Sir Tom John Marsters, (born 4 August 1945) is the seventh and current King's Representative to the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

(formerly Queen's Representative). He is a former

Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands The Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands is the second most senior officer in the government of the Cook Islands. From 1965 to 1981, the position was called the Deputy Premier. When the office of Premier was renamed to Prime Minister ...

, Foreign Minister, and Deputy Leader of the

Cook Islands Party The Cook Islands Party is a nationalist political party in the Cook Islands. It was the first political party founded in the Cook Islands, and one of the two major parties of the islands' politics since 1965. From 1999 until 2005 it sometimes ...

Personal life

Marsters was born on

Palmerston Island Palmerston Island is a coral atoll in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean about northwest of Rarotonga. James Cook landed there on 16 June 1774. Overview Palmerston Island is one of a number of sandy islets on a continuous ring of coral reef ...

and educated at Nikao and Avarua Primary Schools before attending Avele Agriculture College in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

and Grimsby Institute of Technology in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Before entering politics he worked as a public servant. He was Secretary of the Cook Islands Party from 1968 to 1999. He was first elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

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. He later served as Minister of Works, Youth, Sport and Recreation in the first coalition Cabinet of

Robert Woonton Robert Woonton (born 1949) is a Cook Islands politician and diplomat. He served as Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 11 February 2002 until 11 December 2004, and later as High Commissioner to New Zealand. He was a member of the centrist D ...

from 2002, but was sacked in 2003 after a coalition realignment. He rejoined Cabinet after the 2004 election, when Woonton was trying to put together a new coalition; when Woonton resigned to fight a by-election, he served in the Cabinet of

Jim Marurai Jim Marurai (9 July 1947 – November 2020) was a Cook Islands politician who served as Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Personal life Marurai was born in Ivirua, Mangaia. He attended Ivirua an ...

, holding the portfolios of foreign affairs, transport, and youth and sport. In August 2005, Marurai sacked Cook Islands Party leader Sir

Geoffrey Henry Sir Geoffrey Arama Henry (16 November 1940 – 9 May 2012) was a Cook Island politician who was twice the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. He was leader of the Cook Islands Party (CIP) from 1979 to 2006. Early life Henry was a native of A ...

from Cabinet, causing the CIP to reconsider its role in government. A month later, Marsters was also sacked, and the coalition formally dissolved.

Opposition

The retirement of Sir Geoffrey Henry in 2006 led to a leadership election, which saw Marsters replaced as Deputy leader by

Tupou Faireka Tupou Alfred Faireka is a Cook Islands politician and former deputy leader of the Cook Islands Party. He was an MP for 13 years and served as a Cabinet Minister. Faireka was first elected to Parliament in 1993, representing the constituency of ...

. However, both Faireka and party leader

Henry Puna Henry Tuakeu Puna (born 29 July 1949) is a Cook Islands politician, and the current secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum. He was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from November 2010 to October 2020. Since 2006 he has been leader of th ...

lost their seats at the 2006 election. 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.

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. As Minister of Mining and Natural Resources he promoted

seabed mining Seabed mining, also known as Seafloor mining is the recovery of minerals from the seabed by techniques of underwater mining. The concept includes mining at shallow depths on the continental shelf and deep-sea mining at greater depths associated w ...

, and negotiated a Regional Seabed Mining Framework through the

Pacific Islands Forum The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 197 ...

. he began negotiations with the Cook Island's neighbours over marine boundaries, and sent a delegation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

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 The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

. In June 2011, his son Giovanni Marsters was arrested on 14 charges of importing, selling, and possessing illicit drugs. He later pled guilty and was sentenced to six years imprisonment for importing cannabis.

Sovereign's Representative

On 5 June 2013, Marsters was appointed as the Queen's Representative, replacing Sir Frederick Goodwin. He resigned from Parliament on 25 July 2013 to take up the role, 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. He was reappointed for a second three-year term in July 2016, and a third one in 2019. In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, Marsters was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. His investiture took place in November 2018 in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. 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 Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 13,007 of a total population of 17,434. The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings a ...

. The hostel was opened in July 2019. Following the death of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, Marsters formally became known as the "King's Representative".

References

External links

Profile
at Cook Islands Parliament. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsters, Tom 1945 births Living people Queen's Representatives in the Cook Islands Deputy Prime Ministers of the Cook Islands Cook Islands Party politicians Foreign Ministers of the Cook Islands Members of the Parliament of the Cook Islands People from Palmerston Island Tom Cook Island people of British descent Cook Island knights