Pacific Waves for 2 August 2025
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RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Mark Brown: rejects talk of 'strategic shift' in Cook Islands-New Zealand relationship
Prime Minister Mark Brown says the New Zealand, Cook Islands relationship is too strong that disagreeing governments can not break it. Photo: Caleb Fotheringham The Cook Islands has no intention of leaving its special relationship with New Zealand, Prime Minister Mark Brown says. The Cook Islands marked 60 years of self-governance in free association with New Zealand on 4 August. "The value of our relationship with New Zealand cannot be overstated," Brown said at the national auditorium in Rarotonga on Monday. His remarks were met with a round of applause. "I would like to emphasise that there is not now, nor has there ever been, a strategic shift by the Cook Islands government or our peoples to reject the value and responsibilities of our relationship of free-association with New Zealand." The Cook Islands marked 60 years of self-governance in free association with New Zealand on August 4 Photo: Caleb Fotheringham The celebration was filled with dancing, singing, food and a 45-minute speech by Brown on where the nation has come from and where it's going. "Every island holds a piece of our future, let us stand with conviction on the global stage. Our people span oceans. Our voice carries across borders. And our contribution continues to grow," Brown said. Notably absent from the four Pacific leaders attending was New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who is in Papua New Guinea. Foreign Minister Winston Peters was also absent. Brown said like any relationship, there will be moments that need reflection. "There are times when we must pause and consider whether the conventions and evolved understandings between our freely associated states remain aligned, we find ourselves in such a moment. "I see our relationship as one grounded in enduring kinship, like members of a family who continue to care deeply for one another, even as each has grown and charted their own path." Brown called the current issues a bump in the road. He said they had been through far worse, like natural disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic. "[The relationship] is too well entrenched and too strong, like steel, that nothing will break it, it is too strong that even disagreeing governments will not break it." Representing New Zealand was Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, who also talked of the long-standing relationship, stemming back hundreds of years to voyaging ancestors. "That bond of deep friendship between our two peoples, that will transcend all else as we continue to face the challenges, and celebrate the joys of the future, together." 60th celebrations Photo: Caleb Fotheringham After the official ceremony, there was a big kai kai. Those attending shared their thoughts on what they wanted for the future of their country. "To see our future generations grow up in our own paradise instead of them going overseas," one woman said. Another said she wanted the Cook Islands to remain a Christian nation and to keep their culture strong. One nurse said medical was always on the go and wanted more investment, "the resources we have are very limited, so I want to see a bigger improvement within our medical side of things". A dentist wanted the Cook Islands to be "a modern nation" and "to be a leader in economic wealth." Another man wanted to remain in free association with New Zealand but wanted the country "to make its own decisions and stand on its own two feet". A primary school principal said he wanted more young people to learn Cook Islands Māori. "This is our identity, our language." He also wanted the country to be more independent economically. "I think we as a nation need to look at how we can support other countries… I don't like that we're still asking for money from New Zealand, from Australia, at some point in the future I would like us as a nation to help other nations." There was a big kai kai as part of the celebrations Photo: Caleb Fotheringham New Zealand paused close to 20 million dollars in development funding in June, citing a lack of consultation on agreements signed between the Cook Islands and China earlier in the year. China's ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong was attending the event. RNZ Pacific approached him, but the ambassador said he was unable to comment because he had to leave the event.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Luxon talks up more united Pacific on PNG visit
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon views a mortar training and live firing exercise with NZDF and Papua New Guinea troops on Tuesday. Photo: RNZ / Russell Palmer Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is talking up a more united Pacific in Papua New Guinea, saying the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) should be the central way other countries engage. Luxon's visit this week has reinforced diplomatic, trade and defence connections with Papua New Guinea . He returns home to New Zealand on Wednesday after a busy Tuesday schedule that saw him address the Papua New Guinean Parliament, only the second foreign leader to do so. He met with Prime Minister James Marape behind closed doors on Tuesday afternoon, the pair fronting to media and answering questions about the Forum afterwards. "I think there's huge opportunity for the Pacific Island Forum to become - and it is - the organising and the central organisation that actually, if you want to engage with the Pacific, you come through the Pacific Island Forum," Luxon said. "There's more that sort of is uniting us around actually being Pacific nations, being a Pacific family and wanting to develop our own solutions to our own challenges - and making sure that anyone outside of the Pacific is actually engaging with us in a coherent way through the centrality of the PIF." While the trip has seen Luxon warmly welcomed and reinforced ties with Papua New Guinea, it has also put other Pacific relationships in the spotlight. Neither Prime Minister Luxon nor Foreign Minister Winston Peters flew to the Cook Islands for this week's celebration of 60 years of that country's constitution. Instead, Peters delivered a speech in Auckland, highlighting that the "free" association meant Cook Islanders could choose to become fully independent should they wish. The Cook Islands constitution set it up as a nation in "free association" with New Zealand, which enables the realm nation access to New Zealand citizenship, passports and currency while also placing certain responsibilities on New Zealand. Papua New Guinea's prime minister James Marape gives a speech during celebrations of 50 years of diplomatic ties with New Zealand. Photo: RNZ / Russell Palmer Peters maintains the relationship should have meant New Zealand would be consulted over the deals the Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown signed with China. Asked about the dispute, Luxon said New Zealand had no problem with the Cook Islands people, but "we have a political issue to work through with the actual government of the Cook Islands". "We've got some work to do, to make sure that we deal with the differences and the disagreements we have about the nature of our constitutional arrangements," he said. Marape confirmed their meeting had included discussion of the "Pacific Island family". With the Solomon Islands to host the next Forum Leaders meeting next month, he said he would be phoning his counterpart. "I will be making a phone call to my colleague in Honiara to make sure that he gives respect to the spirit of the structure that has carried us thus far. That's ... all I can say. "My call to him would be 'how's it going and is there anything you need from us' and to make sure that we don't shift away from the Pacific Island forum structure we have - without pre-empting my call, it's a call between me and him, I can't dive more into what level of conversation we'll have." The Solomon Islands has also faced criticism for its dealings with China, and recent reporting has highlighted it could seek to prevent Taiwan's attendance at the forum. Other reports have suggested one solution being considered would be to ban China and the United States from attending. Winston Peters is attending the Forum next month.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
French Polynesia, Cook Islands sign air services agreement
Cook Islands and French Polynesia leaders Mark Brown and Moetai Brotherson have signed an agreement on airlinks. 5 August 2025. Photo: Présidence de la Polynésie French Polynesia and the Cook Islands have signed an air services agreement (ASA) aimed at providing a framework for future relations between the two neighboring archipelagos. The agreement was signed between Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown and French Polynesia's President Moetai Brotherson on the margins of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Cook Islands' constitution and status of free association vis-à-vis New Zealand. The document allows both parties to designate carriers to operate regular flights between Papeete and Rarotonga, as well as airlines entering into specific agreements (such as code-sharing). The ASA was signed in presence of Wellington-based French Ambassador Laurence Beau, who is also accredited to the Cook Islands, as the representative of the French State. In a new development in terms of international relations, Brotherson signed the agreement with a mandate from the ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, under French Polynesia's autonomy status. "This is a first because (this signing) relies on Articles 38 and 39 of our Statute (of Autonomy). I had this delegation from the French Minister of Foreign Affairs to sign as President of French Polynesia", Brotherson explained to Radio 1. Articles 38 and 39 of French Polynesia's autonomy allow its President to negotiate international agreements, provided they respect France's international engagements and that France is kept informed or even invited to the talks. The agreement is then submitted to both French Polynesia's Territorial Assembly and, on France's side, by the relevant legislative authorities. Other key leaders attending the signing ceremony were Air Rarotonga CEO Ewan Smith and French Polynesia's Director of Civil Aviation Marangai Moeroa, Brotherson's office said in a statement. Although French Polynesia and the Cook Islands had already initiated connections at company level earlier this year, the new agreement is wider and more formal as it is a proper international treaty which, Brotherson said, aimed at further integrating French Polynesia into its regional environment while "strengthening regional air connectivity and historical links between our Polynesian peoples". The new agreement also brings new opportunities in terms of regional inter-connectivity and connections, paving the way for what used to be known as the "Coral Link" in the 1950s, which linked Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Tahiti. More recently, a project named FlyCoralWay, spearheaded by Wallisian businessman Louis Alphonse, was launched in 2019 but did not eventuate for lack of investors. But in February 2025, Air Tahiti Nui (ATN) and Air Rarotonga, entered into a new code-sharing and connectivity agreement to better integrate their respective destinations between Papeete, Rarotonga, the United States and France. "Connections between flights and check-in processes will also be made easier from Papeete's Tahiti-Faa'a (PPT) and the Cook Islands' Rarotonga (RAR) international airports," ATN CEO Mathieu Bechonnet said at the time. The Papeete/Rarotonga flights are jointly operated by Air Rarotonga (GZ) and Air Tahiti (VT), at a pace of four return flights per week connecting to ATN flights to and from Papeete. ATN operates up to seven flights per week between Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Papeete (PPT) via Los Angeles (LAX) and up to eleven flights per week between Los Angeles and Tahiti, as well as two flights per week to Seattle. On a more political level, Brotherson is this week in Rarotonga to attend the Cook Islands' constitution's 60th anniversary celebrations. But in Papeete, the flag of the Cook Islands was raised at the President's office to mark its Constitution Day, on 4 August, "as a symbol of respect and shared commemoration".
