Anna Powles: Pacific security expert on what the latest poll means for NZ-Cook Islands relations

There's belief the New Zealand-Cook Islands 'special relationship' will hold, despite an unfavourable poll.

The Government paused aid after the Cooks signed a partnership with China - without sharing details with New Zealand. 

46 percent of respondents to a Taxpayers' Union-funded Curia poll believe Cook Island citizens should no longer have automatic access to New Zealand passports or citizenship.

Pacific security expert Anna Powles says she doesn't see that change happening - and there's a lot to lose.

"For many Cook Islanders, it's very divided and fairly complex - and there are significant benefits, particularly with respect to healthcare." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now most key we think that if the Cook Island's
Prime Minister, Mark Brown carries on with his foreign policy antics,
new Zealand should withdraw automatic access to New Zealand, including passports,
healthcare and superannuation from the Cox Curia and the Taxpayers
Union has given us some polling showing forty six percent
of people agree with that, only thirty percent disagree. Now,
Associate Professor Anna Poles is a Pacific security expert from

(00:21):
Massi University and with us. Now, Anna, hello, let's start
with whether this is going to happen or not. I
mean this is this is there is no way that
this ever happens? Am I right?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
No? No, I do not foresee Cook Island as losing
that access.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Why not?

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Well, for a start, there is the special relationship between
Cook Islands and Alto in New Zealand, and where by
New Zealand has a constitutional responsibility towards Cook Islands, which
is in free association, which is a term that's used
with New Zealand and it is a very it's a

(01:05):
deep relationship as a as a specific journalist said recently,
it's a relationship based on family and foreign policy and
as well as the financial side. So there is some
way to the only way that that would potentially happen
would be if Cork Islands became a fully independent state.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Which the people don't want right.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Well, certainly the Prime Minister Mark Brown has has stated
on a number of occasions that he would like to
see Cork Island's full independence, and that's where deep the mining,
for instance, becomes a really key mechanism or vehicle for
achieving that. But for many Cook Islanders it's fairly divided,

(01:51):
and it's fairly complex, and there are significant benefits, particularly
with respect to healthcare and access to good healthcare.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Now do you think that that slight majority in the poll, though,
gives Winston Peters the ability to threaten Mark Brown with that?

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, I think firstly we need to keep in mind,
obviously the sampling number for this poll, which was around
one thousand people. I don't think that it will be
particularly wise for Minister Peters to seek to continue to
kind of sort of leverage, leverage or these sort of

(02:35):
you know what he may see sort of a bargaining
chip with with Cook Islands. It's not likely to be successful. Well,
I mean, it's just for a start, it's it does
not reflect the sort of the manna of the relationship.
It does not reflect the depth of the relationship.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
And what if though the Cock Island officials were you know,
not turning up to meetings, refusing to take meetings, just
blanking New Zealand officials, So that was the level of
the relationship, then how much money is there?

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Well, this is the question for both Cook Islands and
for New Zealand. I mean this is not just This
does not just rest with New Zealand. I think we
need to be clear on this. There has been concern,
as you say, that Ministry Foreign Affairs and Trade officials
have had difficulty accessing meetings with key individuals within the

(03:26):
Cook Islands system and that that also obviously needs to
be on the table in order to address that, using
development assistance such as the pause on the twenty million
as leverage is not likely to be successful. And this

(03:50):
is where there needs to be some creative thinking on
the part both in Wellington and in Cook Islands, because
if the relationship is to it's to move forward in
a positive way, which sort of reflects what the bulk
of New Zealanders and Cork Islanders would like to see
is a healthy, strong, trusted relationship right then they need

(04:11):
to reassess how they're engaging. And thank you, I.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Really appreciate your time. Anapol's associate professor at the Center
for Defense and Security Studies at Massi University.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
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Speaker 1 (04:23):
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