Polynesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007 - ScholarSpace

Polynesia in Review: Issues and Events,
1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007

Reviews of American Sämoa, Hawai‘i,       clearly designed to counter the provi-
Niue, Tokelau, Tonga, and Tuvalu are      sions of New Zealand’s civil union
not included in this issue.               legislation (CIN, 19 July 2006, 1).
                                             Government also committed itself
  Cook Islands
                                          to a variety of programs including the
The period under review was domi-         development of geotourism through
nated by an unprecedented call for        an agreement signed by Tourism
general elections, parliamentary con-     Minister Wilkie Rasmussen and Sarah
flicts, and budget approval constraints   Laskin, vice president of public and
that at times tested the interpretation   business development for National
of the powers of the head of state.       Geographic. The agreement obligated
Ongoing out-migration of Cook             the island country to adhere to four-
Islanders, environmental problems,        teen geotourism principles designed
and continuing inflation slipped under    to sustain and enhance the geographic
the radar as politicians pushed for       character of a given place, including
major salary increases and most Cook      the environment, culture, aesthetics,
Islanders struggled from paycheck         and the well-being of its people. In
to paycheck. The popular American         return, National Geographic prom-
television series Survivor, and some      ised to produce maps and brochures
sporting successes, provided some         “which identify the unique features of
respite, but an unpredictable tourist     the Cook Islands” (CIN, 2 Aug, 2006,
industry, technical personnel limita-     1). The Cook Islands becomes only
tions, and occasional invasive diseases   the fourth country to accede to the
and insects reminded Cook Islanders       charter.
to be constantly vigilant.                   In July Teina Bishop, member for
    July 2006 began with continuing       Arutanga (Aitutaki), resigned from his
concern by many observers about the       cabinet post realigning himself with
leak of the Queen’s Honours list from     the opposition Cook Islands Party
the office of Prime Minister Jim Maru-    (cip). Not long after, Kiriau Turepu
rai, which he dismissed as “unimport-     (cip) won the snap election for the
ant” (CIN, 5 July, 4). Perhaps of more    Matavera (Rarotonga) constituency,
concern to Marurai were political         potentially changing the balance of
undercurrents aimed toward replac-        power in Parliament and creating a
ing him and the Speaker of the House      footing for a change of government
(CIN, 6 July 2006, 1). Meanwhile,         (CIN, 20 July 2006, 1). The political
one of the laws finalized by the Cook     battle intensified when opposition cip
Islands Parliament was a Marriage         members met in Parliament without
Amendment Bill outlawing marriages        Democratic Party (Demo) govern-
between homosexuals. The law was          ment members. After swearing in the

216

pol i t ical reviews • polynesia                                             217

newly elected Kiriau Turepu, they         candidate Tepure Tapaitau CIN, 10
voted the Demo government out. The        Aug 2006, 1). Apparently catching the
event was broadcast live on national      campaign committee off guard, the
radio, attracting accusations of a coup   Cook Islands Party failed to nominate
attempt bordering on sedition and         a substitute candidate, so Rasmus-
treason. The extraordinary chain of       sen entered the election unopposed.
events became even more confusing         The election was hotly contested
when Queen’s Representative Sir Fred-     for 23 of the 24 seats. After some
erick Goodwin called for a general        recounts—and allegations of bribery
election. This essentially negated the    involving bread, fish, pearls, and an
by-election just won by Turepu and        excavator—the Democratic Party
preempted the later attempt by cip        won a majority of seats and formed a
parliamentarians to use a vote of no      government (CIN, 14 Oct 2006, 1; CIN,
confidence to force a change of gov-      27 Oct 2006, 1).
ernment (CIN, 25 July 2006). The high         During this intense election period,
court was drawn into the drama amid       the caretaker government faced
accusations of political maneuvering      budgetary limitations, and the queen’s
on both sides of the aisle. Meanwhile,    representative issued an unprecedented
caretaker Prime Minister Jim Marurai      decree authorizing bridging expen-
tried to reassure the general popula-     diture from 20 November to twelve
tion that there was no cause for alarm    sitting days after the first meeting of
(CIN, 25 July 2006, 1). The election      the newly elected Parliament (CIN,
was set for 26 September 2006.            18 Nov 2006, 1). In the subsequent
   Sir Geoffrey Arama Henry               debate over the intervention, New
announced his retirement from the         Zealand constitutional expert Dr
Cook Islands Party leadership effec-      Alex Frame warned that the claim
tive 31 August 2006, and as mem-          of “necessity” cited by the head of
ber of Parliament representing the        state was difficult to justify (CIN, 18
Takuvaine (Rarotonga) constituency.       Dec 2006, 1). A second legal opinion
Mark Brown replaced Henry as cip          by Dr William Hodges, a member of
candidate for Takuvaine, and Tom          the Auckland University law faculty,
Marsters, the member of Parlia-           supported Frame’s remarks but added
ment for Murienua (Rarotonga), was        that the queen’s representative “does
eventually elected to lead the Cook       have reserve powers ‘to sustain and
Islands Party in Parliament (CIN, 13      not to destroy’ peace, order and good
Dec 2006, 1). The party now faces         government as provided by the consti-
multiple challenges: new leadership, a    tution” (CIN, 21 Dec 2006, 13).
seemingly overzealous head of state,          The national police provided one
possible court challenges, and a pend-    focus for the newly constituted Demo
ing general election.                     government when an eagerly awaited
   As candidates filed their nomina-      review identified poor leadership,
tions for the elections, Wilkie Ras-      financial mismanagement, and lack of
mussen switched his allegiance to the     public confidence as key issues fac-
Democratic Party. He had originally       ing the force (CIN, 5 Dec 2006, 1). In
won his seat by nine votes over Demo      April, the cabinet appointed Patrick

218                              the contemporary pacific • 20:1 (2008)

Tasker, a New Zealand inspector, as        Cook Islands Investments Corporation
the new commissioner of police. The        (ciic) board chairman Julian Dash-
new commissioner will be expected          wood over plans to tour Auckland
to manage necessary changes while          ports in February 2007. The decision
sustaining police operations (CIN, 28      to terminate Beer may have also been
April 2007, 1). In another change,         influenced by a December 2006 audit
local Shola Ivaiti was named to replace    that claimed improper payments of
Kevin Carr as financial secretary (CIN,    over nz$30,000 for consultancy work
23 Feb 2007, 1). Earlier, former Solici-   (CIN, Feb 2007, 1). Dashwood himself
tor General Janet Maki became the          was later terminated after the change
country’s first woman ombudsman,           of government. “Maybe it’s because
beginning her new job 15 November          I was trying to weed out corruption.
2006 (CIN, 1 Nov 2006, 1). Her stated      I guess my standards are higher than
goal was to provide a public service       theirs,” declared Dashwood (CIN, 22
that ensures government accountabil-       Feb 2007, 1). The Chamber of Com-
ity (CIN, 3 Nov 2006, 3).                  merce weighed in on the controversy
   The issue of fisheries poaching         by expressing concern at the “appar-
emerged in December, when long-liner       ent political interference shown by
FV Tim Tam was captured by a police        the sacking of Dashwood (CIN, 23
squad fishing ninety nautical miles        Feb 2007, 1). Local businessman Sam
south-southwest of Penrhyn Island.         “Gumby” Crocombe replaced Beer as
The Tim Tam had a Korean captain           the new chairman of the Ports Author-
and a crew made up of a Samoan,            ity Board, while Tapi Taio replaced
Fijian, Chinese, and three Taiwanese       Dashwood as ciic chairman (CIN, 9
sailors (CIN, 6 Dec 2006, 1). About        March 2007, 1).
seventeen tons of mostly albacore tuna        In April 2007, the Chinese-funded
on board were sold off cheaply to the      National Police Headquarters in
general public in Rarotonga (CIN, 14       Avarua was finally opened with a
Dec 2006, 1). Skipper Yeong Bae Han        ceremony led by Queen’s Representa-
was convicted and fined the minimum        tive Sir Frederick Goodwin and the
nz$100,000, a far cry from the legal       Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yuan-
maximum of nz$1 million (CIN, 16           yuan (CIN, 2 April 2007, 5). The
Dec 2006, 1). In May 2007, a Taiwan-       government revealed a Chinese-funded
ese long-lining vessel FV Yin Chen         nz$7.5 million road-upgrading project
No 1 was caught fishing illegally and      for the 5.5-kilometer stretch of back
Captain Man Liu Tsai was convicted         road from Nikao to Takuvaine, to be
in the high court. Noting that the ves-    completed in time for the 2009 South
sel had made multiple excursions into      Pacific Mini Games (CIN, 14 March
the Cook Islands exclusive economic        2007, 1). China also agreed to fund
zone, the court ordered a fine of          a new sports stadium for the Cook
nz$200,000 plus nz$50,000 in costs         Islands with nz$4 million in aid, plus
(CIN, 24 May 2007, 1).                     a further nz$2 million in concessional
   Another focus for controversy was       loans (CIN, 20 March 2007, 1).
the Ports Authority Board, whose              In January, Minister of Foreign
chairman Don Beer Jr was sacked by         Affairs and Immigration Wilkie Ras-

pol i t ical reviews • polynesia                                            219

mussen noted an increase in foreigners        In March 2007, Parliament changed
illegally working in the country. He      a law empowering the cabinet to give
warned that it was a serious issue and,   members a pay raise without being
after meeting with communities of         bound by the independent Remunera-
Samoans, Fijians, Kiribati, and others,   tion Tribunal (CIN, 8 March 2007,
some twenty foreigners were given         1). Proposed adjustments would
forty days to leave the country (CIN, 5   increase the prime minister’s salary
Jan 2007, 1; CIN, 25 May 2007, 1).        from nz$75,000 to nz$105,000, with
    As of December 2006, the Cook         members of Parliament going from
Islands total population including        nz$35,000 to nz$50,000 per year
visitors was 19,569 (9,932 men and        (CIN, 12 April 2007, 1). The increases
9,637 women), an increase of 8.6          are apparently exclusive of many addi-
percent compared to the last census       tional allowances. A group for politi-
in 2001. Large population declines        cal change challenged the government
were noted for the Northern group,        to justify the change, and the Chamber
especially Manihiki Island, from 515      of Commerce’s Teresa Manarangi-
in 2001, to 351 in 2006 (CIN, 13 April    Trott described the raises as extremely
2007, 1).                                 disturbing (CIN, 10 March 2007, 1;
    The budget estimate for the 2006–     CIN , 20 March 2007, 1).
2007 financial year tabled in Parlia-         Tourism remained the largest indus-
ment by Minister of Finance Dr Tere-      try in the Cook Islands. Spotlight-
pai Maoate totaled nz$106.9 million       ing that market, Air New Zealand’s
(CIN, 14 Dec 2006, 1). The 2007–2008      short-haul group general manager
budget policy estimates the govern-       Norm Thompson and Air Rarotonga’s
ment’s net worth at nz$133.6 million      managing director Ewan Smith signed
in the new financial year, noting that    a new code-share agreement to pro-
aid to the Cook Islands is expected to    vide joint schedules between Aitutaki
total nz$28.7 million. This represents    and Rarotonga beginning in May
a drop of nz$8.6 million, partially       2007 (CIN, 5 April 2007, 1). Air Tahiti
explained by the removal of a one-off     began its first Tahiti-Rarotonga con-
Australian payment of nz$4.5 million      necting flight under a code-shared ser-
for the upgrade of the patrol boat Te     vice with Air Rarotonga (CIN, 3 April
Kukupa in the 2006 budget (CIN, 3         2007, 1). The joint venture offers a
April 2007, 1). New Zealand retained      twice-a-week service (CIN, 4 April
its designation as the highest donor to   2007, 1). Cruise ship tourism contin-
the Cook Islands with nz$10.3 million     ued during the year, and the 119,000
in aid. Government debt is expected to    ton, 750-cabin Sapphire Princess,
be nz$54.8 million by June 2007. The      carrying 2,670 passengers, became
budget statement anticipated that pro-    the largest cruise ship yet to visit
ceeds from the pearl industry would       Rarotonga (CIN, 30 April 2007, 1).
increase by 10 percent (from nz$2.1           During this review period, the
million in 2006), while the fishing       government launched the country’s
industry would continue exporting an      fifteen-year sustainable develop-
estimated nz$9.9 million worth of fish    ment plan titled “Living the Cook
a year (CIN, 3 April 2007, 1).            Islands Vision—A 2020 Challenge”

220                              the contemporary pacific • 20:1 (2008)

(Te Kaveinga Nui—Pathway for              Apostolic Church denominations, was
Sustainable Development in the Cook       regularly called on to offer invoca-
Islands). In a public meeting, hotel      tions and benedictions at government
entrepreneur and economist Tata           functions and events. In July 2006, the
Crocombe called it a plan to nowhere,     council issued a call for a national day
pointing out that it failed to incor-     to pray and fast for the political “cir-
porate some of the country’s big-         cus” occurring in the Cook Islands.
gest problems such as depopulation,       The rac chairman, Pastor Tutai Pere,
human resource development, aid           declared that the tiny nation needed
dependence—and politicians. More-         “deliverance from further political
over he observed that the government      bondage of disunity, instability and
was too big (CIN, 25 Jan 2007, 1).        uncertainty” (CIN, 6 July 2006, 1).
Cabinet Minister Wilkie Rasmussen         In another public display of political
defended the government by point-         pressure, Ngatangiia Cook Islands
ing out that the issues mentioned by      Christian Church Pastor Iana Aitau
Crocombe were not new, labeling           asked police to enforce a ban prevent-
his comments as “purely ideals and        ing people from swimming or surfing
theories of convenience” (CIN, 26 Jan     on Sundays. The police responded
2007, 4).                                 that they could only ask people but
   During the year, Tata Crocombe’s       in effect could not enforce such a rule
sweetheart deal in purchasing the         (CIN, 11 July 2006, 1).
government-owned Rarotongan Hotel            In 2007 Cook Islanders appeared
reemerged in the news. Tata Cro-          in third place on a list of the world’s
combe had been recruited by Sir Geof-     fattest countries. Nauru topped the list
frey Henry’s government to broker the     with the greatest percentage of over-
sale of state assets, but ended up pur-   weight adults (94.5 percent) followed
chasing the hotel himself for nz$3.25     by Federated States of Micronesia,
million with no money down, and a         Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, Sämoa,
grace period of ten years to pay back     Palau, and Kiribati. The United States
the money with no interest charges.       follows in ninth place (74.1 percent).
The media noted that the ten-year         Conducted by the United Nations
period was ending in September 2007       World Health Western Pacific Regional
(CIN, 18 Jan 2007, 1). Crocombe was       office and the London-based Interna-
also linked to a proposed Black Rock      tional Obesity Task Force, researchers
tourist development scheme incorpo-       looked at the adult population over
rating the current golf course, Black     age fifteen. Obesity rates highlighted
Rock preschool, and Harley Street in      imbalances between levels of physical
Rarotonga (CIN, 25 Nov 2006, 1).          activity, and significant changes in diet
   Throughout the year under review,      (CIN, 21 Feb 2007, 1).
religion maintained a powerful               The review period also saw a sharp
influence on politics. The Religious      rise in dengue fever cases (CIN, 14 Feb
Advisor Council (rac), representing       2007, 1). The Cook Islands Ministry
the Cook Islands Christian Church,        of Health finally responded with plans
Catholic, Seventh-Day Adventist, Lat-     for a mosquito-spraying blitz (CIN,
ter-day Saints, Assembly of God and       15 Feb 2007, 1). Although the use of

pol i t ical reviews • polynesia                                              221

Reslin in the spray and its potentially    is that outside entertainment value
toxic effects received some heavy criti-   that reality tv shows provide, viewers
cism from the public, spraying con-        will find the natural attractions of the
tinued anyway (CIN, 18 April 2007,         country highly appealing and consider
1). A total of 1,394 cases of dengue       the Cook Islands as an option for an
have been recorded since May 2006,         island vacation” (CIN, 20 Jan 2007, 7).
with most (1,296) having occurred              Another attraction in the Cook
in Rarotonga. Some nineteen tourists       Islands during the year was the tradi-
were affected.                             tional canoe-building project, Te Mire
   Educational initiatives were also in    Tarai Vaka (CIN, 18 July 2006, 1).
the news during the year. Thirty-five      However the most challenging sport-
students enrolled in the University        ing event was the third Vaka Eiva,
of the South Pacific’s new Master of       a canoe race around the island of
Business Administration program,           Rarotonga involving thirty-five teams
most being heads of departments            of canoe paddlers from New Zealand,
paying their own way (CIN, 16 Feb          Australia, Hawai‘i, Fiji, Niue, Tahiti,
2007, 1). The usp center also received     and Cook Islands (CIN, 17 Nov 2006,
a nz$300,000 upgrade (CIN, 25 June         1–17).
2007, 1). On the downside, the Cook            The year under review was also
Islands government withdrew its            marked by drug and criminal activi-
support for the South Pacific School       ties. Cocaine bound for Rarotonga
of Medicine set up in Rarotonga on         and valued at nz$5.6 million was
16 March 2004. It was to be a two-         seized in Auckland. Hidden in the
year course costing foreign students       linings of two suitcases, the cocaine is
us$39,000 (nz$56,000). The govern-         believed to have come from São Paulo,
ment removed its backing after discov-     South America. It is uncertain whether
ering that the founder, controversial      Rarotonga was the final destination or
American Dr Larry Sands, had been          a transit point to the Australian mar-
convicted of mail fraud, and disci-        ket (CIN, 29 Nov 2006, 1). An unpro-
plined for prescribing wrong medi-         voked stabbing of an unarmed youth
cines (CIN, 21 March 2007, 1).             brought the realities of big city vio-
   By July of 2006, the popular televi-    lence to Rarotonga, with Cook Islands
sion series American Survivor had          police declaring their determination
begun filming its “reality game” on        to stamp it out (CIN, 21 Dec 2006,
Aitutaki. Filming in Cook Islands was      1). The Religious Advisory Council
completed by 4 August, and Tour-           reacted to the stabbing by calling for
ism Authority chief executive Chris        the formation of a youth action team
Wong revealed that the production          dubbed “Youth for Life—Mapu Kia
had injected an estimated nz$3 mil-        Ora” (CIN, 22 Dec 2006, 1).
lion into the Cook Islands economy             Cook Islanders continued to take a
(CIN, 5 August 2006, 1). Exposure          deep interest in environmental issues.
of the Cook Islands to over 16 mil-        As active participants in the United
lion people in the United States alone     Nations Framework Convention
was expected to increase visitors to       on Climate Change and the Kyoto
the country. Wong stated, “Our hope        Protocol since 1992, the Cook Islands

222                              the contemporary pacific • 20:1 (2008)

joined other island countries in a plea    bird, which was once plentiful on the
for a reduction of greenhouse gas          island of Atiu. Before it became almost
emissions to larger countries that con-    extinct, its feathers were used for the
tribute most to global warming. Island     cloaks and headdresses of high chiefs.
nations have been described as “the        In a joint effort in April, naturalists
conscience” on climate change (CIN,        and Atiuans brought in twenty-seven
21 Dec 2006, 5). The Cook Islands          birds from Rimatara Island in French
is already being impacted by climatic      Polynesia (CIN, 28 April 2007, 1).
changes, particularly with regard to           As part of its Unit Titles Bill initia-
its tourism and pearl industries (CIN,     tive the Tepaki group purchased the
16 April 2007, 3).                         twelve-unit Castaway property for
    As part of the government’s plan       nz$2.3 million, adding to their recent
to reduce dependency on fossil oil,        purchases of Manea Beach for nz$1.8
a wind energy farm project was             million, and Lagoon Lodges for nz$4
proposed at Kiikii on the island of        million, with expected settlements for
Rarotonga (CIN, 24 Jan 2007, 1).           the Aquarius and the Manuia Beach
Preliminary testing for persistent         properties (CIN, 2 May 2007, 1). The
organic pollutants (pops) in Raro-         Tepaki group also maintains a keen
tonga lagoons indicated concentra-         interest in building a high-rise apart-
tions of chlorinated pesticide (ddt        ment block on the Cook Islands High
and methoxychlor), polycyclice             Commission office location in New
aromatic hydrocarbons (pah) and            Zealand. The New Zealand High
phthalates (dehp) above the detec-         Court had ruled against Tepaki’s so-
tion limit. Environmentalist Imogen        called “diplomatic project,” which
Ingram pointed out that the govern-        planned to turn the Cook Islands High
ment needed to take positive action        Commission chancery in Wellington
to remedy the environmental chal-          into a high-rise office and apartment
lenge because it was a signatory to the    complex. Originally approved by the
Stockholm Convention that agreed to        Cook Islands government, the deal
a total eradication of pops (CIN, 15       was canceled when certain conditions
Nov 2006, 7).                              were not met and when the govern-
    Another problem that emerged           ment changed (CIN, 18 Oct 2006, 1).
during the year took the form of the       jon tikivanotau m jonassen
glassy-winged “sharpshooter” bug.
Discovered in Rarotonga, and sus-
pected to have arrived on plants smug-     References
gled in from Tahiti, the insect feeds on
                                           CIN,   Cook Islands News. Rarotonga. Daily.
more than three hundred host plants
including trees, crops, and plants such
as hibiscus, gardenia, and papaya.
It is also known to transmit Pierce’s
disease, which affects grapevines (CIN,       French Polynesia
4 April 2007, 1, 7). In more positive      Political instability continued in
environmental news, the year marked        French Polynesia during the year
the return of the kura or lorikeet         under review. The barely two-year-