Tom Marsters
{{Short description|Cook Islands politician (b.1945)}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific_prefix = Sir
|name = Tom Marsters
|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KBE|sep=,|size=100%}}
|image = Tom Marsters, March 2017.jpg
|caption = Marsters in 2017
|office = King's Representative to the Cook Islands
|monarch = Elizabeth II
Charles III
|primeminister = Henry Puna
Mark Brown
|term_start = 27 July 2013
|term_end =
|predecessor = Sir Frederick Tutu Goodwin
|successor =
|office1 = Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands
|primeminister1 = Henry Puna
|term_start1 = 10 December 2010
|term_end1 = 10 June 2013
|predecessor1 = Robert Wigmore
|successor1 = Teariki Heather
|office2 = Minister of Foreign Affairs
|term_start2 = 10 December 2010
|term_end2 = 10 June 2013
|primeminister2 =
|predecessor2 = Robert Wigmore
|successor2 = Henry Puna
|term_start3 = 18 December 2004
|term_end3 = 12 September 2005
|primeminister3 = Jim Marurai
|predecessor3 = Robert Woonton
|successor3 = Wilkie Rasmussen
|office4 = Minister of Transport
|deputy4 =
|term_start4 = 10 December 2010
|term_end4 = 10 June 2013
|predecessor4 = William (Smiley) Heather
|successor4 = Henry Puna
|office5 = Minister of Works
|primeminister5 = Robert Woonton
|term_start5 = 15 February 2002
|term_end5 = 30 January 2003
|predecessor5 = Ngamau Munokoa
|successor5 = Tangata Vavia
|constituency_MP6 = Murienua
|parliament6 = Cook Islands
|term_start6 = 1991
|term_end6 = 25 July 2013
|predecessor6 =
|successor6 = Kaota Tuariki
|majority6 =
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|08|4|df=y}}
|birth_place = Palmerston Island, Cook Islands
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party = Cook Islands Party
|alma_mater = Avele College
Grimsby Institute
}}
Sir Tom John Marsters, {{post-nominals|country=NZL|sep=,|KBE}} (born 4 August 1945) is the current King's Representative to the Cook Islands (formerly the 7th. Queen's Representative). He is a former Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, Foreign Minister, and Deputy Leader of the Cook Islands Party.
Personal life
Marsters was born on Palmerston Island and educated at Nikao and Avarua Primary Schools before attending Avele College in Samoa{{cite web |url=https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/109659 |title=Sir Tom Marsters recalls Avele days |publisher=Samoa Observer |author=Talaia Mika |date=12 June 2024 |access-date=13 June 2024}} and Grimsby Institute of Technology in the United Kingdom.{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.gov.ck/members/marsters.html |title=Tom John Marsters |publisher=Cook Islands Government |accessdate=27 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326003934/http://www.parliament.gov.ck/members/marsters.html |archive-date=26 March 2009}} Before entering politics he worked as a public servant. He was Secretary General of the Cook Islands Party from 1968 to 1999.
He was first elected to Parliament for the seat of Murienua in a by-election in 1991.
Cabinet
Marsters served as Minister of Works in the Cabinet of Sir Geoffrey Henry, but resigned his position in 1997 in protest at budget cuts.{{cite journal |title=Cook Islands in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998 |author=Wilkie Rasmussen |journal=The Contemporary Pacific |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=1999 |page=207}} He later served as Minister of Works, Youth, Sport and Recreation in the first coalition Cabinet of Robert Woonton from 2002 to 2003.{{cite web |url=http://www.pireport.org/articles/2002/02/18/cook-islands-prime-minister-woonton%E2%80%99s-and-norman-george%E2%80%99s-long-portfolio |title=COOK ISLANDS PRIME MINISTER WOONTON'S AND NORMAN GEORGE'S LONG PORTFOLIO |publisher=Pacific Islands Report |date=18 February 2002 |accessdate=8 July 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/139247/cook-islands-deputy-pm-sacked |title=Cook Islands deputy PM sacked |publisher=RNZ |date=30 January 2003 |accessdate=30 June 2020}} He rejoined Cabinet after the 2004 election, when Woonton was trying to put together a new coalition;{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/151781/former-cooks-cabinet-minister-says-pm-breaching-party-rules |title=Former Cooks cabinet minister says PM breaching party rules |publisher=RNZ |date=18 November 2004 |accessdate=21 July 2020}} when Woonton resigned to fight a by-election, he served in the Cabinet of Jim Marurai, holding the portfolios of foreign affairs, transport, and youth and sport.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/152385/cook-islands-coalition-appoints-minister-for-sport |title=Cook Islands coalition appoints minister for sport |publisher=Radio New Zealand International |date=18 December 2004 |accessdate=21 July 2020}}
In August 2005, Marurai sacked Cook Islands Party leader Sir Geoffrey Henry from Cabinet,{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/156780/cook-islands-deputy-pm-dumped,-new-government-formed |title=Cook Islands deputy PM dumped, new government formed |publisher=RNZ |date=9 August 2005 |accessdate=9 July 2020}} causing the CIP to reconsider its role in government. A month later, Marsters was also sacked, and the coalition formally dissolved.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/157432/cook-islands-pm-sacks-two-more-ministers |title=Cook Islands PM sacks two more ministers |publisher=RNZ |date=12 September 2005 |accessdate=21 July 2020}}
Opposition
The retirement of Sir Geoffrey Henry in 2006 led to a leadership election, which saw Marsters replaced as Deputy leader by Tupou Faireka.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/164465/new-leader-of-cook-islands-party-looks-forward-to-challenge |title=New leader of Cook Islands Party looks forward to challenge |publisher=RNZ |date=4 September 2006 |accessdate=21 July 2020}} However, both Faireka and party leader Henry Puna lost their seats at the 2006 election.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/164975/democratic-party-leads-in-cooks-election |title=Democratic Party leads in Cooks election |publisher=RNZ |date=27 September 2006 |accessdate=21 July 2020}} While Puna continued to serve as leader outside parliament, Marsters became leader of the opposition.
Deputy Prime Minister
Marsters was re-elected at the 2010 elections, which saw the Cook Islands Party win 16 of the 24 seats. Henry Puna was elected Prime Minister, and Marsters was appointed to Cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Mining and Natural Resources.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/194090/cooks-pm-announces-cabinet-line-up |title=Cooks PM announces cabinet line up |publisher=RNZ |date=3 December 2010 |accessdate=20 July 2020}} As Minister of Mining and Natural Resources he promoted seabed mining,{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/196370/cook-islands-promoting-its-vast-seabed-mineral-reserves |title=Cook Islands promoting its vast seabed mineral reserves |publisher=RNZ |date=4 April 2011 |accessdate=21 July 2020}} and negotiated a Regional Seabed Mining Framework through the Pacific Islands Forum.{{cite web |url=http://www.pireport.org/articles/2012/08/30/regional-seabed-mining-framework-launched-pacific-forum |title=Regional Seabed Mining Framework Launched At Pacific Forum |publisher=Pacific Islands Report |date=30 August 2012 |accessdate=21 July 2020}} he began negotiations with the Cook Island's neighbours over marine boundaries,{{cite web |url=http://www.pireport.org/articles/2012/06/22/cook-islands-negotiating-economic-zone-borders-neighbors |title=Cook Islands Negotiating Economic Zone Borders With Neighbors |publisher=Pacific Islands Report |date=22 June 2012 |accessdate=21 July 2020}} and sent a delegation to the United Nations in New York to negotiate an extension of the country's continental shelf boundaries under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/210043/cooks-to-ask-un-for-extension-of-continental-shelf |title=Cooks to ask UN for extension of continental shelf |publisher=RNZ |date=6 February 2013 |accessdate=21 July 2020}}
Sovereign's Representative
On 5 June 2013, Marsters was appointed as the Queen's Representative, replacing Sir Frederick Goodwin.{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/item/15100-marsters-appointed-new-qr/15100-marsters-appointed-new-qr |title=Marsters appointed new QR |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=5 June 2013 |accessdate=21 July 2020}} He resigned from Parliament on 25 July 2013 to take up the role,{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/2013/August/Wed07/local.htm#1308010104 |title=By-election next month |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=1 August 2013 |accessdate=28 January 2014}} precipitating the 2013 Murienua by-election. In June 2016, he made a rare intervention as Queen's Representative, ruling that Parliament had been properly adjourned and that therefore a purported opposition vote of no-confidence ousting the government was of no effect.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/307046/vice-regal-backing-for-the-status-quo-in-cooks-battle |title=Vice regal backing for the status quo in Cooks battle |publisher=RNZ |date=23 June 2016 |accessdate=21 July 2020}} He was reappointed for a second three-year term in July 2016,{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/politics/item/59763-qr-reappointed-three-more-years |title=QR reappointed three more years |author=Rashneel Kumar |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=28 July 2016 |accessdate=29 July 2016}} and a third one in 2019.{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/item/73689-queen-s-rep-reappointed |title=Queen's Rep reappointed |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=8 August 2019 |accessdate=21 July 2020}}
In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, Marsters was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.{{London Gazette |issue=62311 |date=9 June 2018 |page=B38 |supp=2 }} His investiture took place in November 2018 in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/375299/cooks-queen-s-representative-being-knighted-in-london |title=Cooks Queen's Representative being knighted in London |publisher=RNZ |date=6 November 2018 |accessdate=21 July 2020}}
In January 2019, Marsters helped turn the first sod and lay the first stones of Marsters House, a hostel for the various branches of the Marsters family in Rarotonga.{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/outer-islands/item/71847-palmerston-house-development-begins |title=Palmerston House development begins |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=28 January 2019 |accessdate=21 July 2020}} The hostel was opened in July 2019.{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/culture/item/73327-nearly-a-thousand-people-gather-for-opening-of-the-new-house-for-palmerston |title=Nearly a thousand people gather for opening of the new house for Palmerston |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=9 July 2019 |accessdate=21 July 2020}}
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III on 8 September 2022, Marsters formally became known as the "King's Representative".{{cite web |url=https://www.cookislandsnews.com/uncategorised/national/politics/qr-effectively-becomes-kr/ |title='QR' effectively becomes 'KR' |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=10 September 2022 |access-date=11 September 2022}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.parliament.gov.ck/members/marsters.html Profile] at Cook Islands Parliament.
{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before=Sir Frederick Tutu Goodwin}}
{{s-ttl|title=Queen's / King's Representative to the Cook Islands|years=2013–present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsters, Tom}}
Category:Queen's Representatives in the Cook Islands
Category:Deputy prime ministers of the Cook Islands
Category:Cook Islands Party politicians
Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of the Cook Islands
Category:Members of the Parliament of the Cook Islands
Category:People from Palmerston Island
Category:Cook Island people of British descent
Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire