George Angene
George Angene | |
|---|---|
 Angene in 2019 | |
| Minister of Cultural Development and House of Ariki | |
| Assumed office 10 July 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Henry Puna Mark Brown |
| Preceded by | Teariki Heather |
| Minister of Corrections | |
| Assumed office 10 July 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Henry Puna Mark Brown |
| Preceded by | None (Portfolio created) |
| Member of the Cook Islands Parliament for Tupapa–Maraerenga | |
| In office 2010–2026 | |
| Preceded by | John Tangi |
| Succeeded by | Tamaiti Maru Willie |
| Member of the Cook Islands Parliament for Manihiki | |
| Assumed office 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Akaiti Puna |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 March 1961 |
| Party | One Cook Islands Movement Cook Islands Party Independent (2026–present) |
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.[8] 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.[9] A further reshuffle in June 2021 saw him retain his core portfolios, and gain responsibility for the Head of State.[10]
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.[11] In June 2021 he called for planned elections in 2022 to be delayed if the COVID-19 crisis continued in order to save money.[12]
He ran as a Cook Islands Party candidate in the 2022 election and was re-elected.[8] He stated that this would be his last term.[8] However, Angene did end up running for re-election in the 2026 general election, running in the Manihiki electorate as an independent candidate,[13] and won.[14]
In September 2026, Prime Minister Mark Brown requested Angene's resignation as a minister.[15] Having been a cabinet minister for the Cook Islands Party in the previous parliament, Angene will retain his warrant following re-election to parliament until a new cabinet is sworn in, despite running against the party in the election.[16] Angene refused to resign as minister,[17] though indicated that he would join the opposition.[18]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Hon. George ANGENE". Cook Islands Parliament. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- 1 2 "Election candidates explain their aims". Cook Islands News. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- 1 2 "Bad boy bolts in". Cook Islands News. 9 April 2010. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
- ↑ "FIRE Rarotonga recovers after blaze". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 62, no. 6. 1 June 1992. p. 16. Retrieved 24 July 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Cook Islands MP sacked for not supporting taxing pensioners". RNZ. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ↑ "Preliminary Results from Votes Counted 14-06-2018". Cook Islands Ministry of Justice. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- ↑ "Brown DPM in new cabinet". Cook Islands News. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- 1 2 3 Caleb Fotheringham (3 August 2022). "'Action man's' last hurrah in politics". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ↑ Emmanuel Samoglou and Rashneel Kumar (8 October 2020). "PM takes on 17 portfolios". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ↑ Rashneel Kumar (3 June 2021). "PM announces Cabinet reshuffle". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ↑ "Opposition demands action on cabinet MP after release of audit report". Cook Islands News. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ↑ Caleb Fotheringham (25 June 2021). "Minister proposes delaying 2022 elections". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
- ↑ Dasalusalu, Losirene (26 June 2026). "Minister Angene announces shock move to contest Manihiki as independent". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
- ↑ "WARRANT DECLARING THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES AND THE NUMBER OF VOTES RECEIVED BY EACH CANDIDATE" (PDF). The Cook Islands Gazette. No. 17/2026. 26 August 2026. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
- ↑ Kumar, Rashneel (17 September 2026). "PM's ultimatum to Angene: 'Resign by end of the week'". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 20 September 2026.
- ↑ Wynne, Thomas Tarurongo (19 September 2026). "Thomas Wynne: Playing against the team". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 20 September 2026.
- ↑ Kumar, Rashneel (18 September 2026). "'I will not resign': Angene hits back at CIP leadership and reveals 2030 party plans". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 20 September 2026.
- ↑ Kumar, Rashneel (19 September 2026). "Angene ready to join Opposition, Heather wants personal apology". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 20 September 2026.
- Living people
- 1961 births
- People from Rarotonga
- Members of the Parliament of the Cook Islands
- Cook Islands Party politicians
- One Cook Islands Movement politicians
- Cook Island prisoners and detainees
- Prisoners and detainees of the Cook Islands
- People convicted of arson
- Cook Island criminals
- Government ministers of the Cook Islands
- Culture ministers of the Cook Islands