William (Smiley) Heather

William (Smiley) Heather
Minister of Transport
In office
26 December 2009 – 2 December 2010
Prime MinisterJim Marurai
Preceded byTangata Vavia
Succeeded byTom Marsters
Minister for Infrastructure and Planning
In office
26 December 2009 – 2 December 2010
Preceded byTangata Vavia
Succeeded byTeariki Heather
Member of the Cook Islands Parliament
for Ruaau
In office
27 September 2006 – 1 August 2022
Preceded byVaine Wichman
Succeeded byTimi Varu
Personal details
Born (1958-07-07) 7 July 1958 (age 66)
Rarotonga
Political partyCook Islands Democratic Party

William Kati (Smiley) Heather (born 7 July 1958)[1] is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet Minister. He represented the seat of Ruaau in the Cook Islands Parliament from 2006 to 2022 and is Deputy Leader of the Cook Islands Democratic Party. He is the older brother of Cook Islands Party MP Teariki Heather.[2]

Heather was born in Rarotonga and educated at Arorangi Primary School and Tereora College in the Cook Islands and Onslow College in Wellington, New Zealand.[3] From 1980 to 1997 Heather played for the Cook Islands national rugby union team. He worked as a public servant in the Cook Islands Ministry of Works, Energy and Physical Planning (MOWEPP) from 1992, and in 1997 became Director of Road Works.[3] He was elected to Parliament as a member of the Democratic Party in the 2006 snap election. Following the election, he was appointed Democratic Party whip.

In December 2009 he was appointed to Cabinet as Minister for Transport, Infrastructure & Planning, and Energy[4] following the sacking of Terepai Maoate and resignation of Democratic party cabinet ministers.[5] As a result, he was expelled from the Democratic Party on 8 April 2010.[6]

He was re-elected at the 2010 election as a Democratic candidate. In August 2012 he was elected Deputy Leader of the Democratic party.[7] He was re-elected in the 2014 election, and in April 2015 was elected leader of the Democratic Party.[8] In June 2017 he became leader of the opposition again.[9]

Heather was re-elected at the 2018 election. In February 2020 he was appointed Democratic Party spokesperson for Corrective Services, Infrastructure and the Public Service Commission.[10] In march 2021 he was appointed deputy leader, replacing Terepai Maoate Jnr.[11]

He lost his seat in the 2022 Cook Islands general election.[12]

  1. ^ "William HEATHER". Cook Islands Parliament. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Enough Heathers". Cook islands News. 5 March 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Political candidate profiles". Cook Islands News. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Ministerial portfolio allocations (as of January 5)". Cook Islands News. 6 January 2010. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  5. ^ "PM appoints new ministers". Cook Islands News. 26 December 2009. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  6. ^ "Cooks Democratic Party expels four members still in government". Radio New Zealand International. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Demos confirm leader, plan ahead". Cook Islands News. 15 August 2012. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Cook Islands Democratic Party Chooses New Leader". Pacific Islands Report. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  9. ^ "'Smiley' steps back into old role". Cook Islands News. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  10. ^ Melina Etches (19 February 2020). "Demos gunning for change". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Heather replaces Maoate as Demos deputy leader". Cook Islands News. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  12. ^ "WARRANT DECLARING THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES AND THE NUMBER OF VOTES RECEIVED BY EACH CANDIDATE" (PDF). Cook Islands Gazette. 11 August 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.