More Top Stories
Cook Islands passport proposal
6 January 2025
Top cop position advertised
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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
‘Ka mua, ka muri’: Walking backwards into the future
Saturday 5 March 2022 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in On the Street, Opinion
When western thinking arrived in what would soon be called the Cook Islands in 1903, Missionary advanced the way we saw the world, the way we saw ourselves and the way we saw time had already begun to unfold as we unravelled all our traditional knowledge, customs and ways of knowing and put them in a box handed to us by our colonisers with the word “etene” on it.
Never before has the word become so weaponised
Friday 25 February 2022 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in On the Street, Opinion
Listening to the flurry of news reports on the invasion of the sovereign country Ukraine by President Putin and his army, I couldn’t help but notice the comparison between other narratives of tyranny, nazification and the weaponisation of words like freedom fighters around us today.
This is not a new challenge for our island home: Wynne
Saturday 19 February 2022 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in On the Street, Opinion
We no longer sit on the beach of maybes, watching the tide roll in and out. We are now in that ocean also swimming against the tide, but slowly we make our way across, because as navigators and voyagers, this is who we are.
The battle for moral and information high ground
Saturday 5 February 2022 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
We must never dehumanise those who may draw the line differently to ourselves, because in that moment we inadvertently become what the other side of that argument most feared, and leave the ‘table of understanding’.
What does prison say about our society?
Saturday 15 January 2022 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Our society is one where we see people through the lens of what we believe they deserve and what we also believe they do not, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
2022 – the year of decisions
Saturday 8 January 2022 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
The content of our character is a choice, and day by day we make choices some good some not so good, because choice is the core of what it is to be human, but let us also be clear our choices will always have an effect on others.
There is more to Christmas than Christmas
Friday 24 December 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
As commercialism and commerce have taken over Christmas, we have seen it commodified and churned out like so many other aspects of Western culture, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Cannabis: The burning debate
Saturday 11 December 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Nothing brings out more emotion and reaction than the argument for and against the criminalisation and use of marijuana, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: Wisdom is the only tonic for foolishness
Saturday 20 November 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Wisdom and foolishness are often found at the end of one’s tongue, and often though not always found in the actions that follow these words.
OPINION: The reality of the matter
Saturday 13 November 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Vaccination will mean less chance of hospitalisation and this is clear from statistics here in New Zealand and globally but in the end, we must be prepared for the reality that we will face when we open up on January 13.
Check your attitude
Saturday 6 November 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Its not often Tata Crocombe (resort owner) and I have agreed but I found his latest opinion piece in the Cook Islands News sobering and thoughtful with some clear statements on where our country is at and what we need to do now, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
A celebration of the arrival of the Gospel
Saturday 23 October 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
As the arrival of John Williams and Papehia on Aitutaki in 1821 launches the 200 years celebrations of the Gospel arriving to the Cook Islands, is it a good time to look at the change that this Gospel brought not just to the spiritual lives of those who were confronted by its message but also the political, social and cultural upheaval it left in its wake and continues to do up until this day.
Exercising fairness when addressing key land issues
Saturday 16 October 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Greed is as much a problem as is absentee landowners and those that have profited much from turning their kainga into a cash register. If we want to address absentee landowners, and we should, we should also address this issue of land banking and greed at the same time.
Preparing our hearts and minds for Covid
Saturday 9 October 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
We must learn to live with this virus, like we do with the hurricane season, and equip and prepare our health response and our bodies, but more our hearts and minds because it is there we will truly win this battle, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Having the power to lift
Saturday 2 October 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
The pa’ata is a powerful, modern and traditional Cook Islands symbol for us all and clearly demonstrates that power is actually in our hands, and sits on our shoulders.
THOMAS TARURONGO WYNNE: Years to build, seconds to break, a lifetime to repair
Saturday 18 September 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Be it Covid-19 or the need to vaccinate, or the exploration of our seabed and the minerals on its floor as announced by the government this week – it’s not a question of good science or quality research, this is instead a question of trust.
THOMAS TARURONGO WYNNE: Having the wisdom to find common ground
Saturday 11 September 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Nothing at the moment can be more emotionally charged than our personal decisions and feelings around Covid-19, vaccination, vax passports, and our faith and trust in government and institutions, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Wynne: Separating the layers that bind us
Saturday 4 September 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Anyone involved with politics in the Cook Islands knows how critical that first role is because anyone wanting to form a government in the Cook Islands has to have met with the Queen’s Representative first with a list of names and show a clear majority, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
THOMAS WYNNE: Separation of power
Saturday 28 August 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Simply put, be it our church and state, or mataiapo and ariki, the separation between the two needs careful examination and understood not just by what we see today but also by what time has recorded for us to examine, critique and to reason. writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: The three-legged stool
Saturday 21 August 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
The strength of our three pillars – our government, our Church and our traditional leaders – and how they interact with our lives affects everyone who calls themselves a Cook Islands Maori, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
