Tina Pupuke-Browne
Member of the Cook Islands Parliament
for Rakahanga
Assumed office
14 June 2018
Preceded byToka Hagai
Personal details
Born (1955-04-04) 4 April 1955 (age 68)
Aitutaki, Cook Islands
Political partyDemocratic Party
Alma materUniversity of Canterbury

Tina Pupuke-Browne (born 4 April 1955) is a Cook Islands politician and a member of the Cook Islands Parliament. She is the leader of the Democratic Party.

Career

Brown was born in 1955[1] and is from the island of Rakahanga and is the daughter of former Cook Islands Prime Minister Pupuke Robati.[2] She was educated at Tereora College and then attended the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1979[2][3] – the first woman from Rarotonga to do so.[4] She subsequently worked for New Zealand law firm Russell McVeagh. She returned to the Cook Islands in 1981 to work for the Crown Law Office before entering private practice.[3] She served as president of the Cook Islands Netball Association.[5]

Browne first entered politics in 1996, when she contested the Nikao-Panama by-election as a candidate for the Cook Islands Party. She was defeated by Ngamau Munokoa.[5]

She was elected as leader of the Democratic Party in April 2017, replacing William (Smiley) Heather.[6] In the 2018 election she contested the seat of Rakahanga, losing to the Cook Islands Party's Toka Hagai. Hagai subsequently resigned the seat following allegations of treating,[7] and Browne won it following an electoral petition.[8]

In December 2019 she was part of a protest by women MPs to permit the wearing of ei katu (floral crowns) in Parliament.[9]

In April 2020 she led several MPs in taking a pay cut during the COVID-19 pandemic.[10][11] During 2020 she supported the government's efforts to prevent the spread of covid to the Cook Islands,[12] and later opposed the government's lifting of quarantine.[13]

In March 2021 she joined the government in opposing a 10-year moratorium on seabed mining.[14]

She was re-elected at the 2022 Cook Islands general election.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Hon. Tina PUPUKE BROWNE". Parliament of the Cook Islands. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b Katrina Tanirau (29 February 2020). "'I was shocked and I was terrified'". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Our Principals & Associates". Browne Harvey & Associates P.C. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  4. ^ "People". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 51, no. 3. 1 March 1980. p. 65. Retrieved 10 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ a b Crocombe, R G; Crocombe, M T (1997). "The Cook Islands in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1995 to 30 June 1996". Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  6. ^ "Browne new leader of the Demo Party". Cook Islands News. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Cook Islands MP resigns amid legal action". RNZI. 7 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  8. ^ "Browne wins Cook Islands election petition on appeal". Radio New Zealand International. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Positively blooming in parliament". Cook Islands News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Cook Islands opposition calls for govt to take a pay cut". RNZ. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Two more Cooks MPs take voluntary pay cuts". RNZ. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Cooks opposition backs govt's 'double quarantine'". RNZ. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Cooks opposition says people quarantine re-instated". RNZ. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Cook Islands Democrats change view on mining moratorium". RNZ. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  15. ^ "WARRANT DECLARING THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES AND THE NUMBER OF VOTES RECEIVED BY EACH CANDIDATE" (PDF). Cook Islands Gazette. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
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