More Top Stories
Plastic bags banned
2 July 2025
Letter: Superfund restrictions questioned
13 June 2025
$12.9m approved for solar battery project, NZ confirms
12 March 2025
Crown Law Office on track for record number of lawyers
12 March 2025
‘Nothing to worry about’: Prime Minister Brown on China agreement
16 February 2025
‘Serious questions’: Opposition challenges China partnership
15 February 2025
No debt in China deal
8 February 2025
‘Paedophile’ gets 13 years in prison
22 January 2025
Thomas Wynne: Where were our leaders while children suffered?
25 January 2025
$541.7m tourism earnings
25 January 2025
Police need numbers and bigger budget
9 December 2024
Niki Rattle: A call for stronger human rights protections
10 December 2024
Solid and Hazardous Waste Bill referred to Parliament committee
10 December 2024
DPM defends CIIC finance and travel policies
6 December 2024
CIIC directors seek $350,000 in damages over defamatory claims
21 October 2024
Man found guilty of rape, burglary
24 September 2024
Concerns over Minister’s role in inmate work releases: PAC
5 October 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
National
Pa Enua arriving in force to celebrate Te Maeva Nui
Avatiu Harbour is expected to come alive with colour and excitement this Sunday morning as more than 600 passengers from the Northern Pa Enua begin arriving in Rarotonga to join in the 2025 Te Maeva Nui celebrations, commemorating 60 years of self-governance in the Cook Islands.
Special leave approved for public servants attending Te Maeva Nui
Cook Islands public servants are eligible for up to 10 days of paid special leave to participate in the 2025 Te Maeva Nui festival.
Forum Pacific vessel skips Raro
The Forum Pacific will be omitting Rarotonga from its upcoming voyage itinerary. Southern Express will instead be delivering her Rarotonga-bound cargo, and will arrive three days prior to Forum Pacifics scheduled date of arrival. Southern Express voyage 147 is expected to arrive in Auckland on September 1 and in Rarotonga nine days later. She should […]
Tsunami exercise drives upgrade
New tsunami signs will be erected around Rarotonga in the coming weeks in anticipation of a Pacific-wide tsunami response exercise to be held in November. The new roadside signs will provide directions to village tsunami safe zones right around the capital island. They will be put in place before the regional disaster response exercise Pacific […]
Atiu trust fund up for discussion
Atiu landowners whose assets were once bound up in the Enuamanu Lands Incorporation are meeting this afternoon to discuss the future of their trust fund. Teenui-Mapumai member of parliament Norman George estimates the dissolved incorporations trust fund contains about $100,000. He says the money has been sitting for over 30 years. George says stakeholders moved […]
New envoy wants to prove a point
New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands John Carter is spearheading a research project to determine exactly how mutually beneficial the relationship between Aotearoa and the Cook Islands is. Speaking at a luncheon of Cook Islands business professionals in Rarotonga yesterday, Carter said it is easy for New Zealanders to criticise the amount of […]
PM takes communications advice
Prime Minister Henry Puna is beginning to answer media demands for regular disclosure about his administration and has appointed a communications advisor to work in his office. New Zealand Maori journalist and media advisor Damiane Rikihana has been working at the Office of the Prime Minister for the last few weeks. She is a trained […]
PM meets Sarkozy, not Gadhafi
Members of parliament enjoyed a laugh at the expense of Prime Minister Henry Puna on Wednesday evening, when he was likened to controversial Libyan leader Moamer Gadhafi. During a question and answer session within parliament, in Punas absence, independent MP Norman George asked where the prime minister was. Has he gone overseas to join Moamer […]
Banks not ready for new withholding tax
Governments new withholding tax will not be implemented until October as banks are struggling to re-code their computer systems in time for the initial September 1 deadline. Finance minister Mark Brown says regardless the tax will be backdated to September 1, so government estimates of how much revenue it is expected to generate in this […]
Family welfare group attends regional conference
The Cook Islands Family Welfare Association (CIFWA) continues to grow in strength and capacity and this financial year hopes to implement some new initiatives. CIFWA executive director Rongo File has recently returned from Kuala Lumpur where she represented the organisation at the annual International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Asia and Pacific conference. There she attended […]
Generator purchase under audit investigation
Audit director Paul Allsworth says a review is warranted to determine whether the previous Democratic government acted inappropriately by purchasing four oversize generators for Manihiki last year. Allsworths interest of the matter was sparked by comments made during a government media conference in Rarotonga this week. Prime Minister Henry Puna announced the government is purchasing […]
4 new generators for Manihiki
Manihiki is to have four new diesel generators, despite being in line for renewable energy infrastructure. Prime Minister Henry Puna detailed the purchase this week, citing $110,400 of a capital expenditure fund for outer island projects which will cover the cost of purchase and installation. Puna says the former Democratic government installed four generators on […]
Strength in numbers for women MPs
As one of 12 women in her South Australian parliament, Gay Thompson says she does encounter male prejudice on occasion. As Reynells member of parliament, she has had to deal with the implications both positive and negative of being a female in a decision-making position. She told a local audience yesterday that whenever she and […]
Dont leave school prematurely
South Australia member of parliament Gay Thompson mingled with students and local women and fielded their questions, both personal and political, at a meet-and-greet function in Muri yesterday morning. Thompson is visiting the Cook Islands for the first time with her partner, and took some time out of her holiday to get to know some […]
Put kids to bed on time
Speaking to a group of local women and students yesterday, South Australian politician Gay Thompson emphasised the value of education in todays world. A pet issue of hers is transformative education, or lifting uneducated communities out of ignorance. Thompson defined transformative education as the need for people who come from families that traditionally havent had […]
Aussie MP pushes plastic bag ban
South Australia member of parliament Gay Thompson talked to a local audience yesterday about her states successful campaign to ban plastic bags from supermarkets. In South Australia, she explained, shoppers can use barrier bags to separate produce, but cashiers are not authorised to provide them with plastic carrying bags. Alternatively they can purchase compostable bags […]
Bloodmobile to join future drives
Cook Islands Red Cross has taken on a new van that will become the driving force of its blood donor programme. Telecom Cook Islands donated an out-of-use van from its fleet to the Red Cross which, after taking on a new coat of paint and undergoing a slight refit, is now the organisations bloodmobile. Members […]
CISNOC problems not governments concern
Prime Minister Henry Puna maintains the view that CISNOCs problems are not governments concern and will not answer questions on the financially unstable organisation accordingly. At a media conference in Rarotonga on Tuesday, Puna was asked whether it is appropriate for Sir Geoffrey Henry, as president of the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee […]
Brown explains CISNOC guarantee
The Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee asked government for more than $200,000 in light of its inability to meet financial obligations in respect of this months Pacific Games in New Caledonia. Finance minister disclosed details about its financial guarantee of $126,000 to CISNOC during a parliamentary sitting on Tuesday. He says on August […]
Tax worse than we thought
MFEMs fact information sheet about the withholding tax shows that its even worse than everyone thought, a smoke signaller writes as Parliament met last night to make amendments to the much criticised bill before the House. Example B has someone starting a 3-month term deposit (of $10,000 at 5%) after the announcement of the tax […]
New police grads
The Cook Islands Police Service welcomed 10 new officers into its ranks last week. At a graduation ceremony attended by Prime Minister Henry Puna and wife Akaiti, the 10 recruits took the officers oath, officially embarking on their careers in law enforcement. For the young Cook Islanders, the ceremony marked the end of an 11-week […]
Harder returning to play in Raro
New Zealand R&B star Vince Harder says he is looking forward to returning to Rarotonga this December, after playing local nightclub Rehab on Friday night. Harder is booked to again perform in the Cook Islands before the year is out, this time as part of the fundraiser On The Rock Fest 2011 in December. The […]
« Previous 1 … 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 … 851 Next »