Family feud put to bed in the Cook Islands
Thursday, 2 April 2026
ANALYSIS: RAROTONGA: It was like being a guest at a wedding ceremony waiting for the Foreign Affairs Minister and Cook Islands Prime Minister to show up to a seaside restaurant in Rarotonga on Thursday.
After months of silence, Winston Peters and Mark Brown were talking again; so much so Peters had flown in at short notice for a special visit to formalise the restoration of the fractured relationship through a new defence and security declaration.
The fresh promises come off the back of deeper cooperation between the Cook Islands and China; something that risked fundamentally changing the nature of New Zealand's “realm” relationship with its Pacific partner.
A warm breeze blew around the guests as they mingled in an atmosphere, so relaxed you'd hardly know just how tightly the event was scripted, how twitchy and sensitive officials on both sides were feeling.
Read more:
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The government could be forgiven for feeling a little nervous; it was a communication breakdown that led to the rift in the realm and the risk of a repeat lingered right up until the ink was dry.
Real progress started in earnest just under two weeks ago when - at Peters invitation - the pair spent time together at Peters' Auckland home.
The visit lasted about 90 minutes and though it's unlikely we'll ever know exactly what was said, and by who, it was clearly a turning point for the pair’s personal relationship and the start of something new.
“I'm just pleased we fixed it and fixed it together in a way mutually beneficial to us both. No rancour, no ‘you did this’ and ‘we did that’. That was all put aside. We did it the old-fashioned way, realising we've got bigger crises facing [us] now, and we have a whole lot of people expecting more of us, and we've got to solve them,” Peters told The Post shortly after signing the declaration.
The fresh agreement will come as a huge relief for New Zealand who, about a year ago, found itself on the outside looking in on a series of partnership agreements the Cook Islands struck with China.
While self-governing, the Cook Islands is part of the “realm” of New Zealand; enjoying benefits like funding (that was paused during the dispute and has now been resumed) and passports in exchange for New Zealand being in the driver’s seat when it comes to matters of security and defence.
It's a close, familial relationship but even family members fight and this was a doozy.
Brown travelled to China last February, signing a series of deals with Beijing - a comprehensive strategic partnership and agreements on the ocean economy, marine infrastructure, seabed mining, and $4.6 million worth of aid.
Efforts at New Zealand’s end to understand the contents of these agreements failed; Peters stating there was insufficient transparency to assess “risk to our core national interest”.
For his part, Brown rejected New Zealand’s frustrations; arguing his consultations had been “consistent, respectful and open”, and the Cook Islands’ co-operation agreement with China was no different from New Zealand’s comprehensive strategic partnership with Beijing.
More than a misunderstanding between the pair, it appeared to be two completely different understandings of a text so critical to the constitution it amounted to a crisis.
Having taken questions from reporters in Rarotonga on Thursday, it’s clear both leaders came to the conclusion the 2001 declaration was outdated and too vague for the modern era.
The Pacific is currently a hotbed for transnational drug trafficking, though its biggest security threat is climate change, and that's all before you consider any jostling for influence by the superpowers, the United States and China.
Put simply, a lot has changed since the Cook Islands became a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand (1965) and the last New Zealand-Cook Islands declaration was signed (2001). Times have changed and people have to change with them.
Comparing the texts of the 2001 agreement and this latest declaration, the expectations from both sides have been set out in far more detail.
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”.
The declaration 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”.
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 time frame 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…”
Peters has acknowledged the strategic environment is more complex and contested today than at any point since the mid 1960s - something he believes requires more meetings, more dialogue and more sharing.
“Distance creates difficulty sometimes, thousands of kilometres of it and we conceptually have always believed in kanohi [ki te] kanohi - face to face. Maybe we weren't meeting enough times, talking about times, sharing enough things,” he said.
Peters wouldn't comment on what this new declaration meant for the Cook Islands’ agreements with China. Brown wouldn't speak directly to the China deals question either, saying only that he didn't see the fresh New Zealand-Cook Islands declaration having “any impact on other agreements” that the Cook Islands has with other countries.
More details as to how exactly these agreements might work together will no doubt come out over time, but it’s clear the Cook Islands-China deals have been de-risked to a level New Zealand is satisfied with.
Both leaders have been eager to put the 'China deal' saga behind them and others in the Pacific are in the same boat.
Former Cook Islands Prime Minister and president of the ruling Cook Islands Party (CIP) Henry Puna is a close friend of both Peters and Brown.
Speaking to The Post at the signing ceremony on Thursday morning, he said he'd been involved in private conversations about restoring the relationship to “what it should be”.
“Our relationship with New Zealand is very, very important to us. Very important. We might have disagreements, like any relationship, but the important thing is to get over it and carry on.”
'[I'm] absolutely relieved and overjoyed that we're not putting things back on a normal footing,' Puna said.
Peters returned to Auckland on Thursday and while it wasn't a wedding he went to Rarotonga for, it was a relationship reset; a re commitment on clear terms both parties could agree on.
“It's not a victory for anybody, if it’s anything it’s a triumph of the diplomatic ambience of the Pacific people,” he said.