The news that Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown is heading to China today on the country's first state visit, where he's expected to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership with China, has come as news to our Foreign Minister, news to our government, and indeed news to some of the Cook Island people.  

The excellent Barbara Dreaver on 1News broke the story on Wednesday night. As she reported, the impending visit has taken the Beehive by surprise, as it's a potential breach of constitutional arrangements between the Cook Islands and Aotearoa New Zealand.  

This year the Cook Islands celebrate 60 years of self-governance in free association with New Zealand. That means that they're free to make their own moves on policies and partnerships at home and abroad, while enjoying the benefits of a New Zealand passport and citizenship, plus substantial investment and aid. But with any perks come responsibilities under the long-standing agreement. The nations must cooperate and consult on any issues of defence and security, and they have to advise each other of any risks to either state. And it would appear that the detail of the arrangements has not happened in this particular case, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, who spoke to Mike Hosking this morning:  

“I believe they've got all these other things about beliefs, principles, freedom, human rights – these are fundamentals that the Cook Islands people are also concerned about, as they are around the Pacific. They need to know what's happening here and as a consequence, when they make a decision, then they should be free to make it, but they have to be free to make it in the circumstances of the commitments that we made going back to Helen Clark's time and going back to 1901, where we just discuss and consult, that's where we are now. I can assure you that the New Zealand government has done its best to find out what's going on, and to say this has been discussed with us is absurdly not true.” 

So the government's been blindsided, and it appears the Cook Islands people themselves have been blindsided. A protest has been planned on Parliament's first sitting of the year in Rarotonga on February 17th. Some locals told Barbara Dreaver that they fear losing the special relationship they have with New Zealand, and that will happen if the Cooks Prime Minister Mark Brown pushes ahead with his intention for them to have its own passport. New Zealand's ruled out a dual passport arrangement. 

1News understands that if the Cook Islands went ahead with its own passport, anyone who applied for a Cook Islands passport would be treated as having renounced their New Zealand one. The Cook Islands, of course, are perfectly free to make their own arrangements, but so too are we. If you want your own passport, that's absolutely fine, but you don't get to have a dual passport arrangement with New Zealand.  

They're also perfectly free to trade with China. We do. Brown was adamant the Cook Islands Government could go ahead with its own passport and still stay within the free association with New Zealand. He said the Cook Islands needed more development partners such as China, and the Islands already more than pulled its weight with New Zealand.  

Okay, that’s his opinion. But there's two people in a relationship, and clearly Winston Peters and New Zealand feels a bit differently. If New Zealand doesn't think the Cook Islands are operating within the obligations of the agreement, there will be consequences. So they're perfectly free to make their own decisions, and we are perfectly free to respond. If it comes to a bidding war, we will always lose to China. If it comes to who can put more money into the Pacific, it's China, every single time. But when it comes to cultural connectedness, history and family, that's where New Zealand has the advantage.