Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.
Cook Islands govt to consider increasing sugary drinks and alcohol tax proposal
Pacific Media Network
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The proposal to increase taxes on sugary drinks and alcohol will be considered by the Cook Islands Cabinet this month as the Health Ministry ramps up efforts to tackle rising chronic health problems in the country. A draft gazette listing...
Peters rejects claim Aotearoa funding freeze to Cook Islands is ‘patronising’
Cook Island News
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July 8, 2025
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown and New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters. Photo composite: Newsroom/25070713 New Zealand Foreign Minister Vaovasamanaia Winston Peters rejects suggestions that pausing of development funding to the...
Sugary drinks, alcohol taxes eyed to boost health funding
Cook Island News
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July 8, 2025
A draft gazette listing categories of unhealthy products and drinks in the Cook Islands that will face increased taxation has been finalised, according to Bob Williams, Secretary for Te Marae Ora (TMO) Ministry of Health. 25070801 The proposal to...
Pacific Islands focus: deep sea mining, reproductive injustice and a new breast screen campaign
Croakey Health Media
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July 10, 2025
Introduction by Croakey: World leaders are calling for a moratorium on deep sea mining to prevent devastating and irreversible environmental harm. This week, governments are meeting in Jamaica at the 30th Session of the International Seabed...
Letter: Ditching the Kiwi for the Dragon?
Cook Island News
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July 9, 2025
Dear Editor, There’s been a lot of noise lately. Social media threads, barbershop debates, and coconut wireless conversations about whether the Cook Islands should continue accepting aid from New Zealand. Some call it “dependence.” Others call it...
Australia Obstructed Probe Into Deadly ‘Rainbow Warrior’ Bombing
Consortium News
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July 10, 2025
Forty years later, David Robie, the only journalist on board the Greenpeace ship in the weeks leading up to its bombing on July 10, 1985, looks back on this act of French state terrorism in a New Zealand port. The Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior...
Cook Islands launches first-ever National Awards system: Te Tango Raumaire o Avaiki
Cook Island News
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June 30, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Brown. SUPPLIED. The Office of the Prime Minister is proud to announce the establishment of Te Tango Raumaire o Avaiki: The Cook Islands National Awards, an historic milestone to recognise and honour outstanding service,...
Cook Islands Cabinet approves significant increase in tobacco tax
Talanoa 'O Tonga
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June 30, 2025
Cook Islands Cabinet has approved a significant increase in tobacco tax, aiming to reduce smoking rates and combat non-communicable diseases. The Cabinet has recently approved the initiative set by Ministry of Health to increase the tobacco tax by...
The Tree of Life: Honouring the Coconut Tree's Sacred Place in the Cook Islands Culture
Infonews NZ
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You’ve seen it in nearly every photo of our little paradise — the iconic coconut tree. It’s the unmistakable symbol of tropical life, a mark that you’ve arrived somewhere truly special. But in the Cook Islands, the coconut is more than just a...
Cook Islands unveils historic National Awards system
Cook Island News
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June 27, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Brown in Parliament this week. LOSIRENE LACANIVALU/25062316 Cook Islands has established its own national awards system, Te Tango Raumaire o Avaiki, to recognise outstanding service and achievement across all sectors of...
Cook Islands Parliament passes 2025/26 Budget
Cook Island News
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June 25, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Brown in Parliament on June 23, 2025. LOSIRENE LACANIVALU / 25062320 The Cook Islands Parliament on Tuesday passed the 2025/26 Budget after just over a week of debate, with Parliament sitting only half-days during this period....
Eat Pacific Cookbook wins Global Award
Samoa News
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July 9, 2025
LISBON, Portugal — In a celebration of Pacific food, identity, and culture, the Pacific Island Food Revolution cookbook, Eat Pacific, has been awarded the Best South Pacific Book in the World 2024 at the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards...
New Zealand citizenship ‘by right, not privilege’, says Cook Islands PM Brown
Island Times
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June 27, 2025
RAROTONGA (COOK ISLANDS NEWS)—Cook Islanders are New Zealand citizens “not by privilege, but by right”, said Prime Minister Mark Brown in response to a recent poll conducted in New Zealand on citizenship rights. The nationwide poll, commissioned...
Cook Islands Prime Minister slams NZ aid freeze as ‘patronising’
Talanoa 'O Tonga
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June 22, 2025
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says New Zealand’s decision to pause development aid is patronising and will harm the country’s most vulnerable citizens. In a ministerial statement to Parliament on Thursday (Cook Islands time), Brown...
400 Cook Islanders permitted to bring in medicinal cannabis
Cook Island News
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June 25, 2025
Health Minister Rose Toki-Brown in Parliament yesterday. 25062410 About 400 Cook Islanders are now permitted to bring medicinal cannabis into the country, according to the Minister of Health, Rose Toki-Brown. About 400 Cook Islanders are now...
NZ Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll reveals nearly half of Kiwis oppose automatic citizenship for Cook Islands
RNZ
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June 24, 2025
Under the Cook Islands constitution, New Zealand cannot pass laws for the Cook Islands. Photo: Supplied / PMN A new poll by the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union-Curia shows that almost half of respondents oppose the Cook Islands having automatic New...
Nearly half of Kiwis oppose automatic citizenship for Cook Islands, says poll
Asia Pacific Report
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June 25, 2025
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist A new poll by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union shows that almost half of respondents oppose the Cook Islands having automatic New Zealand citizenship. Thirty percent of the 1000-person sample supported...
NZ Taxpayers' Union poll reveals nearly half of Kiwis oppose automatic citizenship for Cook Islands
RNZ
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June 24, 2025
Under the Cook Islands constitution, New Zealand cannot pass laws for the Cook Islands. Photo: Supplied / PMN A new poll by the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union shows that almost half of respondents oppose the Cook Islands having automatic New Zealand...
Cook Islands – trouble in Paradise as Wellington pulls the plug
Waatea News
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June 20, 2025
Role Funding: In December 2024, Prime Minister Mark Brown proposed issuing a unique Cook Islands passport—a move Wellington warned could signal constitutional independence. Although the passport plan was later shelved, it heightened sensitivity...
Cook Islands PM slams NZ over funding pause
Otago Daily Times
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June 20, 2025
By Caleb Fortheringham of RNZ Pausing nearly $20 million in development assistance is "patronising" and "inconsistent with modern partnership", Prime Minister Mark Brown has told the Cook Islands parliament. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston...