Niue stays with NZ citizenship as Cook Islands tests Aotearoa's resolve over passport

While the Cook Islands is exploring the possibility of a national passport, Niue does not plan to follow suit.

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown proposed the idea of a national passport as part of the country's 60th anniversary commemorations this year, but New Zealand has firmly opposed the proposal.

Like the Cook Islands, Niue operates in free association with New Zealand, where its people hold New Zealand passports and citizenship.

Niue Prime Minister Dalton Tagelagi told PMN News they respect their current constitutional arrangement with New Zealand and have no plans to pursue a national passport at this time.

"We are very respectful of where we're at and especially our constitutional arrangement with New Zealand," Tagelagi said.

When PMN News interviewed Tagelagi in Alofi in October 2024, he said he didn’t expect Niue to become independent during his lifetime, but he was optimistic it would happen one day.

NZ opposes the passport proposal

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Vaovasamanaia Winston Peters has reiterated his concerns over the Cook Islands’ proposal to introduce a national passport, warning of potential implications for the longstanding constitutional relationship between the two countries.

Speaking on Pacific Mornings, Peters said that New Zealand’s position on such significant constitutional changes remained firm, highlighting the need for democratic processes like elections or referenda to involve the public.

“Our position is that we’re trapped by our own constitutional background,” he said.

Niue PM Dalton Tagelagi has no plans to follow Cook Islands proposal for a national passport. Photo: PMN/Joseph Safiti

Peters said any decision of this magnitude in New Zealand would involve seeking the view of New Zealanders through elections or referendum.

“We don’t just make the decision and leave the New Zealand people in the dark. The Cook Islands people need to know that their New Zealand citizenship, their right to come to New Zealand hospitals, all these things about being a Realm country in partnership and cooperation with us - these are the things that they’re putting at stake when they make these constitutional changes,” he said.

Peters criticised the lack of consultation with Cook Islanders and their parliament over the passport issue.

“Has it been to the Cook Islands parliament? No, it’s not. Has it been to the Cook Island people? No, it hasn’t,” he said.

Peters highlighted New Zealand’s substantial financial support to the Cook Islands over the years and expressed expectations of mutual respect in decision-making.

Watch full interview with Vaovasamanaia Winston Peters.

He said New Zealand shouldn’t be blamed or left to explain the impact the passport initiative would have on the Cook Islands people.

“We’re saying, please understand, we are trapped by our own constitutional requirements. We must ask the people - in this case, the Cook Islands people ... they must be in this loop as well,” he said.

High-level meeting

While the issue appears to be reaching a critical point, the passport proposal was not a major topic of discussion during formal consultations held on 27 January when New Zealand’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bede Corry, visited Rarotonga to meet with the Cook Islands government.

A spokesperson for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said the consultations were an opportunity for Aotearoa to underline the principles and mutual obligations underpinning the unique and special relationship between New Zealand and the Cook Islands, including partnership, consultation, shared values and interests, and New Zealand’s foundational role in supporting the Cook Islands’ defence and security.

“Issues such as the Cook Islands government’s recent indications of interest in a separate passport were not a significant feature of discussions, given that the New Zealand Government’s opposition to this had already been placed on record,” the spokesperson said.

Listen to Niue PM Dalton Tagelagi's full interview below.

How it unfolded

According to MFAT documentation, Prime Minister Brown first proposed the idea of a national passport to Peters on the sidelines of an event in Japan in July 2024.

Brown also discussed the idea of a ‘national identity passport’ with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon during a meeting on 12 August. Luxon sought more information and informed Brown that the proposal raised serious questions about their constitutional relationship.

On 27 September, Peters wrote to Brown, noting that the Cook Islands intended to create a national identity card or Cook Islands passport by 2025.

“The creation of a national identity card is a question for the Cook Islands Government. However, the establishment of a passport is a separate question as passports flow from citizenship," Peters wrote.

“A Cook Islands passport would raise fundamental questions for our constitutional relationship and shared citizenship.”

Cook Islands PM Mark Brown publicly raised the issue of the national passport at the 53rd Session of Te Kura Nui A Te Are Ariki, pictured, AGM in October 2024. Photo/Cook Islands News/TUAINE UNUIA

Then, in October, Brown publicly raised the idea of the passport at the House of Ariki AGM - a Cook Islands parliamentary body similar to the House of Lords - along with proposals to change the country’s name and anthem.

Brown wrote to Peters in early November, but PMN News has not seen this correspondence.

On 19 November, Peters and Luxon separately met with Brown and “delivered strong and clear messages" on New Zealand’s position on the Cook Islands proposal.

They reiterated that it was not possible “under our current free association relationship; one citizenship is a foundational concept of the Realm”.

On 25 November, Peters wrote to Brown again, stating that the New Zealand Government could not support the proposal for Cook Islands citizenship and passport.

“Any proposal to change this foundational concept would need to be agreed in partnership with New Zealand and would need to be put to the people of the Cook Islands through a referendum.

Letter from NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters to Cook Islands PM Mark Brown on 25 November.

“The New Zealand Government's approach to this matter would also be carefully scrutinised in our own political system and be subject to challenge from a range of stakeholders.

“It would, therefore, be a requirement for such a matter of constitutional significance to also be taken to the New Zealand Cabinet for agreement.

“The New Zealand-Cook Island relationship has thrived over many years through the careful and mature management of challenging issues via respectful consultation, and we are confident that it will continue to do so.”

On 3 January 2025, the Cook Islands News reported that Brown encouraged Cook Islanders to "not be afraid of the discussions that may need to be had" regarding the passport proposal.

The Cook Islands government has not responded to requests for comment on Peters' statements.