RAROTONGA (Pacnews) — It appears that some things will never change in New Zealand’s unique relationship with the Cook Islands.
Despite the Cooks taking over more responsibilities since self-government in 1965, New Zealand citizenship remains a central part of the relationship between the two countries.
In a declaration signed between the two countries during last year’s centennial celebrations, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said shared citizenship brings with it the expectation that Cook Islanders would respect and uphold the “fundamental values on which that citizenship is based.”
With Cook Islanders holding New Zealand passports, visiting Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Phil Goff said there was very little that either government could do in stemming the outflow from the homeland.
The country’s resident population has dipped down below the 13,000 mark—the lowest since a count was made in 1936. The total resident population estimate was put at 13,900 in 2001, with 12,900 being the estimate for the December quarter last year.
Goff said that it is very much an “international problem.”
“I don’t think it’s a case for either the Cook Islands government or the New Zealand government saying to Cook Islands people, ‘look, you can’t travel freely as citizens of the Cook Islands and of New Zealand,’” said Goff.
“People will do what they are entitled to do as citizens of New Zealand and there has been no proposal that citizenship should be removed or limited in its rights.
“I think it would be very much the desire of the people of the Cook Islands to retain their citizenship in New Zealand, to give them the options,” he said.
“In my own electorate I have people from all over the Cook Islands—from Rarotonga, from Aitutaki, from Pukapuka—and they’re people that settled in, they’ve developed skills, and generally they’re doing very well,” he added.
