Brewmaster: Please note that we will not publish messages which are not punctuated or those written in 'stream-of-consciousness' style with phrases separated only by a series of full stops. They take too much time to sub-edit and render into English. Also, note the guidelines above concerning Maori and capital letters.

May 6 2013
I was once inclined toward your position, Lara, and felt burdened and alienated by the requirement for PR condidates to demonstrate basic knowledge of CI Maori. However, based on one of Tony's comments posted several days ago, I have changed my position. Perhaps it is a sign of respect for a country and its people to learn basic language skills. From a practical point of view, it would be fitting for a PR to have the ability to communicate with the many CI elderly people who speak CI Maori exclusively. This being said, as Tony agrees, waiting 10 years for permanent residency is not reasonable, especially for spouses of CI natives. And, yes, many Cook Islanders are a tad racist, but I believe this is natural given past British and New Zealand rule. However, I must say that both the Brits and the Kiwis were quite decent colonialists, ensuring, through enactment of laws, the preservation of native land ownership. Steve K.

May 2 2013
Lara, every English-speaking country in the world, as a prerequisite to Permanent Residence, requires that all applicants have some basic knowledge of English. There's no requirement to be fluent in English, just to have the basics. It's no different in the Cook Islands except the language is Cook Islands Maori. In the Cook Islands, as I understand it, the Department of Immigration is not demanding all PRs to be fluent in Te Reo, but just to have some basics of Cook Islands Maori. To argue that there are 'heaps of Cook Islanders who can't even speak their own reo', or there are Cook Islanders 'in New Zealand who can't even understand English' is besides the point and is totally irrelevant. Kia manuia. Tony.

May 2 2013
I am surprised to learn that to know the Cook Islands language is a requirement to acquire a PR. I know heaps of Cook Islanders who can't even speak their own reo so how come? Many hotel/motel owners can't even speak it. We have some racist mites on this here forum. Be fair people. We have heaps of people in New Zealand who can't even understand English let alone speak it. I know, 'cos I used to help them fill out forms at the social welfare office or hospitals. Be fair to our brothers and sisters from abroad. They do contribute to our country also. Are you contributing, friend? Lara.

May 2 2013
We need not accompany disagreement with disrespect and insult. Ladies and gentlemen may disagree without personal attack. The only time we need to attack is when there is a real and present threat to life or liberty. Otherwise, let us please relax and enjoy the stimulating process of intellectual debate within a democratic process. Shouldn't we be grateful and joyous that we have the liberty under democracy to openly disagree and debate? Are we not brothers and sisters in the cause for liberty and justice? Steve K.

May 1 2013
Good on you Mr Norton. How dare that Kuki Boy degrade you like that. Simply no respect and brainless. Never mind, it must be the name. S. Tiatoa.

April 30 2013
Hello Kuki Boy, you have a lot to learn my boy but that's all you are, a little boy with a very narrow mind. Please don't come on here and start abusing people and calling them names like a child. Kia orana. Dave Norton.

April 29 2013
Come on Ben, we just had a Demo Government that organised a bad deal (Toagate) which requires us to pay up to a million dollars a year for eight more years to a company to stay in business. They also abused our Constitution by having only six members running the whole of Government and kept putting off Parliament because they didn't want to get kicked out. In both these cases, the current leader of the Demos, Wilkie Rassmussen, was involved and at both times, our people are the biggest losers because laws were broken and money was wasted. The current Government is not trying to impose new taxes but is trying to clean up the system to make sure that everyone pays their fair share. We all use services like roads, water, healthcare, education, etc and this is where your tax money goes to. People are required to pay tax by law if you earn money. Whether you are in New Zealand, Oz or in the Cooks, you still pay taxes. I really don't know why people are fussing about a Government that's trying to do what it can to provide services to the people, somebody has to pay for it. If we want to improve the service, we have to pay for it. We have been spoon-fed for too long and expect Government to provide everything for free. I don't think Puna and Brown are doing this to be popular, they are just doing their job with what they have and that's why they were elected. J.J. Carter.

April 29 2013
Yes, Steve, it's those donkeys job to vote and pass laws but it's fellows like Mark Brown who sit around dreaming them up in the first place. Ben T.

April 29 2013
Ben, with all respect, the law is the law and Brown's job is to make sure people pay taxes due under the law, nothing more, nothing less. It's the Parliament Members who have the power to reduce tax burden, not the FinSec. Just saying. Steve K.

April 28 2013
Have we ever had a Government more greedy and rapacious than the current one? I reckon Henry Puna will be burnt toast at the next election and the person responsible will be Mark Brown the Finance Minister who spends all his time trying to work out new ways to raise taxes and penalise Cook Islanders' pensions. Well, Henry, don't say you haven't been warned. The mamas will do for you mate at the polling booths. Ben T.

April 17 2013
Thanks, Tony for your offer. You may be right about the language aspect. My wife has tried to teach me some CI Maori but it is very difficult to learn, especially to get the sound of it right. Kuki Boy is spot on about the French, they had their eyes on the prize and the Queen (Makea) called the Brits for help, stopping them. Steve K.

April 16 2013
Oh yes, Dave Norton, that sounds like a REAL Cookie! Sure you don't have some papa'a blood in there Dave? Not even a teeney weeny bit? People like you make me laugh. Cook Islanders are automatically citizens of New Zealand, giving them free access to New Zealand as well as all the services they haven't paid tax for while pottering round the taro patch back in Mangaia or Tupapa. But it doesn't work the other way round, does it Dave? Oh no, you are the kind of half-baked Cookie who thinks that the Cook Islands tourism industry was engineered and run by so-called 'native' Cook Islanders and not by the papa'as who married island girls and set up businesses here on Raro. Without those guys Dave we would have been under the thumb of French colonialists like our cousins in Tahiti. What an idiot! Kuki Boy.

April 16 2013
To Steve K. What makes you special that you should get citizenship before 10 years? It's only fair that you wait like the others. So what if you're with a Cook Islander. Learn Cook Islands Maori and communicate with the people in our tongue. Please don't criticise our rules, they are there to be adhered to. If you don't like it, too bad. A real Cookie. Dave Norton.

April 16 2013
Steve, learning the indigenous language of the country that one wants to settle in is a requirement to becoming a Permanent Resident everywhere in the world. It is a common immigration policy in all developed countries. It's not imposed only in the Cook Islands, it's everywhere in the world. I am a tutor of Cook Islands Maori and if I can help you learn some basics of the language, e.g. structure and grammar, please don't hesitate to ask. I agree with you, the 10 year wait is certainly over the top. Keep trying mate and all the best. Tony.

April 16 2013
I live in America with my Cook Islander spouse and we are considering returning to the Cooks one day. We met when I was 43 by which time my soul had become far too complex to find a mate, a soulmate as you describe. However, like U2 sings in 'Beautiful Day', I'd thought I'd found a friend to take me out of this place someone I could lend a hand in return for grace. To me, that was a sufficient basis for a legitimate marriage. I still say that gaining permanent residency for someone like me is way more of a hassle than it should be - 10 year wait, must learn Maori, it's over the top. Steve K.

April 15 2013
No there is nothing to change, just that if you're an expat here in the Cook Islands and don't contribute to the economy then please leave the island and return home. with the Cook Islands partner. Sorry, you will have to depart with your partner. The amount the expats are paying is way too little it should be a lot higher than it is now. Dave Norton.

April 15 2013
Is this a new law where we Kiwis have to pay a fee to live in the Cook Islands when married to a local? I have lived and worked in the Cook Islands and the only stipulation was if my husband left the islands I had to leave. I did not marry for CI status. At 17 that did not come into it; just met my soul mate, end of story. Maybe Kiwi males are looking for land and benefits of these so yes marry a local and gain privileges. See same messengers still messaging. Ann Malo.

April 15 2013
Kuki Boy, I want you to please begin a movement amongst the Cook Islands residents, both natives/locals and expats, to get the Goverment to liberalise permanent residency requirements for non-natives married to natives/locals, whether they be New Zealanders or Americans or Aussies. How about some ideas and maybe web site development as a starting point? Let's give this issue a real voice like the New Zealand pension issue now has. The Government is too restrictive in this matter. Steve K.

Revised: May 6 2013
URL: http://www.ck/tumunu.htm