Tina Browne

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.

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
Aitutaki, Cook Islands
Political partyDemocratic Party
Alma materUniversity of Canterbury

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. Katrina Tanirau (29 February 2020). "'I was shocked and I was terrified'". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  3. "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. 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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