Understanding the nature and practice of free-association as we reflect on our development journey – By Hon. Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands
This is the first in a series of opinion pieces covering the Cook Islands development journey. Future editions will invite contributions from subject matter experts and examine the Cook Islands socio-economic development, contributions to regionalism and multilateralism, and contributions of our diaspora.
This year, the Cook Islands marks 60 years of self-governance, an historic milestone in our voyage to statehood.
In 1965, our people chose to shape our own future through the adoption of our Constitution and by entering into a relationship of free-association with New Zealand. We did so with determination, optimism, and vision. Not in opposition to anyone else, but in full belief in ourselves.
The importance of conventions in understanding the nature of the modern Cook Islands-New Zealand relationship has been highlighted on numerous occasions. In 2009, for example, Dame Alison Quentin-Baxter observed that:
“When the Cook Islands became self-governing, there was a shadowy expectation that the free association relationship would be an evolving one, just as New Zealand’s relationship with the United Kingdom had evolved in the period between 1919 and 1947. Consequently, the very existence of the free association and also its terms has to be deduced from the provisions of the Cook Islands Constitution Act 1964, the accompanying Constitution, and the solemn assurances and settled practice of the partner governments.”
Indeed, there is a rich corpus of such assurances and settled practices through convention that serves to shed further light and detail on what has continued to be a unique and evolving relationship. The 1973 Kirk-Henry Exchange of Letters Concerning the Nature of the Special Relationship between the Cook Islands and New Zealand and the multifarious communications between New Zealand (often conjointly with the Cook Islands) and other governments and organisations attests to the full competence of the Cook Islands to assume international rights and obligations in its own right.
Since 1965, the responsibility of the Cook Islands to conduct its own international relations and particularly to conclude treaties has evolved substantially.
In April 1973, both the Cook Islands and New Zealand signed the Agreement establishing the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation, the first treaty in which the two countries participated as separate but equal parties.
In 1984, an application by the Cook Islands for membership in the World Health Organization was approved by the World Health Assembly in accordance with its Article 6, and the Cook Islands, in accordance with Article 79, became a member upon deposit of an instrument of acceptance with the Secretary-General. In the circumstances, the United Nations Secretary-General felt that the question of the status, as a State, of the Cook Islands, had been duly decided in the affirmative by the World Health Assembly, whose membership was fully representative of the international community.
On the basis of the Cook Islands’ membership in the World Health Organization, and of its subsequent admittance to other specialised agencies (Food and Agriculture Organization in 1985, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1985 and the International Civil Aviation Organization in 1986) as a full member without any specifications or limitations, the UN Secretary-General considered that the Cook Islands could participate in a treaty in its own right as a State.
Consequently, the Cook Islands signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992, which the UN Repertory of Practice described as
“further evidence that the international community had accepted the Cook Islands as a “State” under international law.”
The Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs also recorded that in 1988 New Zealand declared
“that its future participation in international agreements would no longer extend to the Cook Islands…”.
Over time, we have formally established our maritime boundaries, having concluded boundary agreements with the United States (in respect of the shared boundary with American Samoa); France (in respect of the shared boundary with French Polynesia); the Republic of Kiribati; Niue and New Zealand (in respect of the shared boundary with Tokelau) and formally deposited this information along with our outer limits coordinates with the United Nations Division on Oceans and the Law of the Sea.
To date, the Cook Islands has established diplomatic relations and formal partnerships with 66 countries and the European Union, we are members of over 40 Organisations (including most UN Specialised Agencies) and are a party to over 150 multilateral treaties, conventions and protocols, in our own right.
Our contributions to peace and security are also notable.
History accords that though we were one of the smallest territories in the British Empire at the time, more than 500 Cook Islands men volunteered during World War I, a remarkable commitment from a small island nation. They served not for reward, but for duty. That spirit of contribution and shared sacrifice defines the ANZAC legacy across Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, and it continues to shape our values as a nation.
Though we are a small country, our contributions have always been significant. Our men stood alongside their brothers in arms in foreign fields, and today, we continue to stand together as partners committed to peace, democracy, and regional strength.
Alongside our contributions to traditional security, our contributions to regionalism and multilateralism are also worthy of mention.
Since 1965, many esteemed Cook Islanders have taken up the mantle of leadership within the Realm, and in regional and multilateral settings. While future op-eds will detail those contributions, I wanted to highlight the Treaty of Rarotonga, the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty, which opened for signature on 6 August 1965 at the 16th South Pacific Forum in Rarotonga, and entered into force on 11 December 1986.
The Treaty banned the possession, testing, stationing, and storage of nuclear weapons, as well as the dumping of nuclear waste in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, and reflected decades of opposition to nuclear colonialism by activists from the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement, alongside policymakers in regional forums. In March this year, the Republic of the Marshall Islands became the 14th State Party to the Treaty, alongside Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
Reflecting on past and present contributions of the Cook Islands to the peace and prosperity of Aotearoa New Zealand and our region, my challenge to all of us is to ensure that the Pacific is not forgotten in a narrative so often dominated by large world powers and traditional constructs of militarised conflict. Our contributions were and continue to be significant, our sacrifices keenly felt, and it is our collective duty to ensure that these stories live on and are woven into the fabric of our societies and the global community we are collectively called to serve.
Acknowledgement of the Cook Islands contributions to Aotearoa New Zealand, regionalism, and the international community to one side, I return focus to the Cook Islands development agenda.
This year’s 60th anniversary of self-governance provides us an opportunity to reflect on our past, with a view towards our future.
The Cook Islands of today is built on our values and development agenda, underpinned by prudent fiscal management, a growing economy, and a commitment to lift generational outcomes for our people. Recent initiatives include investments in first-home ownership, wage fairness across government, better services in the Pa Enua, teacher training, modern maritime connectivity, and a Social Assistance Policy that strengthens support for our most vulnerable. These aren’t political gestures, they are deliberate steps forward in the evolution of our systems of government.
We are also laying the foundations for a Sovereign Wealth Fund to ensure that future generations benefit from today’s success, another example of how we are not just managing, but planning, growing, and future-proofing.
These policy decisions weren’t imposed. They weren’t borrowed. They were made and adapted here, by Cook Islanders, for Cook Islanders.
We are proud of our long-standing relationship with Aotearoa New Zealand. That relationship, born of shared akapapa’anga, citizenship, and mutual respect, continues to evolve. As we grow, so too does our role as a partner. The Joint Centenary Declaration makes that clear: our foreign policy is our own to determine. And like New Zealand, we act in the best interests of our people.
This year, we reaffirm that legacy. A legacy built on the contributions of generations of Cook Islanders to the shared security, and prosperity, of the Realm and our region.
While self-governance is often spoken about as a legal or political construct, for us, it is something lived. It is how we chart our development path, and how we govern our affairs. It is how we steward public finances and serve our people. Self-governance is not something we claim, it’s something we practise.
Over the past six decades, the Cook Islands has built a nation defined by our values, and driven by our development agenda.
Our public institutions are strong. Our economy has weathered global shocks and continues to grow from strength to strength, while also pursuing opportunities for diversification. Our leadership in regionalism, financial management, ocean governance, multilateralism and climate action is recognised well beyond our shores.
We have shown the region, and the world, that our voices, our choices, and our Pacific way remain grounded not only in our historical cultural and kinship ties, but in our present development needs.
This is what modern diplomacy looks like: engaged, informed, and confident.
We are not navigating by fear, but by purpose. And our vaka is steady because our ama is strong, not just in policy, but in identity.
That identity is what we celebrate this 60th anniversary.
Kua kite au i toku turanga. I know who I am.
We are a people shaped by ocean and land, by faith and family, by migration and history.
Whether you are here in Rarotonga or in Auckland, in Pukapuka or Sydney, if you carry the Cook Islands in your heart, you are part of our future.
And more than that: E Avaiki toku. I have a homeland.
A homeland built not just on geography, but on values. A homeland we protect, we honour, and we continue to shape together, with courage, care, and commitment.
Self-governance is not about standing alone. It is about standing tall. Knowing where we come from, and where we are going. As we mark this milestone, let us do so with gratitude, unity, and vision.
The world will continue to shift around us. But the Cook Islands will continue to lead. Proudly, peacefully, and on our own terms.
