Tina Browne

Tina Pupuke-Browne is a member of the Cook Islands Parliament. She is leader of the Democratic Party.

Tina Browne
Member of the Cook Islands Parliament
for Rakahanga
Assumed office
14 June 2018
Preceded byToka Hagai
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic Party

Browne is from the island of Rakahanga and is the daughter of former Cook Islands Prime Minister Pupuke Robati.[1] She was educated at Tereora College and then attended the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1979[1][2] - the first woman from Rarotonga to do so.[3] She subsequently worked for New Zealand law firm Russell McVeagh. She returned to the Cook Islands in 1981 to work for the Crown Law Office before entering private practice.[2] She served as president of the Cook Islands Netball Association.[4]

Browne first entered politics in 1996, when she contested the Nikao-Panama by-election as a candidate for the Cook Islands Party. She was defeated by Ngamau Munokoa.[4]

She was elected as leader of the Democratic Party in April 2017, replacing William (Smiley) Heather.[5] In the 2018 election she contested the seat of Rakahanga, losing to the Cook Islands Party's Toka Hagai. Hagai subsequently resigned the seat following allegations of treating,[6] and Browne won it following an electoral petition.[7]

In December 2019 she was part of a protest by women MPs to permit the wearing of ei katu (floral crowns) in Parliament.[8]

References
  1. Katrina Tanirau (29 February 2020). "'I was shocked and I was terrified'". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  2. "Our Principals & Associates". Browne Harvey & Associates P.C. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  3. "People". Pacific Islands Monthly. 51 (3). 1 March 1980. p. 65. Retrieved 10 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Crocombe, R G; Crocombe, M T (1997). "The Cook Islands in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1995 to 30 June 1996". Retrieved 6 March 2011.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  5. "Browne new leader of the Demo Party". Cook Islands News. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  6. "Cook Islands MP resigns amid legal action". RNZI. 7 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  7. "Browne wins Cook Islands election petition on appeal". Radio New Zealand International. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  8. "Positively blooming in parliament". Cook Islands News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
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