Will's Word: Is NZ finally getting somewhere with the Cook Islands story?

The Cook Islands-New Zealand saga is the story that just keeps on giving.

It looks like we might finally be getting somewhere, with Winston Peters heading over to Rarotonga to sit down with Mark Brown.

And look, I’ll say this straight away, this is a good thing.

Because this whole situation has dragged on for way too long.

There’s been tension, a bit of back and forth, not a lot of clarity, and in the meantime, it just kind of lingers there.

So the fact they’re actually sitting down properly, face to face, that’s promising.

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown and New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters are set to meet in Rarotonga, aiming to resolve ongoing tensions between the two countries. Photo/PMN News/Ala Vailala

Now for me personally, I feel quite torn on this.

Because as someone who’s both Cook Islander and Kiwi, I can genuinely see both sides.

New Zealand yeah, it’s within its rights to pause funding if it feels like it’s been blindsided. That makes sense.

But at the same time, the Cook Islands is its own country.

It should be able to explore opportunities and build relationships.

So this idea that one side is right and the other is wrong, I just don’t think it’s that simple.

The flags of the Cook Islands and New Zealand, representing the close but sometimes complicated relationship between the two nations. Photo/PMN composite

What I’m hoping for out of this meeting is something real.

Like what actually changes after this?

Because at the end of the day, it’s everyday people in the Cook Islands who feel this stuff the most.

And I do have one thing that’s been bugging me about all this.

Why couldn’t this have happened earlier?

Mark Brown was literally in New Zealand not that long ago. He met with Winston in Auckland.

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Why didn’t they just sit down then and sort this out properly?

It just feels like a lot of theatre sometimes. Maybe that’s geopolitics, maybe I’m being a bit naive, but it does feel like this has been dragged out longer than it needed to be.

That said I will admit, it does make Winston Peters look like a bit of a statesman here.

Flying in, trying to steady things. And maybe that’s what this situation needs right now.

So yeah, this story really does keep on giving.

But for once, it actually feels like we might be getting somewhere with it.