Opinion

Virtues in Paradise: The best present you can give

Christmas is nearly here, and there is so much to do – preparing for visiting family, finding gifts for the children, serving the church, writes Linda Kavelin-Popov.

Opinion

Coconut trees, too much of a good thing

Coconut trees are often called the ‘Tree of Life’ in the Cook Islands and other Pacific islands because every part of the tree is useful. But too many coconut trees can be a problem.

Who stands at the tomb of your life?

Our small community has been left reeling this week at the tragic and sudden deaths of two great men.

Opinion

Tax write-off issues still remain

Political commentator John Scott takes a look at the secrecy behind the government’s decision to write off tax owing by various businesses and private individuals before January 1, 2010. The decision sparked outrage, leading to conjecture that it may have been designed to specifically benefit certain political figures.

Opinion

The responsibility of democracy

Back in the ’70s, along with close to 50 per cent of the New Zealand population, I marched against apartheid. I marched because apartheid or the separation of people by colour and race was for myself and many others in New Zealand, morally wrong.

Opinion

Upbeat launch for Demo Party campaign

Last Tuesday afternoon, Democratic Party supporters gathered at Maeva Nui Park opposite the Banana Court to announce the candidates running for the party in the June 14 general elections.

Opinion

Making a point about air travel

With both the Herald and the Cook Islands News carrying articles and letters on this subject, I thought it timely to share this suggestion.

Opinion

History depends on who tells the story

Standing in a marbled two story private school in Ankara in Turkey back in 2006, I looked up over the main entrance and there was a picture of one of Turkey’s if not the world’s’ greatest statesmen, Mustafa Ataturk.

Opinion

Demos want a positive election

Despite the constant sniping by Minister of Finance Mark Brown on television, the Democratic Party is not going to go down the “eye for an eye” campaign direction.

Opinion

Lessons to learn from children

An Aitutaki papa was reminiscing recently about the good old days, describing how fishermen came back with a tuna and made sure to share it with all the families before taking some home to their own.

Opinion

In the eye of a media storm

Two firestorms have raged in the news media and on social media lately and both have clear messages for us all.

Opinion

It is time to choose a government

Four years ago, the people of the Cook Islands went to the polls and voted back into office the Cook Islands Party (CIP).

Opinion

Culture night shows we're in good hands

Our youth and our future are in good hands, if a show at the National Auditorium on Thursday night was anything to go by.

Opinion

Time for silence well and truly over

When I began work as the new counsellor at Tereora College nearly nine years ago, my life involved a very steep learning curve. One day, in particular, would impact me in ways I could never have imagined.

Opinion

Thoughts on 'the reason for the season'

Priest or pagan, sinner or saint, Catholic or Protestant, and everything else that falls into the spectrum of believers and unbelievers here in the Cook Islands, no matter where you are or what you believe or sit, you can be thankful today, albeit to a God you acknowledge or not, that we have a long weekend and for many a time to celebrate a critical event in the history of mankind. And that event is Easter.

Opinion

What NZ citizenship entails

Long-time Rarotonga resident and political commentator John Scott wrote this opinion piece which takes a look at the issue of “creeping neo-colonialism”. Scott says those “knockers” who believe that asking assistance from New Zealand in areas when the Cook Islands government has let the country down is a sign of weakness, are making a mistake…

Opinion

Together we can make a change

In the past many people have been critical of the lack of sittings of parliament.

Opinion

Important reminder for our leaders

I have been prompted to re-submit a series of four articles originally written in 2004 to remind our political leaders they have a responsibility to listen to the concerns of the people of the Cook Islands.

Opinion

It's time to take action together

Does it really, as the old saying goes, take a village to raise a child? And if so then when children and or people and families fall through the cracks, should we just look to government or the police or the social services agencies, which we all know work with their own limits or should we look back to the village? As we sip our coffees and peruse through the daily newspaper in the morning, again and again we see the cracks appearing in our villages in our communities, with a sense of absolute frustration as to how to remedy the situation Often our first response is to look to who should be responsible for picking up the pieces. Or out of sheer frustration with a lack of justice, a lack of response or accountability we close our doors, close up our lives and hurt. Because people are hurting. When the sanctity of their home and property is invaded by theft they hurt. When a crime is committed against those they love, they hurt. Right across our communities here in Rarotonga and sadly in the pa enua, people are hurting. And as we read of a man sentenced this week for the most terrible crimes against the young and vulnerable, people are hurting. And one has to ponder as I did, what help is there for those poor victims in that broken community, victims of these terrible crimes. Who is responsible, where is the justice, and what is going to be done about it, are questions that seem to be circulating and resonating for too many people in our communities at the moment. It’s not just the potholes in the road that are of great concern, in fact it is the potholes left in people’s lives that need attention. And yet where or how do we get the respite we need for these social ailments? What do we do when we feel hopeless, or helpless in our situation and there doesn’t seem to be the help we so desperately need? We can target the layers of government, and yes, questions need to be directed there because some of these agencies have a mandate to respond to these social ills. But again, can I suggest as we look outwards and look to others to remedy our situation, we forget one vital part of the answer and that part of the answer is closer then we think. Because that part of the answer is you and me. If it actually does take a village to raise a child, then maybe the answers have always been in the village, in our communities, in our neighbourhoods, in our cluster of homes, in our relationships in our families and in our hands. As we have looked to others, have we negated our own power and agency to effect change in our own locality because “love” has always been a verb, something demonstrated, but never just a description of deep connection. Sometimes we acknowledge society has changed. We notice children’s values have changed and we blame Facebook, mobile devices and a changing world for this divergence. But we forget that we can still influence that world around us and we can be agents for change if we do what we have always done, and work together. A village is a group of people that not only live next to each other. It is also a group of people who live love and work together, because that is their choice. They know their neighbours, they care what happens to their children, they respond to cries for help from over the fence, they watch and are attentive to who comes in and out of their street and driveway. Maybe the need is to strengthen our villages, to strengthen our communities because a strong village, with the tools to make change -namely the people in it, will bring the change we so desperately seek. And village means everyone, absolutely everyone in that village and that community, those clusters of people who call these villages home. When was the last time we had our neighbours or a collective of houses over for dinner? When did we last go over for a coffee, or take notice of children crying or home alone, or a mama sitting there alone all day every day, week after week. When was the last time we met as a community to address issues in our community, taking advantage of the power we have together. Or are we just too busy? Have we stopped caring, have we stopped noticing, have we stopped functioning as a village? Do we now live in a little bubble, once in a while looking over the fence and making assumptions about the neighbours we know little about, and haven’t taken the time to care? “Busy”, is the default answer we give to everything nowadays. But can we really afford to be too busy to care? Let us together take the simple step of taking time with those around us. Let us together build the village so it is strong and robust and most importantly, so that it cares. Spend some time this week with your neighbour; meet with the cluster of houses in your area, and be part of the village you want it to be, because the power has always been ours to make it so. We are going to address some of these issues in Puaikura next week. We will be looking to work together in our village with those who are willing. We will build together with anyone who wants to join us. Because together we have always been stronger, and we have to do something. I enjoy working and discussing how we can build a stronger country and community much more than I do discussing to distracting questions of nationalism. This country’s first premiere, Albert Henry, once said, “No-one in the tribe gets left behind”. I am going to take him at his word, because no-one, means no-one. - Thomas Tarurongo Wynne

Opinion

Facing the future with confidence

“Miasma”. It’s not a word that’s used often but this week it was penned by the writer of a letter to CINews who lacked the courage to reveal their identity

Opinion

Brown 'like a crying baby'

I read in yesterday’s paper yet another tantrum by the Minister of Finance over the United Nations membership issue. He displayed this childish behaviour on television on Thursday night. As I watched him talk and as I read his statements in CINews, I could not help but think that here is a man desperate for attention. But worse, he is seeking such attention in a very childish way – much like a crying baby pointing the finger at my team in the Democratic Party for spoiling his day. I mean, is this the same minister who was “donged” on the head several times by Wilkie Rasmussen, CEO for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, for saying things that were not true and for having incorrect facts? It is rich isn’t it, that the very person that should check first as to whether he has the integrity to level accusations of lying at others has been caught red-handed by the public for not telling the truth. Remember the Papa Williams accusation he made, and that Papa Williams was then employed by the Office of the Leader of the Opposition? And yet Papa, a private citizen with very critical views of the government, was not. We see with this sort of conduct that the minister’s heart in its rapid and frenzied beat is raising his blood pressure to a dangerously high level. Goodness me, let’s hope he does not faint from the heat of politics. I mean, we can’t have this absolutely integral, top man of the Cook Islands Party and government keel over and succumb to the pressure of accountability in politics. After all, isn’t that what this is all about? What we have is a minister and the Prime Minister being grilled by opposition MP James Beer for allegedly lying that they did not raise the issue of the Cook Islands pursuing a seat on the United Nations with the New Zealand government – and in particular the New Zealand Prime Minister. The minister vehemently denies that this ever took place – and he can deny it if he must, but the precursor behaviour of the minister and Henry Puna is a testament to an agenda about them taking the Cook Islands towards acquiring membership of the UN. But why is the minister of finance asking for an apology from James Beer for making such allegations? Isn’t that what politics is all about? Isn’t it true that Minister Brown is in the glasshouse for all to see and for all to throw stones at? If he insists on an apology, how about he apologise for his undermining comments of the Democratic party in the past, some of which were absolutely unnecessary and inappropriate. But this is the man who often says that this is politics. And whether you get plastered by nasty comments, derogatory remarks, insults and putdowns – tough luck. Well, it’s clear what he must do – toughen up and not be obnoxious about it. I defend my team and we are focused on winning the next election. We don’t want to get tangled up with petty issues like the one Mark is wasting parliamentary time on. Triviality will generate more of the same and it will not be good for a government struggling to maintain composure against the ever-growing and expanding Democratic Party. But if they let the public judge, then I have no doubt it is going be pretty painful. So the more Mark makes these sorts of comments the better.

Opinion

Pension change wonderful news

What an announcement this week by the present Labour government and New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, regarding the full pension portability available to those of us in the Cook Islands who were looking at having to spend five years back in New Zealand to qualify!

Opinion

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