Tina Browne: Cook Islands Member of Parliament on Prime Minister Mark Brown signing agreements in China

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown will be signing agreements in China this week, with New Zealand and much of the Cook Islands left out of the loop. 

Member of the Cook Islands Parliament Tina Browne said the island nation is not in favour of the Prime Minister's plans. 

"The country is reacting in a way that I've never seen before ... we thought that things were calming down, but actually they're not, they're escalating," she said. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A lot of back and forth over the weekend as
our relationship with the Cook Islands looks increasingly messy. Doesn't
at their pms in China, of course, to sign some
sort of cooperation deal. Our Foreign Minister ropable that he
wasn't in the loop. The Cook's leader of the opposition,
Tina Brown, is with us. Very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
How much disquiet is there?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Oh, the country is reacting in a way that I've
never seen before. And you know, we we thought that
things worth calming down, but actually they're not. That they're escalating.
The most recent release from the spokesperson for the Deputy

(00:41):
Prime ministerself in New Zealand is completely different to the
release by our Prime minister on Friday.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Is it possible mister Brown will come back from China
in a couple of days with the deal that everyone
looks at and goes, my word, that's good news and
it all settles down.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Well, it is possible, but I have to say that
I'm not not showing that to us before signing it up.
Must be a concern. It is very possible that will
come back and and everything in there is what he
says it is, but it's also very possible that it

(01:21):
isn't and of course we can't unravel it.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Then what's the argument? What's the suspicion around him not
giving details before he goes well?

Speaker 2 (01:31):
I can only conclude that if it was okay, well
why not consult? Why not share it with New Zealand?
Why not consult with New Zealand if it's okay? There
are a few of us that are There are two
other lawyers in Parliament, myself and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
What's wrong and sharing so that we can all participate

(01:54):
in something that he reckons is going to be beneficial
to our public in the future. So what's wrong with
doing that? Right?

Speaker 1 (02:01):
I'm sure you've got the diplomacy side of it. Is
there an anti China thing in this at all? Locally
in the in the cooks or not?

Speaker 2 (02:09):
There is some looking at the way that China is
performing in other Pacific islands like and Solomon. I think
there is some fear that we would end up in
the same boat.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
So it's not to do with defense, he reassures us.
We assume we take him at his word. If it's
just about aid and help and money, is that necessarily
a bad thing.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, no, it's not, but it's it's I think one
needs to also have a look at the implications of
what happens then with having that as a starter, Uh,
and then it grows into something else.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
When did you back?

Speaker 2 (02:56):
I think he's still back on Friday for Parliament next Monday.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Okay, we'll stay in touch. Appreciate tinner. Go well Tina Brown,
who's the Cook Islands leader of the opposition. For more
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