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Tax take down in Budget
Marumaru Atua leads Pacific Voyagers fleet into Arutanga
Dredge arrives for Avatiu port project
Australia proposes $55 departure tax
Jetty design tweaked
Seven vaka set sail
Farewell, Sir Geoff
State funeral
Tax take down in Budget
Wed
16 May
The 2012-13 Budget is likely to be tabled in parliament on June 7.
While the date is not set in stone, government is treating it as a benchmark.
Financial secretary Richard Neves is tight-lipped about budget figures but indicates previous estimates might have been ”a little bit optimistic“, noting that tax revenues for the 2012-13 period might fall short of projected totals.
Neves told Cook Islands News yesterday that while there has been a documented increase in tourist numbers, the statistic does not tell the whole story.
”We had good tourist numbers but our estimates were a little bit optimistic,“ he said, noting that there has been a structural change in tourist behaviour. In basic terms, people are still pinching pennies.
Numbers of high-yielding tourists were ”not as high as we would have hoped“, Neves said.
”Ten years ago tourists might have eaten out every night but today they might only be eating out four days a week. Things are tight,“ Neves said.
Neves hand-picked the budget support group, a committee of people which critiqued budget submissions from government ministries. Having put in long hours analysing ministry requests and balancing them against the National Sustainable Development Plan and government’s outlined priorities, the committee presented Cabinet with its final report at the start of this month.
While Neves did not elaborate on figures ahead of the budget’s tabling, he did let on that the budget support group prepared its report with a view to toning down future tax increases. Its priority was to earmark opportunities for savings in an effort to offset forthcoming initiatives that government intends to announce in due course.
Cabinet is now considering the committee’s recommendations, ahead of tabling three budget documents – an overview, a breakdown of ministry-related expenses and a detailed analysis of capital – in parliament on June 7.
That morning, media will be ”locked up“ in a room with the budget, in preparation for going to print the following day.
In parliament that afternoon finance minister Mark Brown will give his budget speech.
The following day, parliament is likely to be suspended and the government will host a breakfast for businesspeople, non-government organisations, heads of ministries and media, at which Brown and Prime Minister Henry Puna are expected to give a breakdown of the budget’s key points.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Management intends to publish a kind of ‘citizen’s guide’ to the budget in Cook Islands News that Saturday.
”The hope is that by the following Monday, when they start debating the budget, the public, media and parliament will be better informed,“ Neves said.
More detail in new Budget, p6
Marumaru Atua leads Pacific Voyagers fleet into Arutanga
Tue
15 May
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An Aitutaki mama calls the voyaging vaka to the harbour.
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Hundreds of Aitutaki school children lined the Arutanga harbour to welcome the Pacific voyaging canoes to the island yesterday. More photos page 7.
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Drum beats and traditional chants welcomed six of the seven voyaging vaka into Arutanga harbour in Aitutaki yesterday as the whole island gathered to welcome the 120 voyaging warriors.
Long before the canoes arrived in the harbour, Aitutaki islanders flocked to the beaches to watch the majestic double-hulled canoes under full sail across the reef.
Once cleared by immigration and quarantine officers – Vaka Marumaru Atua led the fleet of vaka Gaualofa, Te Matau a Maui, Hine Moana, Faafaite and Uto Ni Yalo through the narrow passage to Arutanga harbour.
Hawaiian canoe Haunui No Hana Waa was still some distance from the island and joined the crew for the feast later in the day.
At Arutanga harbour, school children, traditional leaders, wide-eyed tourists and the general public gathered in numbers to watch as each canoe was expertly piloted into the harbour by their respective captains.
Chants and drums filled the air as children inched forward across the barrier to get a closer look at the canoes and their crews.
Once all moored alongside each other, the vaka crews disembarked and were given a traditional welcome by Prime Minister Henry Puna and his wife Akaiti.
The first ritual of the arrival was the ‘kiriti’anga maro tai’ or removal of salty garments.
For this part of the welcome all the voyagers, including the crew on support boat Evoe, were invited to walk over a marae near the harbour before greeting the Aronga Mana of the island.
The crew then walked through a guard of honour made up of proud Aitutaki islanders and amazed school children who shook hands with the voyagers as they made their way for the stone laying ceremony in the heart of the Arutanga village and central business area of the island.
Each vaka captain placed a stone on the marae as is traditional for voyagers.
The stones were blessed before formal speeches were made and island mayor John Baxter emotionally expressed his
gratitude for the Pacific Voyagers picking Aitutaki as their first port of call in the Cook Islands.
All the voyagers were told that they had arrived on a rock – a rock that takes away their label as strangers and welcomes them as brothers and sisters.
The arrival of the fleet was such a highly anticipated event on the island that Baxter asked Puna to declare the day a public holiday – a request met with raucous cheers from Aitutaki islanders.
In his address, Puna recited one of his favorite Bible scriptures saying, ”This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in him.“
He told the voyagers that it was a very special day for Aitutaki – the first island to receive Christianity.
”This was the first island to accept Christianity and now we are the first to accept this modern and new message,“ says Puna.
Puna also expressed his thrill at being accepted to sail on one of the canoes back to Rarotonga.
”I think I will sail on the all women crew – but it may take two weeks to get there,“ he joked much to the delight of the Aitutaki audience.
A joint haka by the voyagers was met with a roaring cheer from those gathered before the crew and invited guests were treated to a feast.
In fact, the feast was for everyone – school kids, tourists and the community at large.
Last night the crews were treated to an island concert at Araura College hall where they mixed and mingled with the locals and shared stories.
The canoes will be out on the Aitutaki lagoon today for more filming before setting sail for Rarotonga on Wednesday, arriving at the capital on Thursday.
Dredge arrives for Avatiu port project
Mon
14 May
Ten weeks of 24-hour dredging is due to begin in Avatiu Harbour from today.
The backhoe dredge Kimahia has arrived in the port after a two-week tow from Auckland.
The 100-tonne, barge-mounted excavator is the largest of its type in New Zealand and will carry out the dredging of the port as part of the $27 million Avatiu Port Development project.
Two barges that will be used to transport the excavated material from the dredge to shore have also arrived. The equipment is operated by Heron Construction, a specialist dredging company subcontracting to McConnell Dowell Constructors for the project. The backhoe, which is permanently mounted on the barge hull, is the largest dredge of its type in New Zealand and is the largest backhoe that has been seen in the Cook Islands.
”The Kimahia has the breakout capacity and boom length required to remove the coral and gravels and dig to the design depth of 8 metres below low tide“ says Greg Kroef, manager of Heron Construction.
It is anticipated that dredging will take up to 10 weeks to complete. The dredging operation will carry on Monday to Saturday, 24 hours a day.
The dredge uses state-of-the-art GPS and electronic positioning equipment to allow the operator to ”see“ beneath the water and dredge accurately.
The dredged material will be transported to the Punanga Nui Market extension as the primary disposal site under the supervision of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Planning. Excess dredged material unable to be placed at the Punanga Nui Market will be transported to the Panama Storage site.
”The commencement of the dredging moves us into the final phase of the port development project“, said Bim Tou, general manager of the Ports Authority. ”We will soon be operating the realigned wharf over its full length, and combined with the extra water depth, this will allow larger and more efficient ships to be handled at Avatiu Harbour.“
Dredging will make up the bulk of the $27 million redevelopment project’s fourth and final stage.
Approximately 80,000-metres-cubed of dredged material is expected to be lifted from the harbour floor.
Australia proposes $55 departure tax
Mon
14 May
The Cook Islands government might consider accusing the Australian government of plagiarism after they announced their plans for the nation’s departure tax in last week’s budget announcement.
The Australian plans for their so-called passenger movement tax are similar to the Cook Islands’ intentions and financial secretary Richard Neves looked on with interest as the Australian government announced its budget plans for 2012-13.
The Australian government last week announced it would increase its passenger movement charge by AU$8 to $55 per passenger with effect from July 1, 2012. The charge will be indexed annually based on the movements of the consumer price index thereafter. The Cook Islands government, meanwhile, is aiming to increase its departure tax by NZ$10 or $15 to either $65 or $70 from July 1, 2012 and index an annual increase thereafter.
Neves said the plans were remarkably similar and showed that the Cook Islands was not the only country considering such measures.
The Australian government last increased the cost of its passenger movement tax in 2008 and estimates the increase will bring it in an added $610 million of revenue over the coming four years. In addition to its departure tax plans, the Australian government also intends to introduce a charge that airports will pay to maintain its aviation security services from the Australian Federal Police.
The charge, which it plans to introduce in July 2013, will apply to 10 major airports across the country and is expected to generate $118 million in revenue over the first three years following its introduction.
It also plans to reduce the number of cigarettes or amount of tobacco a person can bring in to the country from September 1, 2012 down to 50 cigarettes or 50 grams of tobacco.
Currently, when arriving in Australia, international travellers aged 18 years and over are able to bring in up to 250 cigarettes or 250 grams of tobacco free of duty.
Jetty design tweaked
Mon
14 May
A number of minor changes to the Arorangi cruise ship jetty project have been incorporated into the jetty’s design plans, bringing the project another step closer to the start of its construction.
The jetty design last month underwent a peer review through companies in New Zealand to ensure it can stand up to the forces that the ocean swells and weather will put on it.
The review also included tips to improve the design functionality for when it was in use as an alternative disembarkment point for cruise ships stopping at Rarotonga.
Project manager Des Eggelton has incorporated a few changes to the jetty design, some of which were needed to fortify the structure and others to improve the navigational markers at the site, and will present them to the preferred contractor to see how they will impact the costs of construction.
Ports Authority general manager Nooroa ‘Bim’ Tou said the preferred contractor and project manager would revisit discussion of cost and negotiate the costs of the design changes.
The Arorangi jetty is being constructed as an alternative docking site at Rarotonga for cruise ships that plan to stop by the island.
About 30 cruise ships visit Rarotonga annually, but up to one-third of them are turned away due to bad weather preventing them from disembarking their passengers.
Data collected by the Ports Authority and Cook Islands Tourism Corporation indicated about 30 percent of cruise ships to visit Rarotonga in the six years to June 2008 were unable to land passengers due to poor weather.
Seven vaka set sail
Fri
11 May
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CISA students in front of Vaka Te Au O Tonga under refurbishment on Aitutaki.
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As the people of Aitutaki prepare for the arrival of the Pacific Voyagers fleet of seven vaka, repair and refit work is being carried out on Vaka Te Au O Tonga – the original and mother vaka of the seven new fibreglass voyaging vaka.
This refit for Te Au O Tonga is the most extensive since she was built over 18 years ago and when complete she will have a complete new stern section, 13 new kiato, a new deck, complete new interior bulkheads, bunks and galley.
Yet to be funded but included in plans for this refit are new mast, spars, rigging and sails along with a new engine, shaft and propeller.
Vaka Te Au O Tonga will be in full view on dry land as the seven voyaging vaka enter Arutanga harbour on Sunday.
A traditional Aitutaki welcome, known as a patai, will be conducted for the seven vaka and their crews on Monday.
On Tuesday three of the voyaging canoes will cruise Aitutaki lagoon before departing Aitutaki on Wednesday for Rarotonga.
The fleet is expected to arrive on Thursday at Avatiu harbour where a modest welcome will be conducted by Uritau and the various Pacific island communities on Rarotonga.
School children will have the opportunity to visit the fleet on Friday and from 3pm that day – a parade of the Pacific Voyagers will be staged through the Avarua town.
The Punanga Nui Markets will open on Friday May 18 for a ‘Pacific Voyagers’ night.
On Saturday, there will be more opportunity for sports clubs, students and community groups to take short trips out on the vaka before the fleet departs Rarotonga on May 20 or 21.
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| The Pacific Voyagers fleet in Tahiti earlier
this week. 12051036 |
Farewell, Sir Geoff
Thu
10 May
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Sir Geoffrey Henry during a speech at the launch of the 2009 Pacific Mini Games in Rarotonga.
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Two-time prime minister and one of the Cook Islands’ most colourful politicians Sir Geoffrey Henry died at his home in Takuvaine, surrounded by family and friends.
Sir Geoffrey succumbed to kidney cancer around 1am on Wednesday, bringing to close a long and vibrant political career that spanned almost 50 years.
Sir Geoffrey first entered politics in 1965 as a 24-year-old and spent time on government and opposition benches until his eventual retirement in 2006.
During his long career, Sir Geoffrey represented the people of Aitutaki and later Takuvaine-Tutakimoa.
He twice served as prime minister, first for six months in 1983 and again between 1989 and 1999 during a time in the public service that saw him take on myriad duties under his portfolio.
Sir Geoffrey returned to parliament in February last year when he was voted in to perform duties as Speaker of the House.
Outside of politics, Sir Geoffrey was an active and vocal champion of all things Cook Islands. His passion for the country extended into sports, religion, international relations, law, education and many other areas of service.
Most recently, Sir Geoffrey worked as the president of the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee (CISNOC) and oversaw a difficult period in the body’s history.
It’s not the first time Sir Geoffrey had been dogged by controversy during his career.
In 1996, during his time as prime minister, the debt-ridden Cook Islands government filed for bankruptcy, throwing the country in to a period of soul-searching and upheaval.
His legacy post-1996 saw a series of changes introduced to the Cook Islands public sector to make it cost-effective again, changes that have lasted through to today.
In 2010, Sir Geoffrey was involved in an unusual incident that saw him taken off an Air New Zealand flight after he commented during a security search that “someone back there thinks I’m a terrorist”.
Sir Geoffrey responded to both these incidents with the fire and conviction that he is well known for.
In response to the Air New Zealand incident, Sir Geoffrey hit back at his accusers and showed his capabilities as a fine orator, describing the situation as lacking “a modicum of commonsense”.
Sir Geoffrey’s family will today hold a memorial service in his honour, which will be followed in Rarotonga tomorrow by a state funeral.
The people there will reflect on the impact Sir Geoffrey
has had on his beloved Cook Islands Party and the nation as a whole.
What he leaves behind is a legacy that will be tough to meet, given his involvement in so many facets of Cook Islands life from the country’s earliest days.
State funeral
Thu
10 May
A state funeral will be held tomorrow, Friday, May 11, in memory of the life of Sir Geoffrey Henry at the precinct already named in his honour.
The majority of the day’s proceedings will be held at the National Auditorium in the Sir Geoffrey Henry National Culture Centre in Tupapa-Maraerenga, although the day will begin with a small service for Sir Geoffrey’s family at his home in Takuvaine.
Moving from there at 9.30am, the memorial will shift to the Avarua Cook Islands Christian Church for a one-hour church service.
When the service ends at 10.30am, Sir Geoffrey’s coffin will then move to the National Auditorium via the Vakatini Palace and the Ministry of Cultural Development.
A series of pallbearers will carry the casket from the Avarua CICC to the National Auditorium, including representatives from the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic
Committee (CISNOC), the Rarotonga Golf Club, the Avatiu Sports Club, the heads of government ministries, members of parliamentary services, the Democratic Party and Cook Islands Police.
At the entrance of the auditorium, the casket will be met by Prime Minister Henry Puna and the Leader of the Opposition Wilkie Rasmussen.
Cook Islands Party members of parliament will accompany the casket as it enters the National Auditorium.
A prayer service is scheduled to begin from 11am at the National Auditorium and is expected to continue until 11.30am.
Puna, Rasmussen and Sir Geoffrey’s son Walter Henry will lead a series of tributes to Sir Geoffrey from the end of the prayer service.
Thereafter, Sir Geoffrey’s casket will be moved back to his Takuvaine home, where he will be laid to rest in a tomb on the family property.
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