Dear Editor, Once again, the Cook Islands has gone cap in hand to its traditional partners for economic support. (Cook Islands waits on traditional partners as China shows interest, Cook Islands News, May 31, 2025)

I think it’s time they approached NZ Māori whose $69 billion Māori economy in 2018 has grown to $126 billion in 2023 and contributes $32 billion annually to the NZ economy. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360611143/new-report-highlights-dramatic-growth-maori-economy.

The Cook Islands’ continued reliance on traditional partners like New Zealand and Australia for economic aid underscores a deeper need for a long-term, self-sustaining strategy – and tapping into the $126 billion Māori economy in Aotearoa makes both cultural and economic sense.

I’ve always believed that the continued furore around our cosying up to China will stick in the craw of most Cook Islanders no matter how the political spin is spun, no matter how many documentaries show targeted politicians in other Pacific nations lauding their relationship with China. There is a deep prejudice against the Chinese Govt (not its people per se), deep suspicion and it’s not going away no matter how the narrative is bent, twisted or repurposed for public palatability. There are descendants of WWII veterans whose prejudice against the atrocities of Japan during that time still harbour intense hatred and this is over 80 years later, so the prejudice against China is not going away.

Our traditional partners NZ and Australia have their own problems at home so do we get inventive and look at other avenues for economic support? Nah, we drive around in ever decreasing circles to NZ and Australia.

So why do I think we should be looking to our whanaunga in Aotearoa? History and blood ties and more importantly, whanaungatanga. Well, it’s pretty evident in my eyes, we share whakapapa/papaanga (genealogy) and cultural ties. Cook Islanders and Māori share ancestral roots and Pacific identities. This kinship - reinforced by Te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa - serves as the foundation for economic cooperation based on mutual respect, shared values, and cultural solidarity, rather than dependency.

One only needs to look at the economic power of Māori enterprises:

•           The Māori economy has grown rapidly across these sectors: fisheries, forestry, agriculture, tourism, and increasingly emerging technology.

•           Māori trusts and Iwi authorities are now looking beyond just profit - they seek social returns, sustainability, and indigenous empowerment.

•           The development of a pan-Polynesian investment framework would allow Māori entities to invest in Cook Islands infrastructure, education, tourism, and renewable energy, with long-term returns for both sides.

The development of a mutual benefit model for the Cook Islands would give access to capital, business expertise, and networks aligned with Pacific values. For Māori investors, it would open opportunities to expand into Pacific tourism, marine industries, land development, and even cultural exchange ventures – all without the colonial baggage of pakeha or western investors.

You see the idea would be to set up high-level dialogue through formal talks between the Cook Islands Government and major Māori economic institutions (like Te Puni Kōkiri, Māori Investors Forum, or iwi-led corporations like Ngai Tahu Holdings or Tainui Group). In this korero, the focus must be on a joint investment strategy a kind of Cook Islands - Māori development approach through a development fund to support infrastructure, sustainable enterprise, and cultural exchange.

Moving from a model of aid and support to one of partnership reflects indigenous thinking through shared resources, collective growth, and more importantly our whanaungatanga relationships. This will in time lessen the reliance on the current NZ/Australia partnering arrangement that passes for partnership and allay the fears of a Chinese takeover of our country, people and its resources.

Te Tuhi Kelly

Leader of the Progressive Party