What the Cook Islands rift says about our relationships in the Pacific
Mark Brown's trip to China risks damaging the close bond between the Cook Islands and NZ.
Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Monday, February 10.
In today’s edition: Act leader David Seymour wrote a letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne before the eye surgeon was charged, “golden visa” rules for wealthy overseas investors relaxed, and what Act’s Nicole McKee misunderstands about te Tiriti o Waitangi. But first, the second diplomatic snub in the Pacific in recent weeks.
‘Significant concern’
New Zealand’s tight knit relationship with the Cook Islands is at risk after the nation’s prime minister Mark Brown headed off to China to sign a new strategic partnership. A statement yesterday from foreign minister Winston Peters, reported by 1News’ Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver, said the government had “significant concern” after a lack of consultation on the deal and New Zealand had asked for more detail ahead of Brown’s trip. "We therefore view the Cook Islands as having failed to properly consult New Zealand with respect to any agreements it plans to sign this coming week in China,” said Peters.
On Friday, Brown told RNZ Pacific that New Zealand had been demanding too much oversight and the relationship between the two countries was meant to be reciprocal. "They certainly did not consult with us when they signed their comprehensive partnership agreement [with China] and we would not expect them to consult with us," he said. "There is no need for New Zealand to sit in the room with us while we are going through our comprehensive agreement with China.
Cook Islands denies secrecy
Tensions between New Zealand and the Cook Islands have been bubbling away for some time now, as Barbara Dreaver explained in analysis for 1News. Late last year, it was revealed that Brown had been pushing for Cook Islanders to have a separate passport and citizenship while still maintaining its status as a realm country of New Zealand. Our government said that wasn’t possible and the Cook Islands would have to consider total independence in order to achieve this. That’s now off the table, but the talks with China have instead ignited security concerns – something Brown has pushed back on. Speaking to local media before his trip, Brown denied any secrecy in his dealings with China. “We have always conducted our international affairs with integrity and transparency. Every agreement we enter will be in the best interests of the Cook Islands, and our people will be fully informed every step of the way,” he said.
Speaking with RNZ, geopolitics expert Anna Powles said the move by the Cook Islands leader and how it has been responded to will be watched closely by others in the region. "It will be seen as a barometer in the region for how [New Zealand] engages with other Pacific Forum country members,” she said.
China in the Pacific
The broader background of all this is wariness over China’s influence in the Pacific. That’s not new – Chris Hipkins was in Papua New Guinea as prime minister in 2023, for example, as the nation signed up to a new security pact with the United States that was clearly intended as a rebuke of China. Ahead of a visit to Tonga last year, Winston Peters suggested in an interview with the Associated Press that Western nations – including the United States and New Zealand – had allowed a power vacuum to emerge in the Pacific that meant other nations could increase their influence. “If you are not there as an influence, then other influences that don’t share your values might seriously fill the vacuum, and that has happened,” said Peters.
The foreign minister has made it his mission since returning to office in 2023 to reassert New Zealand’s place as part of the Pacific family. By the end of November, he had visited 15 of the 17 Pacific Islands Forum member countries.
Filling the gap
One nation Peters has yet to visit is Kiribati, another Pacific island experiencing a strained relationship with New Zealand. Much like with the situation in the Cook Islands, the diplomatic spat has played out on the record, which has piqued interest around the world (CNN, for example, noted that “Pacific allies don’t usually air their dirty laundry in public”). That same report noted that the spat between Kiribati and the New Zealand government, also due to a diplomatic snub though of a very different nature, highlighted concerns over the “battle for influence in the Pacific between China and Western nations”. China has not had the same barriers to engagement with Kiribati that New Zealand has, despite historic ties as Pacific allies, noted by Andrea Vance in the Sunday Star-Times.
Chinese media also suggested that the nation could be able to a fill a void caused by the change in government in the United States, with the Trump administration freezing aid support and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. The US is also expecting to deport a number of undocumented Pasifika migrants, reported the Pacific Media Network, which has some Pacific leaders concerned. Sam Sachdeva looked at the issue of aid for Newsroom Pro this morning (paywalled), with one expert warning New Zealand would have to increase its spend in the Pacific unless we want China to swoop in.
Have thoughts? Join the conversation in the comments.
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The letter David Seymour sent in support of Philip Polkinghorne
Act leader David Seymour wrote a letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne during the investigation into the death of the Remuera eye surgeon’s wife, revealed Caroline Meng-Yee for the Herald on Sunday (paywalled). The letter, which criticised police, was written in 2022 while Seymour was just an electorate MP. It was sent months before Polkinghorne was charged with the murder. Polkinghorne was ultimately found not guilty.
While Seymour said he was simply passing on a constituent’s concerns, the Herald’s Audrey Young argued the MP was “extremely unwise” in sending the letter (paywalled), and should he have been a minister at the time he would almost certainly have been under pressure to resign. “That would have caused a crisis in the stability of the coalition government and a crisis for prime minister Christopher Luxon,” Young wrote.
More reading:
Philip Polkinghorne sentenced to 150 hours of community work on meth charges (RNZ)
Philip Polkinghorne’s Remuera mansion for sale (NZ Herald Premium, paywalled)
‘Golden visa’ rules for wealthy overseas investors relaxed
The government has announced its latest plan to try and attract wealthy overseas talent into the country in an effort to boost the economy. As The Post’s Andrea Vance reported, the so-called “golden visa” for high income visitors will be loosened, with the creation of two new categories of investment and an English language requirement dumped. It’s not quite the removal of the foreign buyers ban scuppered after coalition negotiations in 2023, but it’s certainly a stepping stone towards that.
More reading:
Join us at Bryn & Ku's Singles Club Party
On the day before Valentines, join Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester for a viewing party to celebrate the launch of their new series, Bryn & Ku's Singles Club on The Spinoff. Bryn & Ku will be live on stage at Q Theatre on February 13, with Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman, to talk about discovering new ways of living and loving and maybe even finding The One.
Open to anyone who has ever been single.
What Act’s Nicole McKee misunderstands about te Tiriti o Waitangi
For Windbag this week, Joel MacManus considers a recent Facebook post by Act minister Nicole McKee, who lambasted Wellington Water for a chief operating officer job listing which required applicants to have knowledge and understanding of te Tiriti o Waitangi. “Just fix the bloody pipes! The treaty doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she wrote.
But te Tiriti isn’t just a buzzword in this instance, it’s directly relevant to how Wellington Water is governed. The Crown’s Treaty settlements officially recognise Ngāti Toa and Taranaki Whanui as having rights and decision-making powers over water. The chief operating officer of Wellington Water has to manage the competing interests of iwi and Crown. It’s te Tiriti in practice.
To support work like this, consider becoming a Spinoff Member.
Click and Collect
Employment law in for a shake-up as coalition rings the changes.
The Post’s Craig Hoyle goes inside the Waitangi “party of the year” hosted by minister Shane Jones.
Tory Whanau aligns herself more closely with Green Party in bid for second term.
Wellington transport changes predicted to slow peak city travel times.
I know it’s Monday but I think my mind is still at Laneway Festival. Ensemble shares the “best (and baddest)” style from last week’s music extravaganza. I ride for you, Charli.
There’s a brand new web series coming to The Spinoff this week: Bryn and Ku’s Singles Club. One of the stars, comedian Kura Forrester, explains why men are “so intimidated” by her being funny.
The last time New Zealand had this kind of recession we voted in MMP, and Henry Cooke wonders what we might do this time. For The Spinoff Essay, Anna Rawhiti-Connell finds that celebration at Waitangi is just around the bend. Sticking with Waitangi, Lyric Waiwiri-Smith finds the freshest fits at the Treaty Grounds. Madeleine Chapman explains the Chinese origins of Sāmoa’s most popular dish, chop suey. Jono Pryor takes us through his life in television, including Jono and Ben mayhem and live Telethon flubs.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. I’ll see you back here tomorrow morning.
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Seymour’s letter to the police was an effort to alter the course of justice and does put him in an untenable position now. Where is the media witch hunt that would occur if he was a coloured female?
Perhaps PM Mark Brown is financially motivated here? Mr Brown owns one of the Cook Islands' two large construction firm, which could then be excluded from bidding on NZ-financed contracts due to potential conflict-of-interest issues. Perhaps MFAT might consider options for allowing contracting in such small markets, rather than driving small Pacific Island countries into the warm welcome of the CCP, with all that entails (corruption, prostitution, drugs, etc).