25 May 2004

Cooks parliament sits in secret over suppression of terrorism bill

2:41 pm on 25 May 2004

Members of Parliament in the Cook Islands are sitting in secret to hear details of a Suppression of Terrorism bill.

No details of the bill have been released by government which was only announced after parliament sat for the first time in six months today.

The Suppression of Terrorism Bill is one of a dozen new bills and half a dozen reports tabled in the Cooks.

The acting leader of the House, Norman George, says some of the details relating to the terrorism and offshore banking laws were confidential.

Mr George told the House the in camera session was designed to limit exposure of those details.

So far there has been no hint of a no confidence motion despite the Prime Minister, Dr Robert Woonton, losing leadership of the ruling Democratic Party.