Cooks have three roads to choose

choose from at elections

From JOHN CARTER in Rarotonga

Three signposted roads lead to the Cook Islands’ future. In a surprise election and referendum set by Premier Sir Albert Henry for December 3, the islanders will be asked to select one of them.

They are the road to self-govern ment, which they’ve been treading for around 10 years; the road to indepen dence; the road to integration with New Zealand.

Democratic Party Opposition leader Dr Tom Davis alleges there’s a fourth road—the road to dictatorship which, he says, is the one which the people will have to take if they vote the governing Cooks Islands Party into office again.

I spoke to both Premier and Opposition leader. Their views are irreconcilable, though there’s no bit terness between the two.

Dr Davis saw Sir Albert around September 23 and asked him for time on the radio. He was given it cheer fully by the Premier who, it has been alleged, manipulates both press and radio for government and party. The readiness with which he agreed to his rival taking the air belies the allega tion.

Sir Albert was even amused when Dr Davis told his audience the Premier was a sick man—he’s had at least one heart attack—and said there could be something in that, because his opponent is a doctor and should know!

But the Premier is taking the elec tion campaign in his stride, almost as comic relief fom the cares of office and the financial troubles into which, says Dr Davis, the Premier has got his country. Sir Albert is confident of vic tory.

“I will win 18 out of the 22 seats, three more than I’ve got now,” said the Premier. “I am sure of it. I’ll win Dr Davis’s seat and the two Atiu seats. I am hoping for a little extra.

I’ve a pretty good chance of winning 20 seats. The worst agitators and those retarding the country’s progress will be out.

“At present I have a two-thirds majority. Early on I asked Dr Davis to form a coalition with me but he wouldn’t have it. He said an op position was needed to keep the government in order, but when you start opposing everything, even the things which are obviously for the country’s good, it doesn’t help the country.”

Sir Albert told me that his prime reason for calling the election was because of an expressed wish by some people, including Cook islanders in New Zealand (who, incidentally, won’t have a vote), for integration with NZ.

“That can only be decided by the people,” the Premier said, “because it means a change in the constitution, but, unless I give the people the right to decide, my conscience will never be clear.”

Sir Albert is riding the wave’s crest this year. The Queen came here. Sir Albert received his knighthood. The South Pacific Forum came here. The South Pacific Conference is here until October 8 and various heads of government came to the SP Con ference including Australia’s Gough Whitlam, NZ’s new Prime Minister, Mr W. Rowling, Fiji’s Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and Nauru’s Presi dent Hammer Deßoburt—all be cause of Sir Albert.

Sir Albert has been very frank about the importance of the SP Con ference to his election campaign. He told delegates one day that his people were following every word of the conference, because he’s managed to get the proceedings broadcast live to all the islands in the group.

“Keep saying that I’m a good fellow,” he told the conference from the chair, after some glowing tributes had been paid to him. “My people will hear it and it will help on December 3!”

One delegate, breaking the con ference’s no-politics rule, said he hoped Sir Albert would win the election!

According to Dr Davis, however, Sir Albert has another very pressing reason for calling the election. That is to ensure another four years of rule for the Cook Islands Party so that Sir Albert, who, says Dr Davis, intends to retire soon after his party is back in power, can be sure a new leader would be firmly seated before they have to seek re-election.

Some people are already making a book on the choice of a new CIP leader. The betting is that it will go to Dr Joe Williams, the Secretary

Vho follows Henry?

>r Social Services, or to Hugh enry, one of Sir Albert’s sons, so iat the Henry dynasty’s career will 5. ensured a further run.

Sir Albert, it is also predicted, won’t op out altogether. He’ll be Head of ate!

Sir Albert told me; “We have a lall Democratic Party opposition, anted, and it’s unfortunate it doesn’t atter what it is, they oppose it,” he mplained. “They’ve hampered much ogress. We have committees which an certain projects and publicise em. The next thing we know is that j opposition has been at work and ople owning land on the island we mt to improve oppose us, accusing of planning to dispossess them. It our policy not to force anything on j people if they don’t want it. So, : put the plan aside.

“We have a good project. We have ; finance from New Zealand, and icn nothing is done New Zealand nts to know why it hasn’t been ne. All these things have been mpering us since 1972, and all :ause of underground agitators. ‘lf I have to force an issue I am ;used of being a dictator. If I don’t anything I’m still blamed. ‘This would have gone on until 76 when the life of the present -liament would have ended but by it time the people would have been restless and disappointed because )jects hadn’t been carried out, that vould have been a bigger headache me.” ‘lt’s really very advantageous to ft an election now,” Sir Albert led. sir Albert’s own desires, he says, far as the referendum is concerned, all for the status quo—self-govern nt in free association with New dand. He doesn’t want indepen ice and says he never has said that did—that the independence he was sr when on the way to Caracas the Law of the Sea conference was right to have a voice in inter ional affairs. But whatever hap icd he would never want to change Cook Islanders’ right to New iland citizenship embodied in the Act of 1948. This defines citizens New Zealand as people born in w Zealand, the Cooks, Niue and Tokelaus.

If we could look after our own eign affairs without that act being nged, then it would be all right, at was the meaning of what I said en I mentioned independence, but never be party to our people ing NZ citizenship. Dr Davis told

the people of the four islands sup porting his party that they would lose that right if there was independence and that they should go for integra tion with New Zealand.

“Agitators among the Cook Island ers in New Zealand, supported by some Europeans married to Cook Islanders, said the same thing and demanded a referendum. Now we are back to the 1965 position when we decided on internal self-government, and I told them that full independence was no longer an issue.

“New Zealand has not dominated us or our internal workings. We have become a partner in the Forum with

NZ blessing and we are playing our part as a full self-governing country.

There was the point to be made at Caracas that we were not a vassal of New Zealand and that there was no domination from outside. That was recognised by all at Caracas, so I was satisfied. There’s no need to change anything!”

What does Dr Davis think?

“No one really knows why he wants an election,” he said. “He has used a variety of reasons. His statement that they wanted independence became unpopular so he dropped it like a hot coal.

“Then the four islands, Penrhyn,

akahanga, Atiu and Mangaia, said at if he succeeded in making the Doks independent—and as they had ways been victimised by him it Duld be worse if the Cooks went dependent—they wanted integration ith New Zealand. Sir Albert went New Zealand where he had a rrible time from our people. They arly lynched him and he had to ive a meeting almost under guard.

“His references to integration when : came back confused the people. It ad as though he wanted integration. :ame out in the Cook Islands News ying he was finding any excuse for election, and made my stand in the iddle to continue as we are.

“This, Sir Albert said, confused the ople and he used that as a reason r an election involving changing tide three of the constitution, which s to do with self-government, and tides five and six which have to do th NZ citizenship and foreign ? airs. Five and six require a ferendum but, instead of calling a ferendum, he called an election.

“We accept the challenge.”

Dr Davis said it was wrong for • Albert to say the Democratic rty had hampered the government.

“How can we,” he asked, “when : are only seven? He has put bills ough which have given his ministers nost dictatorial power and tries to ime us for his failures.”

I asked Dr Davis what he thought is a reason for Sir Albert’s election -11.

“He’s not a well man,” he replied, le wants to get off the scene and pes an election win would allow n to retire completely, or become ;ad of State and put someone else charge. He hasn’t been able to do s up to now because he really has one to hand over to so he hopes secure the government for the next ar years.

“If he wins this election, I feel sure will go independent. He will then

be free of a restricting influence from New Zealand. He will then make the existence of an opposition impossible in other words full dictatorship.

“I feel sure he will go independent because he is in terrible money trouble and needs much more than the ordinary aid New Zealand gives him.

He needs about six and a half to seven million dollars to get out of financial trouble. Independent, he has the right to negotiate for aid with outside powers, Japan or even Soviet Russia, which would be a strong possibility.

“He has had three visits to Japan and I think he has some set-up there, but can’t do it with only internal self-government. He will be fighting to win an election on his mana; go independent, move out and then put someone else in.

“I am fighting this election on the basis that he wants to go independent regardless of what he says to the con trary and if he does, Co-k Islanders will lose their NZ citizenship.”

And what are Dr Davis’s chances of winning?

“Both sides are confident,’ he says.