New Zealand and Cook Islands Sign Historic Defence & Security Declaration

New Zealand and the Cook Islands have signed a Defence & Security Declaration in Rarotonga today, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.

New Zealand and the Cook Islands have a special constitutional relationship which has endured for six decades, Mr Peters says.

Today’s Declaration is about setting a course together for the future.

The strategic environment we face is more complex and contested today than at any other point since New Zealand and the Cook Islands formed our free association relationship in 1965.

In that context, it’s vital that New Zealand and the Cook Islands are clear, with one another and third parties, about the nature of our special relationship and our responsibilities to one another in the defence and security domains.

This Declaration outlines a set of important political commitments that the Cook Islands and New Zealand have made to one another which provide clarity on key aspects of our special constitutional relationship.

It’s no secret that our two governments have had a series of serious disagreements since late 2024, Mr Peters says.

As we debated how to get past these disagreements, it became clear that one of their root causes was the lack of a shared understanding about the requirements of our special constitutional relationship – especially as it pertained to defence and security matters and the extent of the consultation required between us.

This Declaration resolves this former ambiguity and provides clarity to both Governments so that we can move forward focused on the future, not the past.

The Declaration adds to the other important expressions of the New Zealand-Cook Islands relationship: the Cook Islands Constitution, the exchange of letters between Prime Ministers Norman Kirk and Albert Henry in 1973, the Letters Patent of 1983 and the Joint Centenary Declaration of 2001.

New Zealand’s paused financial support to the Cook Islands will be restored following today’s Declaration signing, Mr Peters says.

We earlier took a difficult decision to pause parts of New Zealand’s funding to the Cook Islands Government because there was no shared understanding of the nature of our special constitutional relationship. Now that we have come to a mutually satisfactory understanding of the underpinnings of our partnership, we are pleased to normalise all aspects of our relationship – including New Zealand’s financial support.

Throughout the past two years, New Zealand has never wavered from our steadfast commitment to the Cook Islands people and their strong attachment to the free association relationship between our two countries.

We are pleased to now have a shared certainty about the contours of that relationship, and we are grateful to Prime Minister Brown and his government for the constructive way they approached the negotiation of this Declaration.

New Zealand and the Cook Islands people benefit from our special constitutional relationship. We look forward now to further enhancing the broad range of cooperation between New Zealand and the Cook Islands, as well as navigating together the complex strategic environment and the many shared challenges we face, Mr Peters says.

The political commitments made in the Declaration are summarised below. The Declaration’s full text can be found here.

Declaration summary The Cook Islands-New Zealand Defence and Security Declaration contains a series of commitments.

The political commitments made by the Cook Islands to New Zealand in the Declaration are as follows: To uphold the fundamental values upon which New Zealand citizenship is based (clause 2).

To discharge its foreign policy and diplomatic relationships subject to the constitutional limits of free association (clause 5).

To uphold the defence and security interests of New Zealand, the Cook Islands and the Realm as a whole (clause 6).

To continue to permit the New Zealand Defence Force access to the Cook Islands’ territory (including EEZ) to fulfil its mandate and uphold shared security commitments (clause 9).

To consult with New Zealand in good faith on matters of defence and security that may affect New Zealand’s interests and constitutional responsibilities (clause 10), including maintaining regular structured dialogue and providing information to New Zealand on defence or security matters upon its request and to the fullest extent possible (clause 13).

To engage with New Zealand on any requests for defence and security before engagement with other partners (clause 14).

In return, New Zealand has committed to the Cook Islands that it will: Remain the primary defence and security partner for the Cook Islands and provide defence and security capacity and capability building (clause 7).

Uplift Defence engagement and uphold the responsibility of the New Zealand Defence Force for the Cook Islands (clause 8).

Consult with the Cook Islands in good faith on matters of defence and security that may affect the Cook Islands’ interests (clause 10), including maintaining regular structured dialogue and providing information to the Cook Islands on defence or security matters upon its request and to the fullest extent possible. (clause 13).

Both New Zealand and the Cook Islands have committed not to enter into activities, agreements or arrangements with other partners that would undermine the commitments set out in the Declaration