The 2025/26 Budget will be tabled in Parliament today when it resumes for its 13th meeting at 1pm.

Prime Minister Mark Brown, who is also the Minister for Finance, will be tabling the Budget.

The 2025/26 Budget is likely to be referred to the Public Accounts Committee for 14 days referral for review and report.

The $336 million budget features increase in social welfare and allocations for education, police and health. The upcoming budget is slightly larger than the initial $328 million passed for the current 2024/25 financial year in June 2024, which then increased to over $396 million in the supplementary budget passed in February this year.

The Parliament will also receive the report on the review of a proposal to recognise the Cook Islands as a Christian Nation and the report by the Constitutional Review Special Committee.

The Special Select Committee on Religious Organisations was formed in December 2024 following a debate in Parliament regarding the establishment of the country’s first mosque and three pending applications from religious bodies seeking registration in the Cook Islands.

The Religious Organisation Restrictions Act 1975 governs the establishment of religious bodies in the Cook Islands, which limits the introduction of new religions to only four authorised in the Act - The Cook Islands Christian Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

According to the Act, approval must be granted from the Minister of Justice before another religion be established.

Cook Islands News earlier reported that the Cook Islands Christian Movement (CICM), a major advocate for the Christian state push, expressed concern that the Special Select Committee might propose an alternative course of action.

According to the Movement, the Special Select Committee may propose “a watered-down acknowledgment of Christian principles and heritage, while keeping the Constitution intact and introducing new legislation to regulate or manage religions including Christianity”.

The Constitutional Review Special Committee has reviewed and considered three Constitutional Amendment Bills that were presented to Parliament in December 2023.

The Constitution Amendment (No. 30) Bill proposes increasing the number of Cabinet Ministers and removing the ability to appoint a non-MP Minister. The Constitution Amendment (No. 32) Bill provides for the ability for MPs to hold a proxy vote for a fellow MP, and Amendment (No. 31) Bill will allow a new Parliament to commence its work after a general election without waiting for the outcome of any election petitions.