Christmas in the Cook Islands! Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has just revealed plans are progressing on lifting the travel ban between New Zealand and the Cook Islands.
She has said the two countries are well into planning what travel will look like and they are into verification process, looking to have people on the ground sorting logistics and ensuring plans are viable within the next 10 days.
She said that while other Pacific countries are on the list, the Cook Islands took precedence because of New Zealand's special relationship with the Cooks. She stressed that the moves were all being done with a high level of caution.
She hoped travel would be open between the two nations before the end of the year.
Why Cook Islanders are NZ citizens
The Cook Islands are self-governing in ‘free association’ with New Zealand. That means that while it administers its own affairs, Cook Islanders are New Zealand citizens who are free to live and work here. More than 80,000 Cook Island Māori live in New Zealand. Aotearoa is responsible for Cook Islands defence as part of this agreement.
The relationship began when the Cook Islands became a British protectorate in 1888. In 1900, Cook Island leaders asked to be annexed as a British territory. In 1901, that request was granted, and the Cook Islands were considered part of the colony of New Zealand. When Aotearoa was granted independence in 1948, it took the Cook Islands with it.
The Cooks remained a New Zealand dependent territory until they were granted self-rule. In 1965, the Cook Islands passed their own constitution, and have remained a self-governing state ever since.