George Angene Explained

Office3:Minister of Cultural Development and House of Ariki
Primeminister3:Henry Puna
Mark Brown
Term Start3:10 July 2018
Predecessor3:Teariki Heather
Office4:Minister of Corrections
Primeminister4:Henry Puna
Mark Brown
Term Start4:10 July 2018
Predecessor4:None (Portfolio created)
Constituency Mp5:Tupapa–Maraerenga
Parliament5:Cook Islands
Term Start5:17 November 2010
Predecessor5:John Tangi
Birth Date:8 March 1961
Party:One Cook Islands Movement
Cook Islands Party

George Maggie Angene (born 8 March 1961)[1] is a Cook Islands politician and Cabinet Minister. He is a former member of the Cook Islands Party, and is now a member of the One Cook Islands Movement.

Angene was born in Tupapa Rarotonga and attended a local primary school, but received no secondary education.[2] He is a former criminal who has served time in prison and describes himself as "one of the biggest criminals on Rarotonga".[3] He became infamous in Rarotonga when he in 1992 set fire to the building block encompassing Ministry of Justice, Cook Islands Post Office and Telecom which were all badly damaged.[4] Angene was sentenced to 13 years' jail for arson but was paroled and released in 1999. He learned new skills in prison and converted to Christianity.[2]

He was selected as Cook Islands Party candidate for Tupapa–Maraerenga in a public runoff,[3] and subsequently won the seat in the 2010 election.

In May 2014 Angene was expelled from the CIP after publicly refusing to back the party's position on superannuation.[5] He stood instead for the One Cook Islands Movement and was re-elected in the 2014 election. He was re-elected again at the 2018 election.[6] Following the election he was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Corrective Services, Culture, Business Trade and Investment Board and the House of Ariki[7] and rejoined the Cook Islands Party. In the reshuffle following the appointment of Mark Brown as Prime Minister he surrendered the Business Trade and Investment Board portfolio to Patrick Arioka, and became Minister of the Punanga Nui Market instead. He retained his other portfolios.[8] A further reshuffle in June 2021 saw him retain his core portfolios, and gain responsibility for the Head of State.[9]

In April 2021 an audit report found that Angene had acted improperly in arranging day-release for a convicted child-murderer to work in a tourism business.[10] In June 2021 he called for planned elections in 2022 to be delayed if the COVID-19 crisis continued in order to save money.[11]

He ran as a Cook Islands Party candidate in the 2022 election and was re-elected.[12] He stated that this would be his last term.[12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hon. George ANGENE . Cook Islands Parliament . 14 August 2022.
  2. Web site: Election candidates explain their aims . Cook Islands News . 22 May 2018 . 27 June 2020.
  3. Web site: Bad boy bolts in . Cook Islands News . 9 April 2010 . 19 November 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100420215132/http://www.cinews.co.ck/2010/April/Wed14/local.htm . 20 April 2010.
  4. News: FIRE Rarotonga recovers after blaze . Pacific Islands Monthly . 62 . 6 . 1 June 1992 . 16. 24 July 2021 . National Library of Australia.
  5. Web site: Cook Islands MP sacked for not supporting taxing pensioners . RNZ . 5 May 2014 . 27 June 2020.
  6. Web site: Preliminary Results from Votes Counted 14-06-2018 . Cook Islands Ministry of Justice . 14 June 2018 . 18 June 2018.
  7. Web site: Brown DPM in new cabinet . Cook Islands News . 10 July 2018 . 19 October 2018.
  8. Web site: PM takes on 17 portfolios . Cook Islands News . Emmanuel Samoglou and Rashneel Kumar . 8 October 2020 . 9 October 2020.
  9. Web site: PM announces Cabinet reshuffle . Rashneel Kumar . Cook Islands News . 3 June 2021 . 5 June 2021.
  10. Web site: Opposition demands action on cabinet MP after release of audit report . Cook Islands News . 12 April 2021 . 13 April 2021.
  11. Web site: Minister proposes delaying 2022 elections . Caleb Fotheringham . Cook Islands News . 25 June 2021 . 26 June 2021.
  12. Web site: 'Action man's' last hurrah in politics . Caleb Fotheringham . Cook Islands News . 3 August 2022 . 4 August 2022.