Mr Speaker, Clerk of Parliament, Honourable Prime Minister, fellow Cabinet Ministers, Leader of the Opposition, all Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen and to our people listening in to this broadcast – Kia Orana.
In 1965, we, the people of the Cook Islands exercised our right to self-determination and entered into a relationship of free association with New Zealand. At that time, our people had four governance choices to choose from – to go independent; to remain a colony of New Zealand; to explore a Polynesian Federation with our near neighbours Tahiti or “self-governing in free association with New Zealand”.
With great foresight and the historical and ancestry ties that bound us to Aotearoa, our people chose “self-governing in free association” with New Zealand and so was born, sixty years ago, the state of the Cook Islands as we know ourselves to be today. That relationship of free association with New Zealand has remained an evolving one of partnership, freely entered into and freely maintained, with both countries respecting the right and freedom of the other to pursue their own national policies and interests.
Since 1965, under successive governments and in cooperation with many development partners, the Cook Islands has developed in many ways. Consonant with its growing experience and expertise in foreign affairs matters, the Cook Islands has increasingly assumed direct responsibility for our own international relations, bilateral and multilateral, regional and global. Those free association arrangements have been codified by the Cook Islands and New Zealand in successive understandings over the decades, including the 2001 Joint Centenary Declaration (JCD).
To date, the Cook Islands has established diplomatic relations and formal partnerships with 66 countries and the European Union, we are members of over 40 Organisations (including most UN Specialised Agencies) and are a party to over 150 multilateral treaties, conventions and protocols, in our own right.
The world of 2025, is very different to that of 1965. The Cook Islands finds itself at a crossroads of change, with skyrocketing inflation, supply chain challenges, graduated OECD DAC Status, and grappling more than ever with the effects of human induced climate change. Amidst all these challenges, the world continues to show growing interest in our Pacific region.
That interest requires our Government take a proactive approach to ensure the continued security and prosperity of our people by harnessing international partnerships that can support deliver transformative outcomes for our People. We must take and act on opportunities, to deliver on our national priorities, those that the people have determined and articulated in our National Sustainable Development Agenda (NSDA) 2020+. A one-hundred-year plan to carry us through to 2121.
Much has been said in recent days about our relationship with Aotearoa New Zealand. That relationship is one bound by inter-generational ties which go back well over a century.
Back to the ocean voyaging times of our ancestors, who settled Rarotonga, and those who journeyed onwards to settle Aotearoa.
Back to the ANZACs and the 500 young Cook Islands men, 5% of our population at the time, from across Rarotonga and our pa enua who enlisted to serve in the allies war effort more than 100 years ago because Aotearoa asked us for help.
Back to 1965, and our act of self-determination in choosing self-governing in free association with New Zealand, to present day 2025 where we celebrate together with New Zealand our 60 years of self-governance in free association with New Zealand.
We are proud of our relationship of free association with New Zealand – one which has been beneficial for both New Zealand and the Cook Islands. Our economies are intertwined, our people and cultures are intertwined, and our futures are intertwined. Just as Aotearoa New Zealand continues to forge international partnerships in the interest of the people of New Zealand, so too must our government forge international partnerships in the interest of the people of the Cook Islands.
Despite the ordeal of Covid, its continuing ramifications and our OECD DAC graduated status, our eye is on the long game, as it must. Economic growth that supports the resilience of our people on Rarotonga and across our pa enua, taking better care of our human and natural capital, evolving from quantity to quality growth and diversifying must be our choice, it is what will define us and it is what will ensure the survival of our people.
Now more than ever, we must ensure that the Cook Islands’ voice is clear, that our national priorities are understood and our international engagements are built on genuine partnerships centered on respect for sovereignty and mutual benefit that will deliver for our People now and into the future.
Our Voyage to Statehood has not been an easy one but it was a path worth taking. It is a journey we’ve taken with courage, foresight, determination and a conviction that for our children to thrive into the future, we must chart our own course.
With that same mindset and determination, the Cook Islands, deliver for our People, tangible outcomes and workable solutions for some of the bespoke challenges we face. To ensure the security and prosperity of our People, let us renew our focus and be guided by the NSDA2020+.
I take this time to thank the many people who contributed to the development of the NSDA2020+, including those NGOs, businesses, the Church, our traditional leaders, development partners and our Public Service. Thank you for your commitment and efforts, in service of our People. The power of partnership lies not in what we receive, but what we build together.
The NSDA2020+ highlights our People’s priorities, and we welcome development Partners who would like to support and help us deliver on our 100-year vision of national wellbeing. The Cook Islands, through our engagements continue to seek international partnerships that are committed through voice and action, to genuine collaboration and delivering transformative outcomes for our People.
The Cook Islands as a People, a country and in its international persona, has developed and matured in the 60 years since 1965. In those sixty years, together we have built a nation that in 1973, had a GDP of 747 USD per capita, to one that today, we can proudly say is currently sitting at 17,033 USD per capita (data.un.org), from 0 diplomatic partners to 67, from not being able to do much in our own right, to joining over 40 international organisations and being a party to over 150 treaties, conventions and protocols, in our own right. This is a testament to our adaptation, evolution, resilience and determination as a people and as a country.
In closing, what I would like you, to have taken away from this address today; where I want us to get to as Members of Parliament; and as it is relevant for your own interactions; to approach and consider the Cook Islands as a country, a people, small and determined enough to make bold decisions quickly, agile enough to accept the need to take calculated risk and push boundaries, ready to solidify opportunities beyond a single industry-based economy, and with a leadership deeply committed to serving the needs of our people.
With enduring relationships and transformative partnerships, we know we can make it work.
I thank you all for your attention and I look forward to our collective celebrations of this 60th year of our self governance in free association with New Zealand. Much work remains to be done if we are to ensure the security and prosperity of our ipukarea – our lands, our ocean, our people – past, present and future. Te Kuki Airani kia malaga – let us uplilft, with unity, our blessed nation of the Cook Islands. Kia Ora e Kia Manuia tatou kātoatoa.
END.
*The delivery of parliamentary statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs & Immigration, Hon. Tingika Elikana to the 12th Meeting of the 18th Parliament of the Cook Islands, 17th February 2025 can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/cookislands.parliament/videos/1665895853997938