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Patrick Arioka

Patrick Arioka
Minister of Telecommunications
In office
2 June 2021 – 1 August 2022
Prime MinisterMark Brown
Preceded byMark Brown
Minister of Tourism
In office
8 October 2020 – 1 August 2022
Prime MinisterMark Brown
Preceded byHenry Puna
Member of the Cook Islands Parliament
for Murienua
In office
14 June 2018 – 1 August 2022
Preceded byJames Beer
Succeeded byTeariki Heather
Personal details
Born24 July 1971
Political partyCook Islands Party

Patrick Arioka (born 24 July 1971)[1] is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is a former member of the Cook Islands Parliament, representing the seat of Murienua. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party.

Arioka was born on Rarotonga and educated at Avatea School, Avarua School, and Atiu College.[1] He studied tropical agriculture at the University of the South Pacific campus in Alafua, followed by a Master in Business Administration.[1] He worked as a forestry officer for the government, and then as a policy advisor.[1] He served on the board of the Cook Islands Red Cross Society from 2006 to 2018, and from 2016 to 2018 was its president.[1][2]

Arioka served as campaign manager for unsuccessful CIP candidate Kaota Tuariki in the 2014 Murienua by-election.[3] He contested the seat himself at the 2014, losing to the Democratic party's James Beer.[4] He entered parliament after winning the seat at the 2018 election.[5] Following the election he was appointed associate agriculture minister.[6]

On 8 October 2020 Arioka was appointed to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Brown as Minister of Tourism and the Business Trade and Investment Board.[7] A further reshuffle on 2 June 2021 saw him gain the Telecommunications portfolio.[8]

He lost his seat in the 2022 Cook Islands general election.[9] In January 2023 he was appointed to the board of the Cook Islands Investment Corporation.[10]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Hon. Patrick Akaiti ARIOKA". Cook Islands Parliament. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Red Cross ready for any emergency". Cook Islands News. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  3. ^ Emmanuel Samoglou (25 February 2014). "By-election win was 'sweet' for Demos". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  4. ^ Emmanuel Samoglou (17 July 2014). "Election: Demos in the driver's seat". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  5. ^ Cameron Scott (15 June 2018). "Demo spokesman loses out". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  6. ^ Cameron Scott (12 July 2018). "Appointment talk keeps the 'wireless' humming". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  7. ^ Emmanuel Samoglou and Rashneel Kumar (8 October 2020). "PM takes on 17 portfolios". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  8. ^ Rashneel Kumar (3 June 2021). "PM announces Cabinet reshuffle". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  9. ^ "WARRANT DECLARING THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES AND THE NUMBER OF VOTES RECEIVED BY EACH CANDIDATE" (PDF). Cook Islands Gazette. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Former Govt MP joins CIIC Board". Cook Islands News. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.

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