More Top Stories
Solar power battery repairs ‘could take up to 12 months’
15 April 2024
Police shortage leads to drop in checkpoints
9 April 2024
Sarakura declared new Penrhyn MP
16 March 2024
Govt says $1.3m invested in Lady Samoa charter
22 February 2024
Mass milkfish die-off in Penrhyn raises concerns
3 April 2024
Regulator defends Starlink users
9 April 2024
Aitutaki’s heritage preserved in new anthology
4 January 2024
Avatiu Eels retain Nines title
8 January 2024
Beddoes crowned top athlete
8 January 2024
NRL player Dargan dies in Aitutaki motorcycle crash
24 December 2023
‘Please heed the signs’: resident makes plea to tourists
20 December 2023
Cook Islands set to play in new World Series
10 October 2023
Corruption report exposes ‘bribe and sexual favours’
17 January 2023
Corruption in the Cook Islands?
21 January 2023
Moana target 2025 World Cup
11 November 2022
National
Five months prison for Aitutaki indecent assault, other charges
A man who was convicted for 12 separate offences including indecent assault has been sentenced to five months imprisonment.
Probation for repeat offender
The fourth accused in a Nikao brawl incident on January 28 this year has been sentenced to 12 months’ probation.
MMR logic 'not necessarily sound'
Opposition leader Wilkie Rasmussen is encouraging government to shift its focus from licencing foreign boats to fish in Cook Islands waters to supporting local fishermen. In speaking on a bill to amend the Territorial Seas and Exclusive Economic Zone Act 1977 during Parliament this week, Rasmussen took the opportunity to voice his views on government’s […]
Opposition warns govt to limit licences
Opposition leader Wilkie Rasmussen is warning the government to curb its issuing of fishing licences to foreign companies. Pressed to explain his actions during his tenure as minister of marine resources, Rasmussen said in Parliament this week that he regrets the ”terrible mistake“ of issuing 30 licences to foreign boats. ”If I have to say […]
PM praises vaka crew
Prime Minister Henry Puna made mention of the sailors aboard Cook Islands vaka Marumaru Atua in Parliament yesterday. ”I am very proud of these young people,“ he said. ”First they went to the United States, the continent, they landed over there, came back and went to Samoa and also to Fiji. And I came on […]
Customs legislation passes easily
A 600-page bill listing goods that are imported to and exported from the Cook Islands, and their accompanying duties and preferential rates, has passed through Parliament without amendment. The Customs Tariff Bill 2012 passed without objection yesterday. The legislation replaced its 32-year-old predecessor, directly following the passage of the Customs Revenue and Border Protection Bill. […]
Licences restrict by-catch: Bishop
Minister of marine resources Teina Bishop has said that exploratory fishing licences expressly restrict by-catch – or the accidental netting of a species not being targeted, like shark. Last week in Parliament Opposition leader Wilkie Rasmussen asked Bishop to confirm or deny allegations that foreign vessels licenced under the exploratory regime were finning sharks. Bishop […]
BTIB learns to help small business
Two officials from the Business Trade Investment Board (BTIB) recently came back from a workshop in Fiji that taught them how to coach struggling small businesses. Melina Tuiravakai, BTIB’s business, trade and marketing manager, and Ratu Mato, the finance and administration manager, attended the week-long workshop run by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) […]
Roads closed
Maintenance work on the Maire Nui Drive in Avarua is expected to be completed this Friday. Before then motorists are urged to be patient and drive carefully on the one-lane road through the main town. A new chip seal is being laid on parts of the Maire Nui Drive especially on the stretch of road […]
Otago in harbour after patrol
The HMNZS Otago is due to berth in Avatiu Harbour at 1 o’clock this afternoon (Wednesday), after a week-long joint exercise boarding fishing vessels in Cook Islands waters. The Otago carried out the exercise in the northern part of the Cooks exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with a Cook Islands police boarding party. Boarding foreign fishing […]
Inquest may bring 'closure'
Five more witnesses have been heard in the inquest into the disappearance of 31-year-old handicapped woman Ngatupuna Pokotea. Pokotea, who suffered from epileptic fits and could not talk, vanished from her Turoa residence on July 11, 2006. The inquest has been held in the High Court by Coroner Nooapii Tearea last Friday and yesterday (Tuesday). […]
Penrhyn fisherman alleges torture
A Penrhyn fisherman says the way he was treated by police, prison and probation services amounted to torture and is a breach of the Cook Islands constitution and international law. Arumia Robert Samatua is suing the attorney-general for over $970,000 on behalf of the police, prison and probation services for treatment he alleges was a […]
Community respond to smacking comments
How to discipline children is always a contentious issue, and minister Teariki Heather stirred up the debate on the subject in Parliament on Tuesday. During question and answer time, Heather responded to Nikao MP Ngamau ‘Aunty Mau’ Munokoa’s query on how to deal with youth crime by saying the government needed to allow ”parents to […]
Current debt of $93.6m 'manageable'
Crown debt is expected to increase over the long-term. Total gross debt is estimated to reach $93.6 million by the end of this month. The figure has been reduced from last year’s balance on account of a favourable movement in the US to New Zealand dollar exchange rate. At present 80 percent of Crown debt […]
Heather answers contracting questions
Infrastructure minister Teariki Heather has said that T&M Heather has secured all its contracts legally and fairly. In Parliament yesterday Opposition leader Wilkie Rasmussen asked Heather to address concerns voiced by members of the public pertaining to T&M contracts. ”Some time ago the opposition through me raised concerns in the media about the company T&M […]
Look after your cows!
Dear Editor, To the owners of the cows/bulls tied up in Kavera: You are causing harm to your animals by not attending to them regularly. They are tied up on vacant land and left for days and it appears no one checks them so our village has to put up with their constant bellowing and […]
Fresh tagging
Fresh tagging on buildings through the Avarua township is a concern for both community leaders and local police. Sports and community leader George George has noticed an increase in the number of buildings through Avarua with fresh tags by delinquent youth using spray cans. He says that this is the time to raise the awareness […]
Southpac sued for maternity dismissal
A senior trust manager is suing her former workplace Southpac Trust after they dismissed her when she was on maternity leave. In the case, which is being heard in the High Court on June 29, Serena Hunter seeks $141,000 in damages including lost earnings and humiliation for her dismissal from Southpac in March this year. […]
Nurse sues health ministry
A case is due to be heard in the High Court next week for the unfair dismissal of a senior nurse from Rarotonga Hospital. Philomena Henry is seeking $50,000 from the health ministry secretary after being unfairly dismissed by the Ministry of Health after 30 years of working as a nurse. Henry had been a […]
Government tendering and procurement process explained
Minister of Finance Mark Brown encourages anyone suspicious of government tendering and procurement processes to download a policies and procedures manual from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management website. Yesterday in Parliament, opposition leader Wilkie Rasmussen asked Brown to explain government tendering processes. ”Could you please explain to the house and to members of […]
New law provides insurance protection
The Insurance Amendment Bill passed without amendment in Parliament yesterday. Finance minister Mark Brown read the bill, and explained its objective. ”In the course of carrying out the licensing of insurers to conduct insurance business in the Cook Islands, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) noted some unworkable provisions in the Insurance Act of 2008,“ he […]
Banks 'failing the people'
Opposition leader Wilkie Rasmussen has said that local banks are ”failing“ the Cook Islands people. ”Failing in the sense that the interest rates are so high in the Cook Islands – from our perspective they are very high – and the interest rates are so high on mortgages (that they are) difficult for Cook Islanders […]
« Previous 1 … 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 … 736 Next »