13 Jul 2015

Cooks parliament clerk clarifies House of Ariki meeting impasse

3:29 pm on 13 July 2015

An impasse at the Cook Islands parliament last week has been put down to a miscommunication between parliament's staff and members of the House of Ariki.

The group, which includes the high chiefs from various islands meets at the Parliament every year to provide feedback on policy issues such as permanent residence and preserving traditions.

The clerk of the House of Ariki, Tupuna Rakanui, said the group was barred from the chamber for nearly two hours, until they called MP, Nandi Glassie, who intervened.

However, the acting clerk of the parliament, Helen Maunga, says the issue was all due to a misunderstanding, and the chamber had not been booked for the meeting.