Prime Minister Mark Brown has announced that the Cook Islands will mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II with a National Memorial Service and one-off public holiday on Friday, September 30th 2022. The holiday coincides with the opening of the Cook Islands Games to be held later on the day.
Note that this is not an official public holiday. In a written statement a Government spokeswoman said, although the Public Holidays Act 1999 creates a list of public holidays, it does not provide any mechanism for adding to the list.
“This means that the Memorial holiday is not a normal public holiday because it is not prescribed in the Public Holidays Act.
“The government is hoping that employers will act in good faith especially as this holiday is to mark the passing of our country’s Sovereign who throughout her life, including her seventy-year reign, acted tirelessly in serving the people of the Commonwealth and Realm Countries, including the Cook Islands.”
The Memorial Service will be held at the National Auditorium and will be live streamed.
In a statement, PM Brown said: “The National Memorial Service will be held in the morning prior to the opening of the Cook Islands Games later that same day. The exact timing and the programme will be confirmed in the next few days, but I felt it important to let everyone know, for planning purposes, that Cabinet has made this decision to announce an official memorial service.”
