A stalwart of the Cook Islands community in Tamaki Makaurau passed away recently, fellow Cook Islander and reporter John Utanga shares some thoughts on his interactions with this pillar of the community.
A dear friend, colleague, father, koro and mentor to many in the New Zealand Cook Islands community passed away in West Auckland last week.
His name was William Teariki, affectionately known as Papa Bill. He died at Waitakere Hospital on July 4, aged 87. He is survived by his good wife Mama Tere and many children, grand-children and great grand-children.
A man of many talents and of gentle disposition, which belied his physical stature, he was always eager to offer his thoughts and help with a dry and sometimes cutting sense of humour.
I met Bill for the first time, when I was a student from Rarotonga and he was the Consul-general for the Cook Islands in Auckland. My sister worked with Bill doing accounts at the ‘office’ and so I guess I was often in his orbit and at many times during ‘informal’ moments as well.
He was always interested in hearing what young people, the ‘mapu’, thought about life in the big smoke and of the political shenanigans back in the islands. Typically, we were quick to offer our unvarnished point of view, which he received in good humour.
Bill had already lived a full life with a family and grown children when he became the consul. He’d already worked for Air New Zealand in the Cook Islands for many years and had a prior career as a teacher. He even talked to me about time spent as a crewman aboard an inter-island merchant vessel in his ‘younger days’.
In his role as CG, he had to deal with the fallout from the turbulent politics of the Cook Islands through the late 1980s and early 1990s, and often had to ride the fine line between loyal civil servant and Auckland community leader for a merry-go-round of political bosses.
He was an astute operator in this regard, and was both lauded and vilified at the same time, which was water off a duck’s back for Bill, as I later came to find as a Journalist for Tagata Pasifika.
Perhaps it was because of his role, but I rather think it was just who he was, that Bill was often at the forefront of many community initiatives for both the Cook Islands and the wider Pacific community.
One of those initiatives was the Auckland Pasifika Festival, which was first held in 1993. He was chair of the Pacific advisory group urging Auckland city to make an event inclusive of the growing Pacific Islands population in the city, many of whom were still domiciled in the inner-city suburbs of Grey Lynn, Ponsonby and surrounds.
Suffice to say, that event is now an integral part of the city festival calendar 30 years on!
In his role as the Consul, he became a de facto leader of the Cook Islands community managing official and unofficial roles at a time when there was already a complex, and I would add, rival, leadership structure in the community. Who can remember the member for the overseas seat? That’s right, a Cook Islander elected to represent the interests of Cook Islanders overseas and based in Auckland.
He was often having to advocate for and even mediate between the numerous groups within the Cook Islands community, to find a way through an impasse or to have a word in the ear of an official both here and in the islands. Many times it was a thankless task but Bill always found a way to see the bright side, such was his character.
As well as his community advocacy, Bill was a stalwart of the PIPC church in Edinburgh Street, off Karangahape Road. He was involved for many years in church administration and he and mama Tere would often be found at the Cook Islands service on a Sunday.
Many matters concerned him at the church, especially the issue of declining congregation numbers as parishioners left inner-city areas. And those who remained were ageing fast with few signs that families would continue in the parish. In this regard he was passionate about engaging with young people whom he rightfully saw as the future of the church. Truly, he was a man ahead of his time.
Bill was proud of his roots, hailing from the island of Mauke in the Cook Islands. Maybe it was because my wife’s family came from Mauke that it seemed he had a soft spot for me. Or maybe he just liked to chat; he was an inveterate talker in this regard, always with prying questions, always curious to find out what I knew in my travels around the community and the Pacific. And all the time he was polite, never condescending, despite the obvious age gap, and always sincere.
I missed Bill and our chats when he retired from the consulate. On the few occasions that I did meet him again, he was always courteous and keen to talk. Always with his wry humour and a cheeky grin.
