Cook Islands-New Zealand defence pact quiets China spat and resumes aid funding - Azaria Howell
Cook Islands PM Mark Brown and NZ's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters. Photo / Supplied
We were warned it was going to rain.
An umbrella was strongly suggested in the itinerary for reporters travelling to the Cook Islands with Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters – something seldom in the arsenal of the Wellington-based press gallery, often on the receiving end of the capital’s wild winds.
As it turns out, an umbrella was not needed after all.
When the NZ Defence Force plane touched down in Rarotonga, heat beamed through the windows of the 757 – the Cook Islands sun scorching down on the suited-up New Zealand delegation. There was not even a hint of a raindrop in the sky, nor on the almost pure white sand being lapped up by the ocean’s waves.
It appeared as if a postcard had come to life – picturesque beaches lined with coconut-riddled palm trees greeted the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the realm country.
It was not raining.
It was perhaps as if the weather knew the tone of New Zealand’s relationship with the Cook Islands was about to change from rain to shine.
The forecast had been updated.
The start of April marked a turning point in diplomacy for the pair.
Winston Peters and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown put pen to paper on a defence and security agreement in Rarotonga.
Both suggested the deal could spell the end of an ongoing diplomatic spat, which reached boiling point in February 2025, after the Cooks signed an agreement with China, without significant consultation with New Zealand. That matter appears to be banished to the history books by both Peters and Brown.
Brown confirmed he was no longer looking at or considering a separate passport for the Cook Islands – another matter that had sparked drama in the past.
The China deal prompted New Zealand to pull funding to the Cooks, to the tune of nearly $30 million. That chapter is now over.
“The China deal is behind us,” Peters told a press conference, as if pausing to add a punctuation mark after every word for emphasis.
The agreement reinstates New Zealand’s aid grant funding to the realm country; it is not clear whether funding would come in the exact same form as in the past, as the minister said it was a Budget-related matter.
Peters alluded to a “half miserable” meeting with the Minister of Finance Nicola Willis before the plane’s departure for the Cooks. When pressed further by Newstalk ZB, Peters said he was not here to give an account of his meeting with Willis.
After formal talks, the Cook Islands Prime Minister was gifted a One New Zealand Warriors jersey, personalised with his last name on the back. Informally speaking to reporters after a media stand-up in the humidity of his home, Brown referred to himself as a diehard supporter of the team.
If not already made apparent by the gift, Mark Brown’s love for the rugby league side showed its face at the diplomatic event.
When Peters suggested the Cooks and New Zealand were not meeting or talking enough, Brown quipped back to say “that means either he’s coming here more often or I’m going there more often. It has to coincide with important cultural events like the Warriors home games, and other major events.”
After speaking about people from the Cook Islands wearing the New Zealand Defence Force uniform with pride to this day, the Prime Minister offered a quick-witted rugby-themed comment in his remarks to dignitaries.
“Speaking of wearing the uniform and contributions, when the call did come out, I was very pleased to see that one of our very own answered the call and is now the coach of the New Zealand All Blacks.”
Brown also made references to the belief that the original waka that settled in New Zealand came from the Cook Islands, and suggested diplomatic waters may be less choppy in the near future.
He started off his speech saying key moments in the journey of a nation arrive by “steady navigation”.
“Our ancestors read the stars, and the seas, and chose always to move forward. And it is in that spirit that we sign this declaration,” Brown said.
“Good relationships, like good navigation, require periodic reckoning and honest reading of where we are, so we can chart the course ahead with confidence.”
Speaking to the people of the Cook Islands, Brown said: “You deserve a country that stands in the world on its own terms. You are the descendants of the greatest navigators in human history – a people who crossed the largest ocean on Earth, with nothing but knowledge, skill and courage.”
Peters put the situation plainly in his remarks, saying there had been ups and downs, and a “series of disagreements” he described had been “challenging for all of us”. Peters promised the partnership would return “to good health” as a result of the document.
“Cousins fall out now and again, that’s the truth. Our job is to get them back.”
When Newstalk ZB asked the minister to describe the relationship with Brown following the document being signed, he replied: “I’m not an outside divorce court or family court” and said the feeling was positive.
The Foreign Minister’s attitude could be summarised in the way he squinted as a light set up by news crews was too bright for his liking. “Makes you look good,” a reporter reasoned. Peters replied: “I’m not here to look good. Unlike the rest, we’re here to be right.”
The announcement was made the same day New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon confirmed a reshuffle – and even thousands of kilometres away, the country’s domestic politics did not seem far from the shores of the Cooks.
Nibbles were served following the formal signing ceremony, prompting Peters to inform reporters he had just eaten a sausage roll. “I did a Hipkins,” the minister joked. It was not clear whether a Coke Zero was consumed.
The agreement signed states New Zealand is committed to remaining the primary defence and security partner of the Cook Islands, and will continue to do so in national security, policing, cyber security, maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Both agree consultation means timely, transparent and good-faith engagement. They promised regular structured dialogue between officials and governments.
“The Cook Islands affirms that New Zealand is its partner of choice regarding defence and security matters,” the agreement stated. “As such, the Cook Islands will engage New Zealand in the first instance for any requests for support in its defence and security training.”
Peters said the relationship between New Zealand and the Cook Islands was “not like the seagull, tossing and turning its head at any wave, but like the rock, steadfast against the surging sea”.
For now, the waves appear calm. The rain is holding off.
“There are no countries anywhere in the world, in the best of their relationships, that would have no outstanding relationship issues. But all the ones we’ve been concentrating on and focusing on – they’ve been solved,” Peters said.