Islanders Angered By Govt's Double Standard

Former head of state Apenera Short sits in his modest Kia Mentor car with tiger stripes seat covers, waiting for a gap in the passing traffic.

"I support this," he told to Islands Business, nodding as an unending stream of late model Japanese sedans, vans and four-wheels drive slowly by. "We are very lucky to be in a democracy," he added.

Short was among about 200 people who were part of a small but high profile march against a controversial New Zealand businessman with a big wallet. "For sale," reads one placard, "Paradise Islands: $150,000 o.n.o." "No more corruption," reads another, "We need justice." "Honesty sucks," says a tongue-in-cheek effort.

Most of the anger from protesters is being directed towards government for its decision to grant a 12-month residency permit to Mark Lyon, a property developer, who slid spectacularly off the rails in New Zealand.

Walk the talk...Cook Islanders protesting government¹s decision to grant Mark Lyon a 12-month residency permit.

His multimillion-dollar property in luxury suburb Remuera was trashed and burnt to the ground by gang members and Lyon was convicted in New Zealand on different drugs, arms and smuggling charges.

A day after his latest conviction in New Zealand, it was revealed in the Cook Islands that Lyon was granted a permit despite immigration laws providing for those of criminal background to be denied entry.

Approval for Lyon came after the depositing of NZ$150,000 in a trust account for what was described as a "good behaviour bond." The trust was held by Norman George, an equally controversial MP and lawyer advising Prime Minister Robert Woonton.

Defending the permit, Woonton said Lyon had not committed any crime in the Cook Islands and was a man of considerable means who wanted to invest. George described Lyon's critics as "racist" saying there were other temporary residents with worse records.

A somewhat curious defence which got more curious when it turned out to be true. Lyon took out a full page advertisement in the daily Cook Islands News, pleading his case, and promising "there are worse people admitted into this country than I."

In the same issue, the newspaper reported the arrest of a 37-year old in Holland for kidnapping a 16-year old teenage boy, the son of a wealthy manufacturer.

Dutch media rules protect the privacy of even convicted criminals, so the man was not named. But George went on record as saying the Dutchman had posed in Rarotonga as a "volunteer" gardener.

But not explained was how Lyon knew of the case before anyone else, other than, perhaps, through his lawyer.

Also ignored by marchers were the Chinese government workers who watched, open mouthed, as the protest made its way past the courthouse they are building for the Cook Islands government.

In October, Woonton told Radio Australia that he had informed my cabinet that there's been an offer by the Chinese of some funds, about 10 million yuan.

"At this stage, we haven't quite decided where we should spend the money. They already have given us 20 million yuan to complete the courthouse, it's a decision government will have to make where that money should go." Woonton and other politicians approved the courthouse project and appear to be seriously considering the parliament option for the rest of their Chinese play money.

China began taking its first official sniffs at the region in 1988, when it was invited to become one of the Pacific Islands Forum's dialogue partners. Since then, China has dropped its Communist pretensions and emerged as an economic powerhouse. It has slowly increased its presence in the region. As the courthouse shows, China is prepared to pay big for support internationally.

If countries like Tonga are anything to go by, Cook Islanders may find China a little harder to shift than the occasional kidnapper or drug smuggler.