Teina Bishop | |
---|---|
Minister of Education | |
In office 16 January 2014 –17 April 2014 | |
Prime Minister | Henry Puna |
Succeeded by | Mona Ioane |
In office 3 December 2010 –5 August 2013 | |
Preceded by | Jim Marurai |
In office 10 November 1999 –18 November 1999 | |
Prime Minister | Joe Williams |
Succeeded by | Jim Marurai |
Minister of Tourism | |
In office 16 January 2014 –17 April 2014 | |
Prime Minister | Henry Puna |
Succeeded by | Mona Ioane |
In office 3 December 2010 –5 August 2013 | |
Preceded by | Robert Wigmore |
Minister of Marine Resources | |
In office 3 December 2010 –5 August 2013 | |
Preceded by | Robert Wigmore |
Succeeded by | Henry Puna |
Minister for Outer Islands Development | |
In office 2006 –21 July 2006 | |
Prime Minister | Jim Marurai |
Preceded by | Jim Marurai |
Minister for the Environment | |
In office 2006 –21 July 2006 | |
Preceded by | Wilkie Rasmussen |
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Cook Islands | |
In office 2004–2005 | |
Member of the Cook Islands Parliament for Arutanga–Reureu–Nikaupara | |
In office 16 June 1999 –21 July 2016 | |
Preceded by | Ngereteina Puna |
Succeeded by | Pumati Israela |
Personal details | |
Born | Aitutaki,Cook Islands | 11 April 1959
Political party | Cook Islands Party Independent One Cook Islands Movement |
Alma mater | University of the South Pacific |
Teina Bishop (born 11 April 1959) is a Cook Islands politician,former Cabinet Minister,and leader of the One Cook Islands Movement. He was jailed for corruption in 2016.
Bishop was born in Aitutaki and was educated at Araura Primary school,Aitutaki Junior High School,and the University of the South Pacific before working as a teacher. [1]
Bishop was first elected to the Parliament as a Cook Islands Party candidate in the 1999 election. He briefly served as Minister of Education in the Cabinet of Joe Williams [2] before losing the position when Williams lost a confidence vote to Terepai Maoate. while in opposition he opposed plans to build a casino in the Cook Islands. [3]
In 2003 he resigned from Parliament over budget cuts to his constituency, [4] precipitating a by-election in which he stood as an independent and was returned unopposed. [5] He was re-elected in the 2004 election,and elected Deputy Speaker,a position he held until 2005. In 2006 he was appointed as Minister for the Environment and Outer Islands in the cabinet of Jim Marurai,but resigned in July and rejoined the Cook Islands Party,precipitating the 2006 snap election. [6] Bishop was re-elected,and spent the next four years in opposition.
The Cook Islands party won the 2010 election and Bishop was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Education,Tourism,and Marine Resources. [7] [8] In May 2011 he increased the number of exploratory fishing licenses available [9] and redirected licensing revenues to boost domestic fishing. [10]
In August 2013 Bishop was stood down from Cabinet following allegations of corruption and fraud in his handling of the marine resources portfolio. [11] He was alleged to have mingled his personal business with his ministerial responsibilities in a complicated business arrangement to sell a fishing license to a Chinese company. He was reinstated to the Education and Tourism portfolios in January 2014. [12] He resigned again in April 2014,the day after the 2014 election was called,after a dispute over whether to dissolve Parliament. [13] [14] He subsequently established the One Cook Islands Movement to contest the elections, [15] and was re-elected. In June 2015 he officially formed an alliance with the Democratic Party. [16] The coalition was dissolved in December after a court ruled that Bishop should stand trial, [17] but in March 2016 he was elected leader of the opposition. [18]
On 21 July 2016 Bishop was found guilty of corruption over his granting of fisheries licences while a Minister. [19] [20] He was removed from his seat,sparking the 2016 Arutanga-Reureu-Nikaupara by-election. [21] Bishop served a six-month term of imprisonment and was released in June 2017. [22] He did not contest the 2018 election,but remained as One Cook Islands leader.
Robert Woonton is a Cook Islands politician and diplomat. He served as Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 11 February 2002 until 11 December 2004,and later as High Commissioner to New Zealand. He was a member of the centrist Democratic Party.
Jim Marurai was a Cook Islands politician who served as Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. He was a member of the Democratic Party.
Norman George is a Cook Islands politician and former Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament,Deputy Prime Minister,and Cabinet Minister.
Wilkie Olaf Patua Rasmussen is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet Minister. From 2013 to 2015 he was leader of the Cook Islands Democratic Party.
Kete Ioane was a Cook Islands politician. He was a Cook Islands Democratic Party Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2010 and served as a cabinet minister between 2006 and 2009.
Tangata Mouauri Vavia is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Cook Islands Democratic Party.
Teariki William Heather is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet minister who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 2013 to 2018. Previously a member of the Cook Islands Party,he is now the leader of the Cook Islands United Party.
Sir Tom John Marsters,is the fifth and 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.
Mona Ioane is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party.
A by-election was held in the Cook Islands constituency of Vaipae-Tautu on 31 March 2015. It was won by Mona Ioane,the Cook Islands Party candidate,consolidating the ruling party's slender majority in Parliament.
Vainetutai Rose Toki-Brown is a Cook Islands politician,and Cabinet Minister. In July 2016 she became the Cook Islands' first female Leader of the Opposition.
The 14th Cook Islands Parliament is the previous term of the Parliament of the Cook Islands. Its composition was determined by the 2014 elections on 9 July 2014.
Albert Taaviri Kaitara Nicholas is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party. He is the son of former MP Albert (Peto) Nicholas.
A by-election will be held in the Cook Islands constituency of Arutanga-Reureu-Nikaupara on 13 October 2016. The by-election was called after One Cook Islands Movement leader Teina Bishop was convicted of corruption as a Minister in July 2016.
Pumati Israela is a Cook Islands politician and former member of the Cook Islands Parliament. He is a member of the One Cook Islands Movement.
Peri Vaevae Pare was a Cook Islands politician and Cabinet Minister. He was stripped of his seat in Parliament after being convicted of corruption in 2005.
Fonotoe Nuafesili Pierre Lauofo Meredith is a Samoan politician a who has served as the leader of the opposition since 2023. A former deputy prime minister,he is a member of the Human Rights Protection Party.
General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 1 August 2022. A referendum on legalising medical cannabis was held on the same day.