Tai Tura

Tai Tura
11th Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
22 March 2021
Preceded byNiki Rattle
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Cook Islands
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 April 2019
Preceded byToka Hagai
Member of the Cook Islands Parliament
for Mauke
In office
17 November 2010 – 1 August 2022
Preceded byMapu Taia
Succeeded byStephen Matapo
Personal details
Political partyCook Islands Party

Tutai Tura (born 3 October 1949)[1] is a Cook Islands politician and former member of the Cook Islands Parliament. Since March 2021 he has been Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party.

Tura was born on Rarotonga, and educated at Avarua School and Tereora College.[1] He trained as an electrician and worked for the government on Mauke.[1] He was first elected to Parliament at the 2010 election. Shortly after his election he called for wage increases to counteract the higher cost of living in Mauke.[2] In 2015 he was appointed Associate Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration.[3]

In April 2019 Tura was appointed Deputy Speaker.[4] In June 2020 he attempted to ban a Cook Islands News journalist from Parliament over a story about MPs' allowances.[5]

On 22 March 2021 Tura was elected Speaker, succeeding Niki Rattle.[6]

He did not stand at the 2022 Cook Islands general election.[7]

  1. ^ a b c "Hon. Tutai TURA". Cook Islands Parliament. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. ^ Manins, Rosie (23 November 2010). "Mauke's Tura proposes wage increase". Cook Islands News.
  3. ^ Samoglou, Emmanuel (16 October 2014). "PM announces key appointments". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  4. ^ Rashneel Kumar (9 April 2019). "Tura appointed deputy Speaker". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Cook Islands MPs move to ban journalist for travel perks reports". RNZ. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  6. ^ Melina Etches (23 March 2021). "Mauke MP Tura appointed Speaker of Parliament". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  7. ^ Melina Etches (28 May 2022). "Eileen Story confirmed as Cook Islands Party nominee for Mauke seat". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 14 August 2022.