Politics
Sitting stirs long-awaited debates
Thursday 11 June 2015 | Published in Politics
Long overdue debates caused tensions to rise and sparks to fly high at the first sitting of parliament yesterday afternoon.
Elderly prefer jail to back tax
Thursday 11 June 2015 | Published in Politics
Cook Islands Grey Power members say they are prepared to go to jail rather than pay back taxes on their New Zealand pensions.
Maggie makes statement in pink
Thursday 11 June 2015 | Published in Politics
Tupapa Member of Parliament George Maggie made a colourful statement at the sitting of Parliament yesterday, choosing to strut his stuff in a bright pink suit.
Top-up for disaster fund
Thursday 11 June 2015 | Published in Politics
Finance Minister Mark Brown says an Executive Order will see $300,000 transferred into the Natural Disaster Response Fund in the 2014/15 year, bringing it up to $1 million.
Flight issue needs united front, says PM
Thursday 11 June 2015 | Written by Rashneel Kumar | Published in Politics
PRIME Minister Henry Puna has asked Members of Parliament to stop playing ‘politics’ on the issue of Sunday flights to Aitutaki.
No-confidence vote likely
Wednesday 10 June 2015 | Written by Rashneel Kumar | Published in Politics
The Opposition will table a vote of no confidence against the Government in Parliament today.
Bid to revive project petition
Wednesday 10 June 2015 | Written by Rashneel Kumar | Published in Politics
The Opposition will table a motion in Parliament today to revive the Te Mato Vai project petition.
Budget set for Monday
Wednesday 10 June 2015 | Published in Politics
This year’s Budget will be tabled in Parliament on Monday, June 15.
Business neglect fails the people
Wednesday 10 June 2015 | Published in Politics
The CIP Government has failed all Cook Islanders by not concentrating on developing the business economy, which in turn would provide jobs and opportunities, says Opposition Leader William ‘Smiley Heather.
Extra funds will pay for ICI support
Wednesday 10 June 2015 | Published in Politics
There will be more money in the Budget to provide engineering support for Infrastructure Cook Islands, the Minister for Infrastructure Teariki Heather says.
UN hopes dashed by NZ
Wednesday 10 June 2015 | Published in Politics
The Cook Islands' hopes of becoming a member of the United Nations have been dashed by New Zealand.
Cooks set to become ILO member
Tuesday 9 June 2015 | Published in Politics
The Cook Islands’ bid to be a member of the International Labour Organisations (ILO) could become a reality this Friday.
Marches out, but no backdown
Monday 8 June 2015 | Written by Rashneel Kumar | Published in Politics
THE GREY Power organisation has decided not to hold any more protest marches but will not back down in its fight against Government’s decision to continue back-taxing New Zealand pensioners.
Workshops shed light on marine resources
Monday 8 June 2015 | Published in Politics
The Ministry of Marine Resources is currently rolling out data collection workshops to investigate how commercial fisheries may be affecting local fisheries.
Budget high on agenda
Friday 5 June 2015 | Published in Politics
As predicted in CI News earlier this week, the first sitting of Parliament will be held on Wednesday, June 10.
Online story makes some strange claims
Thursday 4 June 2015 | Published in Politics
The infamous story about the Cook Islands’ alleged push for independence, published on news website Stuff at the weekend, continues to generate plenty of comment in Cook Islands News and on social media.
Opposition leader joins in the fray
Thursday 4 June 2015 | Published in Politics
Opposition leader William ‘Smiley’ has weighed into the controversy over Prime Minister Henry Puna’s reported intention to seek independence for the Cook Islands, saying Puna is now back-pedalling as fast as he can go.
Independence story 'shoddy'
Wednesday 3 June 2015 | Published in Politics
PM’s media advisor Trevor Pitt has labelled as ‘journalistically shoddy’ a story which appeared on the Stuff news website at the weekend, claiming that the Cook Islands has been pushing for independence from New Zealand, at the cost of New Zealand citizenship.
Water policy up for discussion
Tuesday 2 June 2015 | Published in Politics
A new draft water policy has been put to public consultation this week, with the aim of gauging how people feel about water chlorination.
Monitoring tools there, says MMR
Tuesday 2 June 2015 | Written by Rashneel Kumar | Published in Politics
THE MINISTRY of Marine Resources (MMR) says it has the tools to monitor the illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Pacific waters.