Cook Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs Tingika Elikana says a referendum would allow its people to decide whether to join the United Nations and separate from New Zealand.

The Cook Islands government has applied for membership with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a first step on the road to becoming a member of the UN.

While the country has maintained diplomatic ties with the UN since the 1990s, it is not currently a member of the UN.

“In the conduct of its foreign affairs the Cook Islands interacts with the international community as a sovereign and independent state, but the country does not have a direct seat at the UN General Assembly,” according to the UN.

Elikana said New Zealand had so far been supportive of its IMF application.

He said the decision to become a UN member would ultimately need to be decided by the general population of the Cook Islands.

“I don’t think short-term elected politicians should decide on that. I think a referendum would need to be run and then we will enter into discussions with New Zealand,” Elikana said.

The Cook Islands is part of the realm of New Zealand, which makes Cook Islanders also New Zealand citizens.

If the Cook Islands joins the United Nations as a separate member to NZ, it would potentially forfeit its citizenship rights under the current treaty which binds the nations.

Opposition leader Tina Browne of the Democratic Party has criticised the government for making the UN membership a “priority”.

“No I don’t think it is a good idea,” she said, adding “part of it is that I don’t really understand the need to become a member other than having a seat at the UN.”

“This government have been trying for years and it is still trying to make it happen,” she further added.

RNZ Pacific had contacted the NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for comment.

A spokesperson from the Minister’s office said: “It is for the Cook Islands government and the people of the Cook Islands to determine the next step in its self-determination journey.”

‘UN membership is a complex issue with implications for the constitutional relationship between the Cook Islands and New Zealand, including the question of citizenship.”

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown in an interview with this newspaper in 2022 said he did not see why Cook Islands status as part of the realm of New Zealand needed to change if it became a UN nation.

“We’re recognised by a number of UN agencies as a sovereign state, we’re starting to see now senior members of the UN such as the US announcing they recognise us as a sovereign state,” Brown then said.

“It’s a natural maturity of our country from colonial days when we were administered by New Zealand, to self-governance where New Zealand apron strings were still very strong, to where we are today, 57 years later we are a much more independent state.

“It’s a natural progression, things like membership in the United Nations take place, but I don’t see how it should impinge on our special bilateral relationship that we have with New Zealand.”

• Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific/CI News