NEW Zealand has challenged Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown to test the views of the nation and hold a referendum on independence following his latest defence of agreements with China.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the call in response to Brown’s comment this week citing the need for diverse international partners to fund a $USD393 million.
Upset with Wellington for withholding development funding, Brown said that if NZ could not help funding their proposed infrastructure plan, the country would “go somewhere else and look for that help”.
A spokesperson for the New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs told Cook Islands News that these comments are the latest in a long line of public statements by Brown over the past year that “have badly mischaracterised the New Zealand Government’s approach to our foreign policy and our relationship with the Cook Islands”.