News in Brief

Workshop on reform of family law
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has invited interested parties to attend and actively participate in this very important three (3) days consultation workshop on the reform of family law to be held at the Sinai Hall, Avarua, Rarotonga from 10-12 February 2010.
Government has endorsed work programmes on legislative consistency with CEDAW Convention since 2007, and one aspect of this work is the development of a comprehensive civil family law Bill.
The consultation will consider civil law reform in the areas of marriage, dissolution of marriage, the care of children, child and spousal support, domestic violence and succession and other key essential components of CEDAW compliant family law reform for the Cook Islands.
The aim of the consultation is to collate information on three overarching questions towards the drafting of the Bill such as:
1. Which areas (of the seven (or six) areas presented) of law reform the CI wish to proceed with?
2. In each area, which of the good practice approaches presented does the CI wish to adopt in the drafting of the Bill?
3. The mode of law reform for each area. ie some areas could be the subject of a discrete Bill (such as adoption) or could just be included in the draft Family Law Bill.
4. What local context issues need consideration and inclusion and how?
To assist government in the development of the Family Law Bill process, UNDP Pacific Office, Fiji is funding Consultant Christine Forster, who is to provide the technical and legal aspects of preparing a policy rationale paper to guide the drafting of the new Family Law Act. The Gender & Development Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to provide logistics/secretariat to the process in collaboration with Punanga Tauturu Inc., who is also providing funding towards the in-country consultation costs.
A flutter over flags
It may have been an unintentional breach of protocol, but one member of the public has voiced his concern and disappointment that the Cook Islands flag was raised and set at a point lower than the New Zealand Maori flag when Waitangi day was celebrated at the Aotearoa Centre on Saturday. Tumu Korero Ngarima George said when the day is celebrated in NZ the NZ Maori flag is flown at the same height as the NZ flag. George said that at the Aotearoa Centre the NZ Maori flag should have been set at the same height as the Cook Islands national flag.
Major art convention in August
The Cook Islands will host the 10 th Symposium of the Pacific Arts Association (PAA) in Rarotonga from 9 to 11 August 2010 and will be held after the Te Maeva Nui Celebrations. Pacific Arts Association is a worldwide association and includes curators and expert staff from the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the British Museum in London, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge. It is expected that around 300 – 375 international visitors will attend the three day symposium and plans are being made to hold workshops in the outer islands. USP Director, Rod Dixon says, its hoped that international curators will bring research articles and photos of major Cook Islands’ artefacts collections from around the world to the conference and its hoped the information can be collated into a book that will be a major resource for local artists and crafts people as well as international students attending USP’s proposed Pacific Studies campus. There is a contemporary component to the symposium that will attract many of the top Pacific artists as well as our own. There are four exhibitions planned over the three days. The Art Studio will have a group show of Contemporary Cook Islands Art; The Beachcomber will show Mahiriki Tangaroa; Theological College will show Cook Islands’ portraits by a Samoan artist and the National Museum will hold a Tivaevae show.
Alternative medicine practitioners to meet
The Ministry of health is holding a meeting on Wednesday for all complementary medicine practitioners including Taunga’s and Chiropractors at the Community Health Services office in Tupapa. All those who are making traditional medicines, doing traditional massage or maoro and Chiropractors, will be able to register. The meeting is open to anyone wishing to attend.
Cook Islands golfers in action
Two Cook Islanders are taking part in a professional golf tournament currently underway in Australia. They are Phyllis Meti who in 2006 became the World Champion for the longest drive by a woman and Ashley Ona who won the 2005 Cook Islands Masters Tournament in Brisbane. Meti turned professional last year and Ona who is representing Queensland as an amateur is likely to turn professional as well.
Ready to roar
The Lions under 16yrs rugby team will be arriving from Canada in March to play four matches against local U16 rugby teams and combined village teams.
New tropical depression being monitored
At the media briefing at Police HQ on Wednesday morning, Arona Ngari of the Met Office said a new tropical depression near Samoa was being monitored. He said there was a moderate chance of it developing into a cyclone. A gale warning had been issued and winds at its centre were 25-35 knots.