Diane Charlie-Puna is Cook Islands public servant. She was named secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure in 2018. She previously served as the ministry's director of corporate services.
Prior to this, Charlie-Puna spent 15 years working in public sector management and leadership. Charlie-Puna has of a Masters of Philosophy degree with First Class Honours, under the supervision of Tania Ka'ai and Rachael Ka'ai-Mahuta. [1] She received her MBA in 2011. [2] [3] She also serves on the board of the Pacific Water and Wastewater Association. [4]
Lidia Giuliana Matticchio Bastianich is an Italian-American celebrity chef, television host, author, and restaurateur. Specializing in Italian and Italian-American cuisine, Bastianich has been a regular contributor to public television cooking shows since 1998.
Doris Burke is an American sports announcer and analyst for NBA on ESPN, NBA on ABC, College Basketball on ESPN, and College Basketball on ABC games. She formerly worked as an analyst for WNBA games on MSG and has worked on New York Knicks games. Burke was the first female commentator to call a New York Knicks game on radio and television.
Francis Chan is an American Protestant author, teacher, and preacher. He is the former teaching pastor of the nondenominational Cornerstone Community Church, an Evangelical church in Simi Valley, California founded by Chan in 1994. He also founded Eternity Bible College in 2004, and served as its early chancellor until 2010.
Sir Tom John Marsters, is the current King's Representative to the Cook Islands. He is a former Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, Foreign Minister, and Deputy Leader of the Cook Islands Party.
Henry Tuakeu Puna is a Cook Islands politician, and the current secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum. He was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from November 2010 to October 2020. Since 2006 he has been leader of the Cook Islands Party.
Mark Stephen Brown is a Cook Islands politician and Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. He had previously served as Deputy Prime Minister under Henry Puna. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party.
Diane Morgan is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has portrayed Philomena Cunk on the review programme Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe (2013–2020) and in the mockumentary series Cunk on Britain (2018) and Cunk on Earth (2022). She also played Liz on the BBC Two sitcom Motherland (2016–2022) and Kath in the Netflix dark comedy series After Life (2019–2022), as well as writing and starring in the BBC Two comedy series Mandy (2019–present).
Niki Rattle was Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament from 22 May 2012 to 15 February 2021.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 9 July 2014, determining the membership of the 16th Cook Islands Parliament.
The Miss Cook Islands is the national beauty pageant in the Cook Islands in under Miss Cook Islands Association (MCIA). The current reigning titleholder is Tajiya Sahay who was crowned in October 2019.
Tania M. Ka'ai, sometimes known as Tania Kaai-Oldman, is a New Zealand education academic. She is a full professor of language revitalisation at the Auckland University of Technology.
Pamela Maru is a Cook Islands public servant and fisheries management adviser.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 14 June 2018 to elect the 24 members of the 17th Cook Islands Parliament.
Josephine Aumea Herman is a Cook Islands physician and public servant. Since June 2018 she has served as Secretary of Health in the Cook Islands government.
Anne Herman, sometimes Anne Herman-Fua, is a Cook Islands public servant. She was named Secretary of Internal Affairs in 2018. She is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington, from which she received a degree in economics and commercial law, and the University of the South Pacific, from which she received an MBA, and has passed much of her career in the banking industry. She was CEO of the Cook Islands National Superannuation Fund, and spent five years working for the ANZ Banking Group. Herman is the niece of the Cook Islands Secretary of Health, Josephine Herman; the two were appointed to their roles at the same time by Prime Minister Henry Puna.
Danielle Tungane Cochrane is a Cook Islands public servant. In 2018 she was formally named acting Secretary of Education; she had been serving in an acting capacity since 2017 after Gail Townsend joined UNESCO. Cochrane, a native of Aitutaki, taught at Tangaroa College for some years, but returned to the Cook Islands in 2008 to become a curriculum advisor in the Ministry of Education. She briefly worked in human resources for Air Rarotonga, but returned to the Ministry in 2012 as Planning and Development Director. She also serves on the Cook Islands National Commission for UNESCO. Cochrane is also an active canoeist, and was a member of the team representing the Cook Islands at the 2011 Pacific Games.
Tessa Temata was a New Zealand career diplomat and lawyer who served as High Commissioner to the Cook Islands from February 2019 until her death in December 2019. Temata was the first person of Cook Islander descent to serve as New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, as well as the first female High Commissioner of Pasifika descent to be posted anywhere in Oceania. Prior to her appointment as High Commissioner, Temata had served as a diplomat in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, and Niue.
Akaitiiti O Te Rangi Puna is a Cook Islands politician and member of the Cook Islands Parliament. She is a member of the Cook Islands Party. She is married to the former Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna and the sister of MP Tukaka Ama.
Jane Nicholas is a slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2009. Jane represented New Zealand from 2009 to 2018, before switching to the Cook Islands for the 2019 season, her father's country of birth.
Tukaka "Kaka" George Tamarua Ama is a Cook Islands politician and member of the Cook Islands Parliament. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party. He is the brother of MP Akaiti Puna.