More Top Stories
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
ICI explains road works delay in front of old Sheraton site
10 August 2024
Housing crisis hits tourism industry
27 July 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Challenging ‘rape culture’
8 July 2024
Articles by Utopia Support
NZ trumps Trinidad-Tobago
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Netball
Thursday 13: After a first match slaughter of Barbados 102-24 on Tuesday night, New Zealand hit the courts running again yesterday against Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago put up a strong game but the experienced New Zealanders were just too good. New Zealand goal shooter Puala Griffin showed why she has pulled on the […]
Tuesday 18: THE GREAT WYNC SALE
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Regarding the seating situation at the Telecom Sports Arena, surely the WYNC organisers could have come up with something like a $2 ticket sale to fill up all the seats at the back. “It just seems a shame that we can’t even fill up the 400-500 seats that are available each day,” says one volunteer. […]
Tuesday 18: A FREE LUNCH
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Talking about the number of police down at the Telecom Sports Arena last week, has anyone noticed the number of accredited ‘media’ personnel at the netball event? “It’s so hard to attract people to be reporters on the island but there seems to be heaps of wannabes at WYNC,” says one observer. “What’s the bet […]
Tuesday 18: OVERKILL?
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Where are the cops when you really need them, asked one lady at the World Youth Netball Championships at the Telecom Sports Arena last week. “When you want them, they are never there. But look at them here [at WYNC] – they are crawling all over the place!”
Tuesday 18: HOM PANELS
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
While Audit is looking at the HOM appointment process should they be asking questions about the selection panel itself, a smoke signaller asks. “Mark Short has publicly defended his appointment in part due to the fact that a fellow lawyer, Tina Browne, sat on the panel. Is this the same Tina Browne that is the […]
Tuesday 18: Public service easy money?
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Since the HoM contracts have yet to be signed and sealed, one person has suggested that the public service commissioner start everyone on a base salary of $45,000 and then work their way from there. “What I always notice is that when HoMs lose their job, you never seem to see them working in the […]
Monday 17: NIGHT RAIDERS
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A recent police report in this newspaper about watermelons being stolen from a patch in Nikao raises the question about who these thieves are and how they’re getting away with this shameless act. “And it’s not just watermelons, it also happens with pawpaw patches, and sometimes whole taro patches are raided at night,” a reader […]
Monday 17: WHAT'S IT ALLS WORTH?
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
“The Cook Islands is at risk of going morally insane,” a reader says. “Our Audit Office seems to do a great job of uncovering corruption, exposing abuse of power and authority, revealing dishonesty, but what’s the point if there are no penalties or repercussions? It’s all very well to be vigilant and sharp in auditing […]
Monday 17: SMOKO TIME
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
You know the wind’s cold in Raro when otherwise tough tradesmen huddle in the sun on the sheltered side of a building under construction on the beachfront, none wanting to venture around the corner and get chilled and sandblasted on the windward side. So the job takes a bit longer than normal.
Monday 17: PAPA SLOW DOWN!
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
One signaller urges the ol’ fella who was driving a blue single cab pick-up truck last Thursday morning from Upper Tupapa way towards town, to “please put some sense in your head and understand that every day it’s an early morning rush hour for most of us with a job, and your careless driving is […]
Monday 17: REEF INSPECTOR
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A visitor to Rarotonga who received numerous coral cuts when he made the mistake – possibly after a few drinks – of paddling into waves crashing on to the reef on the island’s western side last week, reportedly had one request to make when his rescuers brought him to safety on the beach, a cold […]
Monday 17: Invisible partitions?
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smoke signaller after watching a ‘Tuatua with Tua’ episode was curious about the lack of cubicles in the Sports Arena’s VIP bathrooms. “One wonders how the VIPs from our country and other countries would feel about doing their business in sight of every other VIP! And since when did the Cook Islands consider red […]
Thursday 13: SHINY COSTUMES
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Responding to the smokie about Te Hiva Nui girls temporarily mislaying their coconut bras for their shows in England, a reader recalls when Papua New Guinea hosted the 1980 Festival of Pacific Arts, the female dancers in the teams from the Cook Islands and Tahiti were sometimes playfully described in Tok Pisin (Pidgin English) as […]
Thursday 13: WANTING TICKETS
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A reader reports a “perplexing experience” at the opening of the World Youth Netball champs while trying to buy tickets for matches for subsequent days, but was told none would be on sale till at least Wednesday. “How bizarre when those wanting tickets are right there and the MC kept promoting other matches all afternoon.”
Thursday 13: SING OUT LOUD!
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Poor old New Zealand, our cousins and closest friends, seemed to draw a dud welcome at the airport when they turned up for WYNC. Observers noted that ‘Waltzing Matilda’ directed at the Australian players also coming off the plane drowned out other greetings at the time of their arrival, but the humble Kiwis just kept […]
Thursday 13: TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smoke signaller reckons both the PM and the DPM are embarrassing for the Cook Islands. “One because he never says anything, and the other because he says too much. The Constitution Day speech was nothing but a boring political mishmash and personal pat on the back….at least the PM, had he been here, would […]
Thursday 13: REALITY BITES
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
“I had to laugh when reading the DPM’s speech at the time the budget was presented to parliament, noting the Cook Islands has been affected by the economic downturn,” a reader said. “So much for the recession free Oasis gimmick!”
Thursday 13: PARIS NOT HERE
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
The Cook Islands was spared a visit by American socialite Paris Hilton who has been busy jetting this week between Australia, Fiji and Tahiti, according to media reports. Voted the second ‘Worst Celebrity Role Model of 2006’, behind Britney Spears, the Hilton hotel heiress is said to be in Bora Bora now. Paris fans will […]
Thursday 13: SELECTION QUESTIONS
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
And this smokie comes from a table full of disgusted locals after reading news of the new HoM appointments over the weekend. “How on earth can a string of people be appointed to these positions of responsibility when they have already failed audit investigations, and found to be guilty of mismanagement or misspending?” they ask […]
Thursday 13: Every HoM position should be re-advertised
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
“Cook Islanders are so familiar with the process by which HOMs are chosen from a tiny pool of political shoe-ins that talented and experienced young Cook Islanders just don’t bother to apply,” a reader says. “Thus it is that Cabinet ends up with a short list from the tiny pool of those who are otherwise […]
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