Foreign Minister Winston Peters says the situation between the Cook Islands and New Zealand is simply a matter of miscommunication and lack of communication between both countries—nothing more.
Yesterday, opposition members of the Cook Islands government filed a motion of no confidence towards Prime Minister Mark Brown and his Cabinet due to the now-abandoned Cook Islands passport proposal and their nearly formalised strategic partnership with China.
Earlier this week, Peters raised concerns that New Zealand was not properly consulted about the China arrangement, as required under their special constitutional agreement made over 20 years ago.
Peters says New Zealand does not want the Cook Islands to split and is willing to help, citing initiatives like the establishment of a mammogram program on Rarotonga, which he worked on with Pacific Peoples Minister Shane Reti.
He says the Chinese government is aware of Aotearoa’s relationship and obligations to the Cook Islands, and New Zealand must be part of their discussions.
“My job is to ensure that in our special relationship, going back all these years, that I bear in mind what the Cook Island diaspora, or the Cook Island population, both in the Cook Islands and abroad, think about these issues, and you’d expect that, given our Māori collective, Māori Polynesian background,” says Peters.
The China strategic partnership is due to be formalised today.
