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
OPINION: Our children deserve better
Saturday 14 August 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
We are asking our teachers to give from the very little they have left, and simply, they deserve better wages and working conditions because our children deserve better, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
New Zealand's resistance to our statehood
Saturday 7 August 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
As we celebrate our journey to statehood, let us be clear on the journey brave Cook Islanders took, and the resistance they faced, as well as the role of Maori and trade unions who supported us to where we are today, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Our people are our greatest resource
Saturday 31 July 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
It saddens me that we are forced to look to foreign workers to fill our current labour shortage when maybe we could fill that with our own people, even if it were for three or six month contracts.
Discovering your life’s purpose
Friday 23 July 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
The fruit of purpose is a fruit we can all eat from, unlike the fruit of self service and self-promotion which is bitter and rotten to the core, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Connecting with our culture
Friday 16 July 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
It’s hard to describe in words but yesterday’s investiture of Ngamaru Tupuna Ariki on Enuamanu signifies a time of transition, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: Religion and culture
Saturday 10 July 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
We have things more to fear than Tangaroa and I would suggest that as Jesus said, the love of money is the core, the essence, and the root of evil – that is what we should be turning back from, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: Leading the way in vaccine rollout
Friday 2 July 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
As many of us Cook Islanders watch from a distance the vaccine roll out from Rarotonga to Akatokomanava to now Nukuroa, the mighty arrow, the work of the Ministry of Health must be applauded as they protect our very vulnerable population from this global pandemic, especially as more people look to visit or simply return home.
OPINION: We’re worrying about dogs, trees and pareu wear?
Friday 25 June 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
In a time when the world is fighting a global pandemic, the real world dilemma questions in Raro are cutting down trees, and too many dogs, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: The power of Parliament
Friday 18 June 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
When a Parliament sits at the convenience of its Government, or the Opposition spends its question time praising the government, or when Members of the Parliament can hold a full-time job and also collect a Parliamentary salary, or when success is measured by the announcement that they can now wear pareu on a Friday and a flower in their hair, what does that say about us who elect them, let alone the health of our 56 year old democracy? By Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: Be the leader you want to follow
Friday 11 June 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Knowing as many of us do that in so many jurisdictions around the Pacific and at home, the subtle bribery of position or job and the benefit this can bring to a whole family can ‘quiet’ the need for justice, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: Are leaders born or made?
Saturday 5 June 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Leaders in 2021 who connect, who are compassionate and are teachable and led, are leaders who have the tools and vision to voyage us through the storms, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: Thank you Te Marae Ora and New Zealand
Saturday 29 May 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
No matter what you believe or not, we must take advantage of the vaccination rollout programme to protect ourselves and each other from a virus that continues to ravage parts of the world, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: Looking beyond the smoke and mirrors
Saturday 15 May 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
In a time when there is so much information, sometimes it is difficult to decide what is true and what is not, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: We are living in the ‘next normal’
Saturday 1 May 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
It’s hard for this current generation to believe that there was a time in the world when you hopped on a plane and they asked you whether you wanted to sit in the smoking section or the non-smoking section, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: Listen twice as much as you need to speak
Saturday 24 April 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Perspective is shaped not only by what you see but also by where you are looking from, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Thomas Tarurongo Wynne: Covid shines a light beneath the surface
Saturday 17 April 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Depopulation, addressing the poor lowly minimum wage, or the dependency on a single tourism income stream as a source of national income, are not new issues, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
OPINION: A matter of when, not if, Covid-19 arrives in the Cook Islands
Saturday 10 April 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Uncomfortable though it may be for some, is it really unreasonable to call for full vaccination before the borders open? By Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Leaving behind a legacy
Saturday 3 April 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Opinion
Life and death are certainties none of us can avoid, and though we all know we are headed for the dust; we don’t always live remembering that reality, writes Thomas Wynne.
OPINION: Foreign values misunderstood, misrepresented as our own
Sunday 28 March 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Mata kite Mata, kanohi kite kanohi – nothing comes as intimate or as powerful as the face to face meetings between, families, friends, or foes, and that moment when you greet. Be it a shaking of hands and pat on the back or high five hand slap, or the powerfully moving gesture of the hongi.
The trial of public opinion
Saturday 20 March 2021 | Written by Thomas Tarurongo Wynne | Published in Editorials, Opinion
Ultimately, we stand before the judgement of public opinion and ultimately a Judge that will judge us on our life, our thoughts and our decisions and then it won’t matter how much money we have or the position we hold.