Norman George

Norman George (born 2 July 1946) is a Cook Islands politician and former Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister, and Cabinet Minister.

George was born in Atiu in the Cook Islands. He worked as a police officer, first for the Cook Islands Police and then for the New Zealand Police, before working as a lawyer in Rarotonga. He was first elected to the Cook Islands Parliament in 1983.

Between 1984 and 1989 George was a cabinet Minister in the coalition governments of Tom Davis and Pupuke Robati, holding the portfolios of Foreign Affairs, Customs, Parliamentary Services, Cook Islands Development Bank, Police and Attorney General.[1]

In 1992 George was expelled from the Democratic Party after a dispute over spending.[2] He established the Alliance Party, which subsequently won two seats in the 1994 elections. The party, rebranded as the New Alliance Party, won four seats at the 1999 elections, and George became Deputy Prime Minister.[2] He was sacked from that role after he defected to the opposition in October, 1999, but regained the position in exchange for his party's support of Terepai Maoate as Prime Minister.

The New Alliance Party subsequently merged with the Democratic Alliance Party,[3] and George held several portfolios in the coalition government of Robert Woonton before being sacked again in 2002.[4] A series of scandals over conflicts of interest,[5] the apparent sale of a residency permit to New Zealand developer Mark Lyon,[6] and a court case over "double dipping"[7] saw George decline in popularity. When the Democratic Party did not select him as a candidate[8] for the 2004 elections, he split from the party and established the Tumu Enua Party, but failed to win reelection.[9]

Following his election defeat George was appointed Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament.[10] He subsequently returned to Parliament in a by-election as an independent aligned with the Cook Islands Party,[11] and was re-elected in the 2006 elections as a CIP candidate.

George was re-elected at the 2010 election, but was not given a Cabinet position. As a result, he resigned from the party and became an independent again.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Norman George". Cook Islands Parliament. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  2. 1 2 "History of the Cook Islands". Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  3. ↑ "Cook Islands prime minister's party merges with New Alliance". Radio New Zealand International. 2002-05-10. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  4. ↑ "Cook Islands justice minister sacked from cabinet". Radio New Zealand International. 2002-11-07. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  5. ↑ "Cooks MP Norman George not concerned about conflict of interest claims". Radio New Zealand International. 2003-11-11. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  6. ↑ "Cook Islands MP defends Lyon permit decision". Radio New Zealand International. 2003-12-13. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  7. ↑ "Cook Islands court clears MP Norman George of double-dipping allegation". Radio New Zealand International. 2004-01-18. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  8. ↑ "Cook Islands Democratic Party appears to confirm nomination". Radio New Zealand International. 2004-05-05. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  9. ↑ "Senior Cook Islands politician appears to lose seat in General Elections". Radio New Zealand International. 2004-09-12. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  10. ↑ "New speaker elected in the Cook Islands". Radio New Zealand International. 2004-12-14. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  11. ↑ "Cook Islands politician, Norman George, wins Atiu by- election". Radio New Zealand International. 2006-06-11. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  12. ↑ "Cook Islands Party MP resigns from party". Radio New Zealand International. 2011-03-08. Retrieved 2011-03-09.

External links

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