Letters to the Editor
Letter: Cook Islands registered vessels
Tuesday 1 April 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
I would like to give the Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands an opportunity to clarify statements made in Parliament.
Letter: Where’s the justice?
Tuesday 1 April 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor, The conviction and jailing of Charlie Katu, father and husband, for shipping an illegal herb to Aitutaki goes to prove that everyone involved is doing their job.
Letter: ‘Stop being hypocrites’
Thursday 27 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor, Reading Trev Pitt (Cook Islands News 25/3/25) going on about the shortage of Police, he makes it sound like a recent issue.
Letter: Medicinal cannabis and the law
Monday 24 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor: There are provisions in the Ministry of Health Act under Relationships with other laws that do not limit any other law of the Cook Islands and are not intended to limit or exclude any civil right or remedy unless this is expressly provided for and compliance with this Act does not, of itself, indicate that common law duty of care has been satisfied.
New Zealand’s ‘megaphone diplomacy’
Friday 21 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor, I am a young woman of the Cook Islands, raised on Rarotonga, now studying at the University of Waikato, studying law and politics.
Letter: Police shortcomings raise concerns
Monday 17 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor, I would like to add a few words to the story that ran in this paper on 11 March 2025 regarding the court case of Chris Denny.
Letter: Who will foot the bill?
Friday 14 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
We see in “Court News” that co-accused Poe Poila and Romani Katoa in the Boxing Day knife-wielding incident are being processed through the Criminal Court.
Letter: Solar project
Friday 14 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
It was great to read Talaia Mika’s front page story in Wednesday’s Cook Islands News. However, I perhaps missed something, in essence are we reading that New Zealand is making a grant of $12.9m, not a loan, but a grant for the Northern Group Battery Replacement Project.
Letter: Enhancing shipping services and infrastructure for Tongareva (Penrhyn)
Thursday 13 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor, As a resident of Tongareva and the Executive Officer of the Tongareva Island Government, I have witnessed the profound impact that irregular shipping services have on our community and the broader Northern Group islands.
Letter: Preserving Rarotonga’s pristine beauty
Wednesday 12 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Rarotonga is a true paradise – its fragrant floral air, the rhythmic sound of the ocean, and, most impressively, the cleanliness of the island all contribute to its breathtaking beauty.
Letter: ‘Get your priorities right’
Wednesday 12 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dumb or Dumber? Or Stupider and Stupider? Looks like CIIC still insisting on kicking out the Apii Potiki from their historic and very fit for purpose school environment in Nikao and move them to House #52 on the corner of the main road, just so someone in that CIIC hierarchy can say “Yes I am doing this for Sports Admin … much more important than tamariki wellbeing.”
Letter: Why is alcohol’s harm ignored?
Wednesday 12 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor, It would be interesting to know, when it comes to the ‘local’ news content of your paper, just what percentage of published local news relates to the reporting of the disastrous effects that alcohol has on the physical, mental, psychological and spiritual health of our “Christian” nation.
Letter: Cook Islands, China and the US
Tuesday 11 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor, The Cook Islands Government and the United States of America Government signed a treaty that came into force on September 8 1983, titled, Treaty between the USA and the Cook Islands on Friendship and Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between the USA and the Cook Islands. It was duly ratified by US President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Sir Tom Davis.
Letter: Intersection of faith and environment
Thursday 6 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Whilst visiting family in Christchurch recently, Andrew and I learned the focus of this year’s World Day of Prayer is for the Cook Islands. Friends visited to ask us to sing the Lord’s Prayer in Cook Islands Maori for them to play at their combined service in Darfield on March 7th.
Letter: Next empire built on nepotism?
Thursday 6 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor, It is most encouraging to read some of the details of the Chinese and Japanese inter-island vessels to be operated by government.
Letter: Plaque instead of shade?
Tuesday 4 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
The destruction of the still-living Utu tree in the Arorangi CICC grounds was not widely debated in the community.
Letter: Time for change
Tuesday 4 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
According to Prime Minister Brown, this isn’t about his failure to talk with Cook Islanders – it’s about New Zealand exerting control.
Letter: ‘We have had enough’
Tuesday 4 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Prime Minister Mark Brown has finally found the time to sit down – not with his people, but with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Letter: Media manipulation or public backlash?
Tuesday 4 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor, Prime Minister Mark Brown accuses New Zealand of using its media to undermine his government, as if the anger Cook Islanders are feeling is somehow manufactured by foreign newsrooms.
Letter: Recognising Herman’s leadership at SBMA
Monday 3 March 2025 | Written by Supplied | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Dear Editor, As the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA) bids farewell to its esteemed former SBM Commissioner, Alexandrya Herman, with high respect and honour whom we had often referred to as our Esther, a woman of faith, resolute, with extraordinary passion and thriving vision, we take a moment to reflect on her exceptional leadership and contributions over the past five years.
