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Legislative Council elections were held in the Cook Islands in 1947, the first after the establishment of the new legislature.
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Legislative Council elections were held in the Cook Islands in 1947, the first after the establishment of the new legislature.
The Cook Islands Legislative Council was formed following legislation passed in October 1946, and consisted of ten members indirectly elected by island councils (four from Rarotonga and six from smaller islands), ten civil servants appointed by the Governor-General of New Zealand and the Resident Commissioner, who was president of the council. The island councils were made partially elective, and the elected members of the councils were eligible to be candidates for election to the Legislative Council. [1] It was intended that the elected European member of Rarotonga Island Council would automatically become the European member of the Legislative Council. However, the legislation published required the European member to be elected by indigenous members of the Island Council. [2]
The island council elections took place in March. In Rarotonga there was a contested election for the European seat (which Europeans living anywhere in the Cook Islands could vote for) [3] for the first time in several years; incumbent member Willie Watson defeated Stuart Kingan by 47 votes to 37, with all but two registered voters casting ballots. [4]
The elected members included one woman, Tararo Jane Ariki, ariki of Mauke island.
| Island | Elected members |
|---|---|
| Aitutaki | Norman Mitchell |
| Atiu | Rangematane Maka Kea Ariki |
| Mangaia | Mateke John Trego Ariki |
| Manihiki | Tihau Nabala |
| Mauke | Tararo Jane Ariki |
| Penrhyn | Akatapuria |
| Rarotonga | Makea George Pa Karika Ariki |
| Piri Tekamu Maoate | |
| Ua Turua | |
| Willie Watson | |
| Source: Pacific Islands Monthly | |
The official members included the Acting Resident Agent of Aitutaki, the Chief Medical Officer, the Director of Agriculture, the Education Officer, the Resident Agents of Atiu, Mangaia, Mauke, Penrhyn and Rakahanga, and the Treasurer. [5]
The newly elected Council met for the first time on 5 November 1947. [6]
The Cook Islands are named after Captain James Cook, who visited the islands in 1773 and 1777, although Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendaña was the first European to reach the islands in 1595. The Cook Islands became aligned to the United Kingdom in 1890, largely because of the fear of British residents that France might occupy the islands as it already had Tahiti.
Albert Royle Henry was the first Premier of the Cook Islands and the founder and first leader of the Cook Islands Party (CIP). First elected Premier in August 1965, he was unseated in the aftermath of the 1978 election after an electoral petition found he had committed electoral fraud. He was later stripped of his knighthood.
The Parliament of the Cook Islands is the legislature of the Cook Islands. Originally established under New Zealand’s United Nations mandate it became the national legislature on independence in 1965.
The Kingdom of Rarotonga, named after the island of Rarotonga, was an independent kingdom established in the present-day Cook Islands in 1858. In 1888 it became a protectorate of the United Kingdom at its own request. In 1893 the name was changed to the Cook Islands Federation.
The House of Ariki is a parliamentary body in the Cook Islands. It is composed of Cook Islands high chiefs (ariki), appointed by the King's Representative. While it functions in a similar way to the House of Lords and the Senate of Canada, the country's parliament is officially unicameral. There are up to twenty-four members, representing different islands of the Cooks.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 30 March 1978 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly. The result was a victory for the Cook Islands Party (CIP) of Premier Albert Henry, which won 15 of the 22 seats. The Democratic Party won the remaining seven seats.
Te Ariki Terau Mana Strickland BEM was a Cook Island educator and politician. He was the Minister of Education in the first Cook Islands government after self-government was obtained in 1965.
Mauke is an island of the Cook Islands archipelago, lying in the central-southern Pacific Ocean. Part of the Nga-pu-Toru, it is 277 km (172 mi) northeast of Rarotonga.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands in March 1956. The elections took the form of an election to Rarotonga Island Council, whose sole European member also automatically became the only elected member of the Legislative Council. Incumbent member Henley McKegg was narrowly re-elected, defeating R.J.A. Ingram by three votes.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands in 1953. The elections took the form of an election to Rarotonga Island Council, whose sole European member also automatically became the only elected member of the Legislative Council.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 13 October 1958, the first under universal suffrage.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands in May 1961.
Henley Robert McKegg was a New Zealand-born Cook Islands politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Council between 1953 and 1958.
General elections were held in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea between 15 February and 15 March 1964. They were the first elections in the territory held under universal suffrage. Voter turnout among enrolled voters was 65%.
Dick Charles Brown was a Cook Islands businessman and politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly between 1958 and 1965, and became the territory's first Leader of Government Business in 1963.
Tararo Jane Ariki II was a Cook Islands chiefess and politician. An ariki of Mauke island, she was also the first woman to become a member of the islands' Legislative Council.
Ngatupuna Matepi (1909–1977) was a Cook Islands politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1958 until his death, had two spells in the cabinet between 1962 and 1965, and became the first official Leader of the Opposition in 1968.
Papa Raui Pokoati was a Cook Islands politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly for his home island of Mitiaro between 1965 and 1978.
Dame Margaret Makea Karika Ariki, also known as Pauline Margaret Rakera George Karika and Pauline Margaret Rakera Taripo, was a Cook Islands ariki and holder of the Makea Karika Ariki title from 1949 to 2017. She was President of the House of Ariki from 1978 to 1980, and again from 1990 to 1992. She also served in the Legislative Assembly from 1958 to 1961.
The Cook Islands Progressive Association (CIPA) was the first indigenous political organisation in the Cook Islands. Initially focused on economic advancement for the islands, it came to advocate for greater self-rule. It was an ancestor of the Cook Islands Party.
