National
Queen honours two local men
Thursday 21 June 2012 | Published in National
Two additional Cook Islanders have been selected for the Queen’s birthday honours award, due to their outstanding services to the community. The Queen’s representative Sir Frederick Goodwin has announced that Daniel Apii will become a member of the civil division of the most excellent order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the public […]
Private schools funding increased
Thursday 21 June 2012 | Published in National
Budget 2012 makes provision for an increase in public funding to private schools. The increase is reflective of an increase in the number of students attending private schools this year. Last financial year, private schools received $1.6 million – $111,000 of which was taken from the Ministry of Education’s own budget to cover a funding […]
Kukupa out of service
Thursday 21 June 2012 | Published in National
Te Kukupa is in dry dock, but Prime Minister Henry Puna has said that his government is negotiating for the use of a substitute vessel in her absence. In Parliament on Tuesday Puna mentioned he has been discussing the issue of a replacement vessel with New Zealand foreign minister Murray McCully. He declined to discuss […]
HMNZS Otago in port after patrolling Cooks waters
Thursday 21 June 2012 | Published in National
The HMNZS Otago berthed at Avatiu Harbour yesterday afternoon and will stay in port until Saturday morning. The offshore patrol vessel, captained by Commander David McEwan, has spent the past week patrolling the Cooks’ exclusive economic zone as part of major maritime surveillance operation Tui Moana, run by the Forum Fisheries Agency. A Cook Islands […]
Penrhyn fisherman alleges torture
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in National
A Penrhyn fisherman says the way he was treated by police, prison and probation services amounted to torture and is a breach of the Cook Islands constitution and international law. Arumia Robert Samatua is suing the attorney-general for over $970,000 on behalf of the police, prison and probation services for treatment he alleges was a […]
Community respond to smacking comments
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in National
How to discipline children is always a contentious issue, and minister Teariki Heather stirred up the debate on the subject in Parliament on Tuesday. During question and answer time, Heather responded to Nikao MP Ngamau ‘Aunty Mau’ Munokoa’s query on how to deal with youth crime by saying the government needed to allow ”parents to […]
Current debt of $93.6m 'manageable'
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in National
Crown debt is expected to increase over the long-term. Total gross debt is estimated to reach $93.6 million by the end of this month. The figure has been reduced from last year’s balance on account of a favourable movement in the US to New Zealand dollar exchange rate. At present 80 percent of Crown debt […]
PM praises vaka crew
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in National
Prime Minister Henry Puna made mention of the sailors aboard Cook Islands vaka Marumaru Atua in Parliament yesterday. ”I am very proud of these young people,“ he said. ”First they went to the United States, the continent, they landed over there, came back and went to Samoa and also to Fiji. And I came on […]
Customs legislation passes easily
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in National
A 600-page bill listing goods that are imported to and exported from the Cook Islands, and their accompanying duties and preferential rates, has passed through Parliament without amendment. The Customs Tariff Bill 2012 passed without objection yesterday. The legislation replaced its 32-year-old predecessor, directly following the passage of the Customs Revenue and Border Protection Bill. […]
Licences restrict by-catch: Bishop
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in National
Minister of marine resources Teina Bishop has said that exploratory fishing licences expressly restrict by-catch – or the accidental netting of a species not being targeted, like shark. Last week in Parliament Opposition leader Wilkie Rasmussen asked Bishop to confirm or deny allegations that foreign vessels licenced under the exploratory regime were finning sharks. Bishop […]
BTIB learns to help small business
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in National
Two officials from the Business Trade Investment Board (BTIB) recently came back from a workshop in Fiji that taught them how to coach struggling small businesses. Melina Tuiravakai, BTIB’s business, trade and marketing manager, and Ratu Mato, the finance and administration manager, attended the week-long workshop run by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) […]
Mussells plead guilty to 'structuring'
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in Crime
Husband and wife Christopher and Akisi Mussell were in the High Court on Monday facing a number of ‘money structuring’ charges. They both pleaded guilty to all charges in front of Judge Hugh Williams. They will be sentenced next week and face a maximum sentence of up to 12 months in prison or a fine […]
Vaka bound for Vanuatu
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in Environment
Our arrival ceremony in Laucala Bay in Suva was really cool! It started the same way as in Levuka, with 3 members from each vaka chosen to chase and search through a group of Fijian ladies for the prized tabua (whale’s tooth) that they were concealing. However, the difference with this one was that we […]
From stone age to cyber age
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in Local
The Cook Islands this week went from having the oldest customs legislation in the region to boasting the newest. Parliament passed the Customs Revenue and Border Protection Bill without amendment, in the process repealing and replacing a 99-year-old piece of legislation that was reportedly the oldest in the entire Pacific. In speaking on the principles […]
Luen Thai partnering with local company
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in Local
Luen Thai Fishing Venture – one of the largest fishing companies in the world – is intending to set up a company in the Cook Islands and has applied for a licence from the Business Trade and Investment Board to operate alongside local partners. Opposition leader Wilkie Rasmussen asked minister of marine resources Teina Bishop […]
Progress in boundary dispute
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in Local
Cabinet is making strides in a decade-long dispute with Kiribati, Niue and Tokelau regarding the boundaries of the Cook Islands’ exclusive economic zone. Deputy Prime Minister Tom Marsters said in Parliament yesterday that government expects to legally seal the deal at the Pacific Islands Leaders Forum in August. In the meantime, Parliament has passed a […]
James wins tabua
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in Local
Vaka Marumaru Atua crew James Pakoti shows off a tabua (whale’s tooth) during the Vaka Voyagers welcome to Fiji. Three crew members from each vaka were chosen to be part of the tabua ceremony that included the voyagers swimming to shore to search for the prized whale’s tooth among a group of Fiji women. Excerpts […]
Roads closed
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in National
Maintenance work on the Maire Nui Drive in Avarua is expected to be completed this Friday. Before then motorists are urged to be patient and drive carefully on the one-lane road through the main town. A new chip seal is being laid on parts of the Maire Nui Drive especially on the stretch of road […]
Otago in harbour after patrol
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in National
The HMNZS Otago is due to berth in Avatiu Harbour at 1 o’clock this afternoon (Wednesday), after a week-long joint exercise boarding fishing vessels in Cook Islands waters. The Otago carried out the exercise in the northern part of the Cooks exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with a Cook Islands police boarding party. Boarding foreign fishing […]
Inquest may bring 'closure'
Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Published in National
Five more witnesses have been heard in the inquest into the disappearance of 31-year-old handicapped woman Ngatupuna Pokotea. Pokotea, who suffered from epileptic fits and could not talk, vanished from her Turoa residence on July 11, 2006. The inquest has been held in the High Court by Coroner Nooapii Tearea last Friday and yesterday (Tuesday). […]
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