Cook Islands remains 'committed' to New Zealand despite disagreements, trust issues

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, left, and Foreign Affairs Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters in Rarotonga. 8 February 2024 Photo: RNZ Pacific / Eleisha Foon

The Cook Islands government says it remains committed to the "enduring relationship" of free association with New Zealand.

A second round of funding to the realm nation has been paused by New Zealand, bringing the total to almost NZ$30 million over two years.

The disagreement between the two governments stems from four partnership agreements that Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown signed with China at the beginning of the year.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will not attend the milestone event in Rarotonga, which will celebrate the Cook Islands’ six decades of self-governance in free association with NZ. Photo: RNZ Pacific

The New Zealand government believed it should have been consulted over the agreements while Brown disagreed.

A Cook Islands government spokesperson said the country continues to engage with New Zealand in good faith to restore confidence and strengthen cooperation.

"These discussions are ongoing, so it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time," the spokesperson said.

"The prime minister will not be taking interviews at this stage. The Cook Islands government's position has already been communicated through official channels.

"We remain committed to our enduring relationship of free association with New Zealand, a partnership built on mutual respect, trust, and shared responsibility for the wellbeing of our realm."

This week, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the Cook Islands was solely responsible for the dent in the relationship between the two nations.

"We need to see a response from the Cook Islands to restore that trust," he said at the post-cabinet press conference on Monday.

Winston Peters Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

Peters says 'not a foreign policy matter'

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Tuesday that New Zealand's relationship with the Cook Islands is with its people, not the government.

Peters said there is no breakdown in the relationship between him and Brown.

"It's not a foreign policy matter. It's not a government-to-government matter," he said.

"I made it very clear to Mark Brown, when this thing first started to emerge, that our relationship is between the people of New Zealand and the people of the Cook Islands.

"It's the people who've got this, what we might call a pretty sacred agreement with and we intend to honour it.

"We've got to make sure the Cook Islands people know what's happening in their name, because what's happening at the moment is a breach of the realm special relationship."

He said if the Cook Islands wants to become independent of New Zealand, they should "have a referendum and tell us".

"But in the meantime, we're not going to let the Cook Islands people down."

Chris Hipkins Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

NZ should focus on rebuilding relationship - Hipkins

New Zealand's opposition leader Chris Hipkins believes it is time for "cooler heads", saying the New Zealand government's concerns over the island nation's actions are completely legitimate.

"It's absolutely right for New Zealand to express concern about that, but withholding financial support is actually driving the wedge deeper," he said.

"It's driving them further away into the arms of other countries, when actually we should be focused on rebuilding that relationship."