Radio NZ reports:
The New Zealand government says the Cook Islands has failed to properly consult it on proposed agreements its Prime Minister Mark Brown will be signing in China this week.
Brown has now left for China without further consultation, RNZ understands.
In a statement this afternoon a spokesperson for foreign affairs minister Winston Peters said they could confirm that Brown and Peters spoke over the phone on Friday.
During that conversation Peters impressed upon Brown what further information New Zealand required to assuage our concerns about the lack of consultation regarding the proposed Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Cook Islands and China.
“The Deputy Prime Minister, in the phone call and in writing within hours of the call, repeated to the Prime Minister a months-old request that the government of the Cooks Islands share with New Zealand the contents of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) and other agreements that Prime Minister Brown intends to sign in China, in line with the requirement for consultation in the 2001 Joint Centenary Declaration between New Zealand and the Cook Islands,” the spokesperson said.
New Zealand is meant to be responsible for foreign policy and affairs for the Cook Islands. Now if they want to go from being part of the Realm of New Zealand to being a fully sovereign and independent country, that is their right. But there should be a consequence for that, which is they can start funding their own government, rather than have NZ taxpayers pay for around a quarter of their government.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
6 comments:
Plus the end of residence in NZ.
I notice that on the Te Pati Maori website they want Maori to have their own foreign policy and army as well. Not only that, they intend to take an aggressive approach to enforce their views around the Pacific. But there is no suggestion of their independence applying to funding. Donald and Xi shaking in their boots at the thought of a bunch of tattooed Maoris telling them what to do.
A sovereign and independent state needs its own passport and its citizens would need to apply to live in New Zealand.
Defund and cut them loose. Then send all the Cook Islanders here back.....once that starts I am sure the government in the Cooks would be changed by the people in short order.
Yep, agree. It is their choice. Further down the track, who would you prefer to be overrun with - holidaying kiwis and ozzies, or Chinese?
An interesting conundrum approaches - What is a Cook islander living in NZ soon to be needing a passport to remain Cook Islander ? is it 100 % - Cook Islander or Cook Islander part NZer/ Maori/ Rarotongan / Fiji / Samoan /Other ?.
Then what is a Part Maori living in NZ ?
A NZer like the rest of us ?.
Just maybe the Treaty Principles Bill making us all one, is OK.
So the CCP came calling on the PM of The Cook Islands, and sang a " song about The Belt & Road Initiative ", to an Island that has a sea port, that the CCP Navy want. This is not a new tactic, but repeated more than once. There is another Island with in the domain of the Pacific rim, that has succumbed to the " same song " and has found that " once the palm was greased with $$$ " you can not change your mind.
When Mania Mahuta was Min of Foreign Affairs, she made a trip to China, and many in NZ " wondered if the CCP, at the time, sang that same song, if they did, would the CCP take control of the natural Harbour in Russell"? But we had a change of Govt, which would " have placed said song & $$ on ice till Labour return to Govt".
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