Tingika Elikana

Tingika Elikana
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 February 2024
Preceded byMark Brown
Minister of Marine Resources
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 February 2024
Preceded byRobert Tapaitau
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Cook Islands
Incumbent
Assumed office
22 March 2021
Preceded byTai Tura
Member of the Cook Islands Parliament
for Pukapuka–Nassau
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 June 2018
Preceded byTekii Lazaro
Personal details
Born5 November 1961
Political partyCook Islands Party

Tingika Elikana (born 5 November 1961)[1] is a Cook Islands civil servant, politician and Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party.

Elikana was born on Pukapuka and educated at Pukapuka School and Tereora College.[1] He studied law at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and then a Masters of Business Administration at the University of the South Pacific as well as public sector management at Massey University.[1] He worked as a police officer,[1] and then as a crown prosecutor,[2] Deputy Solicitor General,[3] and Solicitor General.[4] From 2011 to 2018 he was Secretary for Justice.[5]

He was elected to the Cook Islands Parliament at the 2018 Cook Islands general election. After his election, the government charted a special flight at a cost of $32,000 to collect him from the outer islands.[6] The flight was later the subject of a private prosecution launched against Prime Minister Henry Puna by former MP Norman George.[7] As an MP, Elikana chaired the select committee which decided that homosexuality should remain a criminal offence in the Cook Islands.[8] In February 2020 he was accused of orchestrating the sacking of six public servants who belonged to the opposition Democratic Party.[9] Following the election of Mark Brown as Prime Minister he was appointed Associate Minister of Justice, Finance and Economic Management, Foreign Affairs and Immigration.[10] On 22 March 2021 he was elected Deputy Speaker, replacing Tai Tura.[11]

He was re-elected at the 2022 Cook Islands general election.[12]

In February 2024 following the conviction of Cabinet Minister Robert Tapaitau for corruption he was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration, and Marine Resources.[13][14] His first action in the position was to travel to Suva to co-chair the Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting Ministerial Interim Meeting.[15]

  1. ^ a b c d "Tingika ELIKANA". Cook Islands Parliament. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Document theft convict in Cooks government escapes jail". RNZ. 2 December 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Pago Pago longliner allowed to leave Cooks". RNZ. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Cook Islands Government official says House of Ariki needs a revamp". RNZ. 23 December 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  5. ^ "NEW HEAD OF MINISTRY OF JUSTICE". Public Service Commissioner. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Govt charters flight for election winners in the Cook Islands". RNZ. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  7. ^ Losirene Lacanivalu (20 March 2020). "Prosecution of PM dropped". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Most Cook Islanders support same-sex relations ban – committee". RNZ. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  9. ^ Melina Etches (15 February 2020). "Furore over 'island politics'". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  10. ^ Emmanuel Samoglou and Rashneel Kumar (8 October 2020). "PM takes on 17 portfolios". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  11. ^ Melina Etches (23 March 2021). "Mauke MP Tura appointed Speaker of Parliament". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  12. ^ "WARRANT DECLARING THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES AND THE NUMBER OF VOTES RECEIVED BY EACH CANDIDATE" (PDF). Cook Islands Gazette. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  13. ^ Candice Luke (9 February 2024). "New Minister 'hits the ground running'". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  14. ^ "Albert Nicholas appointed Deputy Prime Minister". Cook Islands News. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Foreign Affairs Minister Elikana co-chairs Pacific-Japan ministerial meet". Cook Islands News. 13 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.