A push to increase the pay of Cook Islands MPs has provoked some strong reaction in the country.
The finance minister Mark Brown says parliamentarians haven't had a raise in about 14 years and they deserve it, while the opposition leader, Tina Browne says there are more important issues that the government should be worrying about.
She says it's the minimum wage that should be dramatically lifted, not the 45 percent rise being advocated for the MPs.
The Group for Political Change has for many years been pushing political reforms and has had some success.
But a spokesperson Lynnsay Rokohea-Francis told Don Wiseman the idea of a pay increase has really upset them.
Cook Islands Parliament. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
