Heather launches bid for CIP Leadership

On Friday morning at 9am Akaoa MP Teariki Heather launched his bid for leadership of the Cook Islands Party.
The announcement comes ahead of the CIP conference scheduled for Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th.
Speaking from his office at T&M Heather Ltd in Arorangi, Heather said his vision for the CIP and the country involved a change of mentality, a new brand. The main elements of his new brand for the country are set out in his hand out pamphlet. It incorporates the colours green and gold on a map of the 15 islands.
If elected as leader, his focus will be on upgrading the Punanga Nui Market making it the hub for outer islands development of agriculture and marine resources. This will ensure self sufficiency in fish, vegetable and fruit produce, and a reduction in reliance on imported goods. Heather said he plans to introduce a small food processing plant to maximize the earnings potential from surplus food. Instead of dumping any surplus, it could be turned into produce of a higher value for sale locally or even export for instance, tomato soup, tomato sauce, canned fish, fruit juices to mention a few.
Heather is keen to develop beef farming on Mauke to ensure self sufficiency in beef products. He envisages development on other islands for instance using Mangaia’s climate window to grow crops for the local or NZ market. For 5 months of the year, Mangaia experiences the same climate as NZ so we should be able to grow similar crops.
Heather is also considering a proposal to abolish income tax in the outer islands.
Heather believes his time has come. In recent years he has experienced many highs and lows in his public and personal life but it’s now or never says Heather.

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