenty of room at the table to eat. This is something my grandmother and mother have always said, and more importantly, they practiced what they preached, which is how we have lived our lives, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 30 March 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Amazing Grace, that saved a wretch like me – such an amazing grace to us all, is captured so beautifully in a song so many of us would have sung at one time in our lives, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Saturday 23 March 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Guilty as charged, and now the sentence has been handed down and jail terms will commence. Not just for the three defendants that appeared in Court yesterday but for us all, our country’s good reputation and a withdrawal made from the public bank of trust and goodwill, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.