Tutai Tura (born 3 October 1949)[1] is a Cook Islands politician and former member of the Cook Islands Parliament. Since March 2021 he has been Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party.

Tura was born on Rarotonga, and educated at Avarua School and Tereora College.[1] He trained as an electrician and worked for the government on Mauke.[1] He was first elected to Parliament at the 2010 election. Shortly after his election he called for wage increases to counteract the higher cost of living in Mauke.[2] In 2015 he was appointed Associate Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration.[3]

In April 2019 Tura was appointed Deputy Speaker.[4] In June 2020 he attempted to ban a Cook Islands News journalist from Parliament over a story about MPs' allowances.[5]

On 22 March 2021 Tura was elected Speaker, succeeding Niki Rattle.[6]

He did not stand at the 2022 Cook Islands general election.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Hon. Tutai TURA". Cook Islands Parliament. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. ^ Manins, Rosie (23 November 2010). "Mauke's Tura proposes wage increase". Cook Islands News.
  3. ^ Samoglou, Emmanuel (16 October 2014). "PM announces key appointments". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  4. ^ Rashneel Kumar (9 April 2019). "Tura appointed deputy Speaker". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Cook Islands MPs move to ban journalist for travel perks reports". RNZ. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  6. ^ Melina Etches (23 March 2021). "Mauke MP Tura appointed Speaker of Parliament". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  7. ^ Melina Etches (28 May 2022). "Eileen Story confirmed as Cook Islands Party nominee for Mauke seat". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 14 August 2022.