SMALL PARLIAMENTS: COOK ISLANDS


The parliamenary building in Avarua on Rarotonga island.


and provide all the services that are required to be done”. Impartiality is something that can


maintain a stable government. I have learnt as a Speaker that you cannot take sides with either. I don’t belong to any side, nor do I have an opinion for either. I just sit in the middle and do my work, which I enjoy very much. Sometimes I can see the difficulties that exist if you belong to one side. I think it is very important in


Parliament for the Speaker to be equal, and for the staff to be equal with everybody in how we treat people. It’s important for the Parliament to support everyone, whether they are government or opposition Members. It is very easy to deviate and think: “oh, that’s the Prime Minister. I think I


should do this or do that, because—I don’t know.” In Parliament we cannot afford that. We need to stick to what we are there to do. As I mentioned we only have two


parties. Rather than making things easier, it makes it difficult because there are no other opportunities for people to take these governance roles. There have been a couple of independent Members who have stood. It’s a difficult position however given that citizens do not trust them as they don’t really have a big mandate. We have an Act in the Cook


Islands regarding the governance, management, and the role of the Speaker, that is currently under review. I would like to thank our Commonwealth partners, particularly


30 | The Parliamentarian | 2014: Issue One


the Parliament of Western Australia, and we receive a lot of assistance through the New Zealand office. The review is really necessary because we have got caught up in management because the Act is so old. While today we are demanding performance from people, we do not have the legislation to support the work that we are trying to do. We are required to make a business plan every year. I have come to realize you can


spend hours doing a business plan and present it, but you get nothing for it. You cannot have new initiatives. You cannot do anything different. It is just status quo from year in, year out, and it does not allow you to do anything new. I took the opportunity to ask some


of my colleagues from the Pacific what are some of the big challenges we have, and the first thing they said was “money.” I came to this meeting by myself, given that unlike my fellow delegates, our Budget says “we don’t have any money”. This takes away the opportunity to go and learn from other people. This is the challenge for many of us in the Pacific, because we are given so much money, but you have to struggle to be able to make do. I am here because New Zealand


paid for me to be attend and because I am making a presentation. In normal circumstances it would be really difficult. The Cook Islands is planning a staff development training course in March, and while we have the funds for our staff, they have to pay


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