The Cook Islands and Winston Peters dominated news headlines over the weekend. With media reporting that Aotearoa’s relationship with the Cook Islands was ‘significantly worsening.’ 

The reason for this is an agreement that the Cook Islands is planning to sign with China. Winston Peters says the Cook Islands didn’t consult with Aotearoa about what was in the agreement - which the country is bound to doing under the 2001 Joint Centenary Declaration. 

However, the 2001 agreement is complex, and has certain clauses that means these rules don’t always apply. 

Producer Evie spoke to Geopolitical Analyst at the University of Otago Geoffrey Miller about the complex relationship between us and the Cook Islands - as he broke down the topic and whether anyone has really breached any agreements in this situation.