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: Aitutaki’s runway to prosperity
Saturday 13 January 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Dawn is yet to break, but I can hear the waves gently lapping the distant reef. Breaking over into the lagoon, the pearl that is the jewel of Araura Enua, Aitutaki, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Tarurongo Wynne: 2024: Ditch the ‘same old, same old’ and spark a real growth
Saturday 6 January 2024 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
It’s now six days into the new year and little has changed since the festivities of almost a week ago. Apart from a few sore heads and way too much food to eat, for most of us, 2024 will continue much like 2023 and 2022, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne : Beyond the reef: Living, breathing and contributing to the enua we love
Saturday 30 December 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Nestled against the backdrop of an aqua blue lagoon, gleaming from the noon day sun, as clear blue radiant skies stream across the horizon and the summer breeze billows across the Islands, so many of us will be enjoy the coming together of families and friends, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Peace in paradise, war in the world
Sunday 24 December 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Christmas is now nearly upon us, and as the world reels from conflicts and wars raging across the planet, from Gaza and Israel, Africa to Eastern Europe, we will have peace in Rarotonga and the Cook Islands, and never be subjected to the cataclysm that is war, conflict and genocide, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Unwrapping the narrative of Christmas
Saturday 16 December 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
With Christmas approaching and the world celebrating Jesus’ birth, our nation’s Christian heritage, enshrined in the Ekalesia as one of our three tama Ua pillars, cannot be ignored or overestimated in its impact on our lives as Cook Islanders, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Power reveals, not corrupts
Saturday 9 December 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
People often say that power corrupts and to this I disagree. Power does not corrupt a person, it merely exposes what lies in all our hearts, and simply gives it room, opportunity and permission, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Shaking the tree- A reexamination of the Albert Henry case
Saturday 25 November 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Me ruru koe i te pu rakau, matakite eaa te ka pururu mai, if you shake the tree, be careful what falls out, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: The last of the pooh-bahs
Saturday 18 November 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Who is Sir Gaven Donne, who upon his passing was referred to by the Sydney Morning Herald as ‘The Judge who toppled a government,’ the man who brought down our first political leader and father of our nation, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: The greatest limit is the one we place on ourselves
Saturday 11 November 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Anyone who has sailed the ocean like our tupuna and ancestors knows the ocean is many things, but passive is not one of them, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Pardon for Papa Arapati - We now begin to unravel the many layers of guilt
Saturday 4 November 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Forgiveness does not change what was done, or alter the deeds of the past, rather, forgiveness or a pardon alters the future and makes it larger than what it was before, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Beyond disagreement: A plea for peace and justice
Saturday 28 October 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
How do we disagree, without becoming disagreeable, or when our disagreement is as James Baldwin said, rooted in another’s oppression or the denial of another’s humanity or right to exist, even find a place to agree? Thomas Tarurongo Wynne writes.
Thomas Tarurongo Wynne: A division fueled by soundbites, and not reason
Saturday 21 October 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
I joined the (New Zealand) Labour Party when I was 18 and have been involved with the politics and policies of Labour ever since, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: What’s in a vote?
Saturday 14 October 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
By the time this editorial goes to print, we will know the outcome of the New Zealand General Election, and that outcome will have been determined by hundreds, if not thousands of voters, who also live and reside in the Cook Islands and overseas, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Te Maeva Nui NZ: A showcase and celebration of our uniqueness
Saturday 30 September 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
More than 1400 performers participated in the world’s largest Cook Islands event in Auckland this weekend as tens of thousands made their way through the gates of the Trust Arena to celebrate who we are, our culture, our Reo and each other, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Head of State Residence - A building that speaks of who we are
Sunday 24 September 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Tarai, is to build or to carve, to use a chisel to carve out something especially, but not exclusively, when we build vaka, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: A wolf in sheep’s clothing
Saturday 16 September 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
We should not dismiss the fact that a South Korean religious cult, who have embedded themselves into the Fijian community and business sector are on the ground, speaking to people of influence and in the Cook Islands.
Thomas Wynne: The darkest and longest shadow . . .
Saturday 9 September 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Watch a movie like Moana Roa, or any movie prior to the 1960s in the Cook Islands, and what a stark contrast it is, of our people before the proliferation of a western diet, and just how fit, lean and active we were.
Thomas Wynne: E toto, e kiko e ivi, the blood that runs in our veins, our heart, and in our bones
Saturday 2 September 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Shame, on you, those are the words I heard across the table, when I missed a conversation in Māori, that generally I can do ok in. Thomas Wynne writes.
Thomas Wynne: We thank you
Saturday 26 August 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
On the 29th of January 2014, newly elected Member of Parliament for Christchurch East, the Honourable Munokoa Poto Williams, daughter of Nahora and Maryan Williams (nee Masters) stood up in Parliament delivering her maiden speech. By Thomas Wynne
Thomas Wynne: The vaka of language revitalisation
Saturday 19 August 2023 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Ei’ia to matou Tu Oe? Where are our navigators? Because, kare o te Vaka to'ie'ie Tu Oe – A drifting Vaka has no navigator, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.