Cost of living and housing are among the major items on the agenda for the incoming Cook Islands Party-led government in their first 100 days in office, Prime Minister Mark Brown has confirmed.
Brown led the CIP to a 13-seat majority win in the 2026 general election last month to secure a historic fifth term in government. Although two of those seats are being challenged in election petitions, the CIP has the support of six independent MPs, giving them a supermajority.
When asked about the government’s top priority for its first 100 days in office, Brown pointed to the cost of living and related issues as the primary target.
“Yes, definitely issues around the cost of living, which centre around ensuring security of fuel supply, but also really keen to progress our initiatives that we campaigned on in terms of our housing policy,” Brown told Cook Islands News.
In a pre-election poll conducted by this newspaper, over 50 percent of Cook Islands voters polled ranked the cost of living and inflation, including fuel prices, water and power bills, housing, transportation, and consumer goods, as their primary concern.
In an interview before the 12 August election, Brown said he understood why the cost of living tops the list, as it was the main topic in his conversations with families. He also pledged a cost-of-living review in their first 100 days “to find practical, targeted relief for families”.
In its manifesto, the CIP committed to a National Housing Strategy 2030 that will align housing with population, workforce, infrastructure and climate resilience by bringing together the government, lenders, developers, landowners and the private sector.
The party promised to expand affordable homes and rentals, including low-cost pre-cut starter models that families can build on their own land. It also pledged to support first-home buyers through deposit assistance, shared equity and affordable financing – with priority given to young families and returning Cook Islanders.
Additionally, the party promised workforce housing for teachers, nurses, police, health workers and tradespeople “so every island can staff its services”, alongside bringing vacant and underused homes back into use to quickly increase supply.
For the Pa Enua (outer islands), the CIP committed to establishing a Pa Enua Housing and Affordable Credit scheme for new builds, home improvements, solar power, water storage and resilience upgrades on customary land.
Brown also noted that a future fund for newborn children was another priority for his government.
In its manifesto, the CIP committed to establishing a Child Foundation Fund for every child at birth, which will build up over the years. Under this scheme, the government commits to opening the fund with an initial contribution at birth and making further contributions over a child’s early life. Parents and families can also add to the fund and protect it for long-term benefit.
The fund aims to improve access to affordable childcare and early learning “so parents can work, study, and build”. It is also expected to strengthen youth opportunities, leadership and pathways from education into work.
Brown has also committed to addressing several concerns raised during the campaign regarding water tariffs.
“We want to really dig down into those issues that have been raised by our people to make sure their concerns are heard around the water tariff policy,” he said.
When asked to clarify those concerns, the Prime Minister said they were related to “addressing those metres where we identified excessive amounts of water, which has been determined to be leaks’.
“It is really supporting TTV (To Tatou Vai) and households to be able to work together to address those areas where meters detect excessive use of water and make sure that we reduce as much as possible the wastage and leakage that’s been occurring.”
Meanwhile, the petitions filed in the Cook Islands High Court challenge the results of the Avatiu-Ruatonga-Palmerston (RAPPA), Matavera and Pukapuka-Nassau seats. There is no indication yet as to how long these petitions will take to resolve.
