New deal to 'clarify' NZ's realm relationship with the Cook Islands
Thursday, 2 April 2026
RAROTONGA - New Zealand and the Cook Islands have signed a fresh defence and security declaration in an attempt to draw a line under a year of public disagreement.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown stopped speaking in late 2024 after Brown travelled to China to sign partnership agreements with Beijing.
Peters publicly aired his grievance that Brown hadn't honoured a 2001 joint declaration Wellington had long interpreted as requiring the Cook Islands to consult New Zealand on issues of defence and national security.
Brown for his part had consistently denied such consultation was required; leaving both countries at a constitutional crossroads and talks at an officials level only.
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Peters' ‘promising’ visit to the Cook Islands, will it mend a rift in the realm?
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Peters and Brown spoke to reporters together in Rarotonga on Thursday morning, less than two weeks after spending time together at Peters' home in Auckland, to announce they had signed a new defence and security declaration.
The 4-page document is far more detailed than its predecessor, and marks the resumption of New Zealand governing fundings for the Cook Islands.
Both parties have agreed to “consult on defence and security matters in good faith to support the effective exercise of their respective constitutional responsibilities” - going further than the 2001 requirement for parties to “consult regularly on defence and security issues”.
They both “acknowledge consultation means timely, transparent, and good faith engagement on matters of defence and security that may affect the interests of either Partner or the security of the Realm of New Zealand”.
It stipulates the Cook Islands will “provide early and comprehensive notification of any prospective matter that either Partner judges could have implications for New Zealand's constitutional responsibilities for the defence and security of the Realm, to enable meaningful discussion and consideration of New Zealand's views”.
“New Zealand will inform the Cook Islands of defence or security matters that may materially affect the Cook Islands' interests, with a view to maintaining transparency and collective security,” the agreement reads.
Both parties have promised “regular, structured dialogue will be maintained between officials and Ministers to ensure alignment of fundamental interests and to address any differences”.
“Where one Partner requests information on a matter of defence or security from the other, that information will be shared to the fullest extent possible, and within a timeframe commensurate with the nature of the information, the situation and objective of the request.”
The agreement also has a 'Third Parties' section affirming New Zealand is the Cook Islands' partner of choice regarding defence and security matters, requiring it to “engage New Zealand in the first instance for any requests for support in its defence and security…”
While different, the text has similarities with a joint political declaration struck between New Zealand and another one of its realm countries Niue in November.
That five-page document sets out a commitment to “good faith engagement on matters of foreign policy, defence and security” to “support the function of the respective constitutional responsibilities within the relationship”.
Peters said the strategic environment was more complex and contested today than at any other point since New Zealand and the Cook Islands formed their free association relationship in 1965.
“In that context, it's vital that New Zealand and the Cook Islands are clear, with one another and third parties, about the nature of our special relationship and our responsibilities to one another in the defence and security domains.
“This Declaration outlines a set of important political commitments that the Cook Islands and New Zealand have made to one another which provide clarity on key aspects of our special constitutional relationship.”
Peters said it had become clear over time that one of the root causes of the two governments’ series of “serious disagreements” was “the lack of a shared understanding about the requirements of this relationship, especially when it pertained to defence and security matters and the extent of the consultation required”.
“This Declaration resolves this former ambiguity and provides clarity to both governments so that we can move forward focused on the future, not the past.”
Peters returns to Auckland on Thursday afternoon.