Cooks PM reciprocates NZ counterpart's visit
The Cook Islands Prime Minister, Henry Puna, and his New Zealand counterpart, John Key, have met in Auckland to discuss a range of challenges facing the Cook Islands.
Transcript
The Cook Islands Prime Minister, Henry Puna, and his New Zealand counterpart, John Key, have met in Auckland to discuss a range of challenges facing the Cook Islands.
Climate change, renewable energy, and providing opportunities for Cook Islanders to return to the country were all on the agenda.
Leilani Momoisea reports.
Henry Puna was welcomed in front of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, where he laid a wreath in the WW1 Sanctuary. He is in New Zealand to continue celebrations of the 50th anniversary of self government in free association with New Zealand. The New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key, says he met with Mr Puna to get a sense of the issues the Cook Islands face.
JOHN KEY: New Zealand is home to nearly 62 thousand Cook Island New Zealanders. The issue of ensuring there are real opportunities for people to stay in the Cook Islands, or potentially return, has been part of the discussions over the last few weeks.
When Henry Puna was asked what his government is doing to try and combat a declining population due to people moving to New Zealand and Australia, he said Cook Islanders cannot be stopped from travelling.
HENRY PUNA: A lot of people think that because we only have about 13 or 14 thousand Cook Islanders back home, that we have a serious de-population issue. We don't. I just want to remind you that back in 1928 when Sir Maui Pomare was Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, he did a census of the Cook Islands population. You know how many Cook Islanders there were back then? 2,000. So we have come a long way.
Mr Puna says he needs to ensure Cook Islanders continue to invest in the country, even while living overseas.
HENRY PUNA: The challenge for me as Prime Minister is to engage with these Cook Islanders, although they may not come home, you know we need to tap into them. have a relationship with them, so that they feel compelled to contribute, from wherever they may be, to the development and the growth of the Cook Islands moving forward.
The two also discussed issues related to climate change. John Key says New Zealand has put a lot of effort into infrastructure projects like renewable energy across the Cook Islands, particularly the northern Cooks, where six islands have been converted to solar power. He says he expects Pacific leaders will continue to discuss sea level rise and climate change at the Pacific Forum summit.
JOHN KEY: Both New Zealand and Australia go to the Pacific Forum with pretty similar targets actually for what we've pledged to do. New Zealand is I think minus 30 off a 2005 base, Australia I think is minus 26-28 off a similar base, so we go there with a pretty similar view.
Henry Puna was asked if New Zealand and Australia's emissions targets were enough to ensure small island states are protected from climate change. His response was diplomatic, saying not all families think alike, and they need to continue to talk about such difficult issues regularly.
HENRY PUNA: It is up to Australia and New Zealand to decide what is good for them. Of course we can ony talk to them, and say hey, look we don't think you are doing enough, but that is the approach we believe in, and it's the only approach that will work.
But Mr Puna was not keen to revisit the issue of UN membership.
HENRY PUNA: We're here to celebrate with New Zealand, 50 years of special relationship. There is a time and a place for talking about issues like that. Not now. Not now.
Henry Puna is also visiting Wellington, where he will be celebrating Cook Islands excellence.
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