New Zealand’s tense political standoff with its realm country Cook Islands is over.
The two countries have signed a Defence and Security Declaration ensuring New Zealand gets consulted in a "timely and transparent" way and can veto anything it feels is a threat to its security or that of the realm.
New Zealand and Cook Islands sign deal after China-linked tensions - Watch on TVNZ+
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the declaration signed today clarifies the relationship between NZ and the Cook Islands. (Source: 1News)
While the Cook Islands has control over its internal affairs and pursues its own foreign policy and diplomatic relationships, there will be constraints and it is “subject to the constitutional limits of free association”.
The new declaration effectively sidelines China, which last year signed a number of controversial agreements around the maritime and oceans sector - including on transport and infrastructure - with the Cook Islands. Its government which didn’t share the details with New Zealand beforehand as it is constitutionally required to do.
In an exclusive interview with 1News, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the Cook Islands' agreements with China will be impacted by this declaration.
“The clear interpretation of that is that the so called agreements have now got massive limitations to them," he said.
"And it also is a message to the Chinese government, who we’re on good relations with, that there’s a special relationship here between Tokelau, Niue and the Cook Islands and we’re part of it. That’s the key part that they (China) did not acknowledge at the time.”
Any agreement signed with other countries or partners before today will also come under Wellington’s microscope if they are seen to affect New Zealand or the realm’s security and defence in any way.
Security commitment
Peters said New Zealand has a security commitment to the Cook Islands.
“And it also means that we ask them to cooperate with us on all matters that even marginally verge on security issues,” he said.
By signing the declaration, which makes it clear New Zealand is the primary partner, the Cook Islands gets back the nearly $30 million in aid that New Zealand suspended following the China deal.
As valuable budgetary support it has in the past been used for education, tourism and health projects - and its absence has been felt during the relationship standoff.
The diplomatic breakdown, revealed by 1News from December 2024, has involved a number of serious disagreements. They included Prime Minister Mark Brown wanting the country to have a Cook Islands passport as well as a New Zealand one.
Brown said following today's agreement: "Good relationships, like good navigation, require periodic reckoning and honest reading of where we are so that we can chart the course ahead with confidence. That is what both our governments have done."
He added: "We signed this declaration as a new foundation built on clarity, on mutual acknowledgement and on the shared belief that two nations, different in size but equal in dignity, can build something genuinely worth investing in."
The passport idea was ditched after New Zealand stated that Cook Islanders could choose one or the other – they couldn’t have both.
Peters said there has been a lack of understanding about the requirements of the free association agreement but this declaration resolves this.
He said New Zealand’s constitutional relationship with the Cook Islands has been on the line but “our job is to fix it, so if you fix it, let's make sure that everybody understands the contract here and going forward because one of the problems of the past contract was parts of it were vague”.
He said this new agreement is a “shared certainty” about the relationship.
As the Cook Islands' primary defence and security partner, New Zealand is to continue to support the country in the areas of national security, policing cyber security, maritime security and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Under the agreement, the Cook Islands will permit the New Zealand Defence Force access to its airspace, land and exclusive economic zone “to fulfil defence mandates and uphold shared security commitments”.
Peters said after the agreement was signed today: “We earlier took a difficult decision to pause parts of New Zealand’s funding to the Cook Islands Government because there was no shared understanding of the nature of our special constitutional relationship.
'Significant concern': NZ, Cook Islands relationship worsens
A statement from Foreign Minister Winston Peters' office said the Cook Islands had failed to share, which it is required to do as a realm country, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership "and other agreements" that Prime Minister Mark Brown is about to sign with China.
February 9, 2025
3:02
"Now that we have come to a mutually satisfactory understanding of the underpinnings of our partnership, we are pleased to normalise all aspects of our relationship – including New Zealand’s financial support.
“Throughout the past two years, New Zealand has never wavered from our steadfast commitment to the Cook Islands people and their strong attachment to the free association relationship between our two countries."
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