Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Stephen Brown delivers a statement during the high level segment on day three of the UNFCCC COP29 Climate Conference at Baku, Azerbaijan on Nov. 13, 2024. Sean Gallup/Getty Images
When the Cook Islands celebrated 50 years of self-governance in free association with New Zealand, former Prime Minister John Key was a guest of honour.
A decade later not only will his successor, Christopher Luxon, not be attending the Islands’ 60th Constitution Day, but neither will New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
