Dear Editor, I did not witness the earlier years of Albert Henry’s reign so cannot comment on his contribution in that period, but when I returned to Rarotonga to work as a lawyer in 1975, Albert had become a tyrant committed to staying in power. This was at the expense of hundreds of Cook Islands families who stood up against the abuses of government. Most were forced to leave their homeland to survive.

There are not many of us still alive who were at the High Court sitting in 1978. I was there for most of the hearing and saw the spectacle. I doubt Thomas Wynne was even born then and Howard (Henry) was just a kid.

What took place is not rocket science. Albert was caught stealing public funds and using the money to bribe his fly in voters. He pleaded guilty to a number of offences, as did several others involved in the scandal. The court removed the votes of the fly in voters who had been bribed and ordered a recount. That recount resulted in the fall of Albert’s government. Albert accepted the decision of both the Court and the Queen’s representative.

The Cook Islands is fortunate that we had a judge with real balls who set the precedent for the Cook Islands that politicians are subject to the same laws as everybody else.

There had already been a couple of occasions prior to this when Albert, not liking the decision of the Court on electoral decisions, had threatened to close the Courts.

The establishment of “the rule of law” by Sir Gaven Donne is one of the significant factors that contributed the modern-day prosperity and stability of the Cook Islands, and he deserves proper recognition for this. He went on to serve as QR for a number of years afterwards, successfully intervening on several occasions to bring warring politicians to their senses and maintain our democracy. To suggest that Sir Gaven Donne was offered a knighthood in return for giving a favourable court decision, is scurrilous, sheer nonsense and plain stupid. We need to move on and celebrate the contributions our leaders have made to our country’s success story, not waste our energy muckraking.

Reuben Tylor