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EXCHANGE OF LETTERS BETWEEN THE PRIME” INIS- TER OF NEW ZEALAND AND THE PREMIER OF THE COOK ISLANDS CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COOK ISLANDS AND NEW ZEALAND.
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The Right Honourable N. E. KIRK, P.C., Prime Minister of New Zealand
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The Honourable A. H. HENRY, Premier of the Cook Islands
My dear Premier,
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Office of the Prime Minister, Wellington, 4 May 1973
When you visited Wellington carlier this year, we discussed the nature of the special relationship between the Cook Islands and New Zealand; and we then agreed to exchange letters clarifying aspects of this relationship.
You explained to me your Government's desire that the free association between the Cook Islands and New Zealand should not be regarded as restricting the Cook Islands' powers of self- government. I was glad to assure you that, in the view of the New Zealand Government, there are no legal fetters of any kind upon the freedom of the Cook Islands, which make their own laws and control their own Constitution.
That also is the view of the United Nations. The General Assembly accepted the referendum approving the present Constitu- tion as an act of self-determination, which had ended the dependent status of the Cook Islands.
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Thenceforward, the relationship between our two countries has been simply one of partnership, freely entered into and freely maintained. The Cook Islands Constitution Act, and Constitution itself, provide guarantees and guidelines for the conduct of this partnership; but, in the final analysis, everything turns on the will of each of our countries to make the arrangement work.
It is, of course, an integral part of that arrangement that the Cook Islands can continue to rely on New Zealand's help and protection. To that end, the New Zealand Government has a statutory responsibility for the external affairs and defence of the Cook Islands. It is, however, also intended that the Cook Islands be
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