Akaiti Puna

Akaiti Puna
Akaiti Puna in 2012
Member of the Cook Islands Parliament
for Manihiki
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 May 2021
Preceded byHenry Puna
Personal details
Born5 September 1952
Political partyCook Islands Party

Akaitiiti O Te Rangi Puna (born 5 September 1952)[1] is a Cook Islands politician and member of the Cook Islands Parliament. She is a member of the Cook Islands Party. She is married to the former Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna and the sister of MP Tukaka Ama.[2]

Puna was born on Rarotonga and educated at Tereora College[1] and at Auckland Girls' Grammar School in New Zealand.[3] She began playing netball at school in New Zealand, and continued on her return to the Cook Islands, playing for Ngatangiia.[3] She served as manager for Netball Cook Islands at the 1981 South Pacific Mini Games,[3] and later served on its board.[4] From 1972 she worked for Air New Zealand.[5]

Following her husband's election as Prime Minister in the 2010 election Puna managed their pearl farm on Manihiki.[6] When he retired in 2021 in order to take up the job of Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum[7] she stood in his former seat of Manihiki in the resulting by-election,[8] and was elected.[9] She was sworn in as an MP on 31 May 2021.[10]

She was re-elected at the 2022 Cook Islands general election.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b "Akaitiiti-o-te-Rangi PUNA". Cook Islands Parliament. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. ^ Melina Etches (24 March 2023). "Brother-sister duo fulfil parents dream". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "For the love of the game- Akaiti Puna". Cook Islands Sports National Olympic Commission. 24 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  4. ^ "It's all about commitment: netball". Cook Islands News. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  5. ^ "PUNA GETS COOK ISLANDS' HIGH COMMISSIONER'S JOB IN NEW ZEALAND". Pacific Islands Report. 28 September 1999. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Thrust into the limelight". Cook Islands News. 11 December 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  7. ^ Losirene Lacanivalu (24 March 2021). "Puna bids farewell with some words of advice". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  8. ^ Rashneel Kumar (13 April 2021). "Akaiti Puna named CIP candidate". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  9. ^ Rashneel Kumar (6 May 2021). "Akaiti Puna wins Manihiki by-election, CIP majority intact". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  10. ^ Caleb Fotheringham (1 June 2021). "Puna a Manihikian at heart". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  11. ^ "WARRANT DECLARING THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES AND THE NUMBER OF VOTES RECEIVED BY EACH CANDIDATE" (PDF). Cook Islands Gazette. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
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