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 Utopia Support
Some predictions about shipping
Wednesday 7 June 2017 | Published in Opinion
Soon after I became leader of the Demo Party I held a press conference.
Men: Our silence is killing us
Wednesday 7 June 2017 | Published in Opinion
While I was at the Land Court last week, the judge decided to take a break so I walked over to the criminal court and sat there for an hour or so.
Aitutaki pupils learn all about composting
Wednesday 7 June 2017 | Published in Outer Islands
This weekly column is provided by Te Ipukarea Society. It discusses environmental and conservation issues of interest to the Cook Islands.
Plenty of support for Miss Cook Islands 2017
Wednesday 7 June 2017 | Published in Local
The 10 lovely young women vying for the Miss Cook Islands crown had what for some was their first large scale public engagement when they were formally introduced at a function at Ngatipa, residence of the New Zealand High Commissioner, on Thursday night.
Tiana Epati, high achiever
Wednesday 7 June 2017 | Published in Local
IT WAS a classic David and Goliath moment.
Her future's in the arts...
Wednesday 7 June 2017 | Published in Local
Pursuing a degree in Performing Arts and then teaching performing arts at her own arts studio in the Cook Islands is high on the list of Heleina’s future goals.
Still searching for answers
Wednesday 7 June 2017 | Published in Local
Earlier this year former Police Chief Inspector Rod Henderson and freelance journalist Florence Syme-Buchanan joined forces in a collaborative effort to investigate the disappearance of a Venezuelan national from aboard the yacht Zangano in Cook Islands waters.
Consultants support lagoon restoration
Wednesday 7 June 2017 | Published in Local
A team of marine consultants, funded by the European Commission, are in Rarotonga to provide support to the Ministry of Marine Resources on Muri Lagoon’s environmental restoration.
Problems with overseas visit should be warning to others
Tuesday 6 June 2017 | Published in Smoke Signals
“When reading the story about the tere party that went to London and France and their complaints as to the indignities that occurred to them, I felt great sympathy for them, especially being left without transport by their tour leader,” a smoke signaller says.
'Unionist' letter long on rhetoric, but short on the facts
Tuesday 6 June 2017 | Published in Letters to the Editor
I refer to the letter published in the Cook Islands News on Friday June 2, headlined “Spare some thought for the worker”, and signed by what can only be described as an extremely shy “Unionist” hiding behind a nom-de plume.
So what's been happening out at Matavera?
Tuesday 6 June 2017 | Published in Letters to the Editor
The RAPPA selection process for Albert Nicholas seems similar to the one that supposedly happened in the Matavera selection process for the Demos.
Why government fears parliament
Tuesday 6 June 2017 | Published in Opinion
Members of Parliament in the Cook Islands are being called lazy and worthless. People write to newspaper or phone radio talkback shows to complain about MPs not even working a full day. Why is this happening, and what can be done about it? I believe it is not the fault of elected MPs. Instead, the blame rests on the prime minister, Henry Puna. Our system places the sole responsibility on him to call parliament. He, and he alone, is therefore accountable to the people of this country and responsible for the progress of democracy in our sunny isles. Why blame and demean MPs when they have nothing to do with the planning and the scheduling of when and how often parliament sits? In the last three years, parliament has sat for only a handful of days. Yep, I could count them on my fingers and it is embarrassing when visitors ask about it. In 2015 it was, I believe, less than 10 days and last year, even less than that. But why is the PM doing this? The answer is simple: he could get voted out of office. We know very well that government does not have a strong majority to govern and therefore the PM’s thinking is to minimise the risk and have few days of parliament actually sitting. This is bizarre, isn’t it? The greater wheel of democracy is being held to ransom by one man, simply so he can stay in power. It’s political siege by Henry Puna. We could also say that it is a social and economic siege. It is also a siege on our integrity as a country that boasts to practice good democratic principles. Unfortunately, our political system can easily be manipulated as in such instance. After Henry Puna and his team won office in 2014, albeit by a small majority, an enduring promise from the 2010 elections was that there would be an increase in the number of days when Parliament sits. But that was not to be. Instead, the PM regressed into fewer and fewer days of Parliament. That was a major promise broken. That broken promise also overlapped with one of parliament sitting at least 100 days in one year. Of course that was never achieved. Should the PM be held up as a liar in this instance? Should the reasons why parliament doesn’t sit more often be accepted by the public as legitimate, even though they have never been clearly explained? I’m talking about the prospect of being voted out, even in these days of anti-vaka hopping. We have now seen the prospect of a vote of no confidence against the PM and his Cabinet several times and of course it’s the reason the government guillotines the budget debates so the MPs can close up shop and go home. We have clashes about constitutional clauses, disputes over the clarification of relevant provisions of no confidence motions and votes, and each time the PM has survived. That’s the key really, isn’t it? Regardless of how brutal it will be, Henry Puna must allow the proper process of democracy to take place and of course fight to defend his team and himself. What he does instead is an improper use of the power and authority of the executive arm of government. What is more alarming is the fact that MPs in the government side appear to me to be gutless and too scared to speak up about it. To them it is the natural thing just pack up their folders and go home after a hearty lunch and without even questioning the reason they are in parliament. Most of them go to parliament and ride along with the PM in a tunnel of persuasion, manipulating the system to their advantage. It is so shocking that people can actually think of excuses such as being unable to this month, for example, because they may not have the numbers to pass the budget. The Opposition also has the responsibility of passing the budget for the running of the country and so the public service can be paid. The PM is likely to leave it right until the last few days until the country is near strangulation, before actually introducing a budget. And this despite the fact that there is always full co-operation by those MPs who mean well to pass the budget without the PM’s fears coming to fruition. Things need to change. People need to be a lot smarter. Politics as a game of overpowering one another should not be the rule or the norm, but the exception. In the past, votes of confidence involving a change of government have taken place as the result of one-off situations. They were the result of democracy at work and the voting facility of parliament being used. Today, one person frequently blocks democracy for reasons, I believe, of his own self-preservation. If it is for the preservation of his political party in office, then the obvious thing is that when the situation is fragile, it’s time to return to the polls. That would be more acceptable than holding on to office under some dubious belief that you still hold the mandate of the voting public.
She's a tomboy no more!
Tuesday 6 June 2017 | Published in Local
Teivanui scrubs up pretty-well for a tomboy! And a true tomboy is what her friends reckon she is.
Pageant organisers combine to promote Aitutaki contestants
Tuesday 6 June 2017 | Published in Local
Miss Cook Islands Association Inc (MCIA) president Dianna Clarke-Bates and Miss Aitutaki Pageant Association (MAPA) President Regina Potini have agreed to work together to ensure the two contestants from Aitutaki Island – Miss Moana Maoate and Miss Nooroa Tuakeu, have the best preparation and support for the Miss Cook Islands 2017 pageant.
New animal clinic to have a local focus
Tuesday 6 June 2017 | Published in Local
A new animal clinic is set to open in the next few months offering health services for livestock, wild and domestic animals on Rarotonga.
About Mona
Saturday 3 June 2017 | Published in Local
Dancing runs through Mona’s veins - two of her sisters, Mary and Tuvaine, are dance champs just like her. Her eldest sister Mary won “Dancer of the Year” four years in a row. Last year it was Mona’s turn, and this year sister Tuvaine holds the title.
Ora e mate uatu i te tika o Tona Ingoa!
Friday 2 June 2017 | Published in Church Talk
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins...E tamaiti tana e anau, e ko Iesu te ingoa taau e tapa nona: e akaora oki aia i tona au tangata i ta ratou ara” – Mathew/Mataio 1:21
Land court case raises all sorts of interesting issues
Friday 2 June 2017 | Published in Smoke Signals
“I read with interest the ‘watching the land growing’ smokie in Wednesday’s CI News, as I was also an observer in court, a smoke signaller says.
Beware trailer danger
Friday 2 June 2017 | Published in Letters to the Editor
The last I looked, it was a legal requirement to have trailers intended to be towed on public roads, to be registered and warranted.
Spare some thought for the workers
Friday 2 June 2017 | Published in Letters to the Editor
The Employers Liability Insurance Scheme (ELI) has got employers complaining again. Whining and moaning about having to pay to recompense their workers who are hurt at work. It’s just not on, if workers get hurt at work it’s their fault isn’t it?
« Previous 1 … 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 … 1,715 Next »