Nandi Tuaine Glassie (21 May 1951 – 4 September 2020) was a

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

politician who served as a

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

. He was a member 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 ...

. Glassie was born in

Atiu Ātiu, also known as ʻEnuamanu (meaning ''land of the birds''), is an island of the Cook Islands archipelago, lying in the central-southern Pacific Ocean. Part of the Nga-pu-Toru, it is northeast of Rarotonga. The population of the island has ...

, and educated at Atiu Primary School,

Tereora College Tereora College is a secondary school in Nikao, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. It is the oldest secondary school in the Cook Islands and the national college of the Cook Islands for Year 9–13 students. The school was first established in 1895 by th ...

, then St Stephens School in Auckland. He attended the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

, graduating with a bachelor of Arts, before completing a Masters in Public Policy at

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

. He had a long career as a public servant for the New Zealand Department of Labour, the

Manukau City Council Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is also referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does not ...

, and the Cook Islands Government. From 2005 – 2006 he was chief of staff in the office of the Cook Islands Prime Minister. Glassie 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 ...

in the 2006 snap election, defeating Cook Islands Democratic Party MP Eugene Tatuava. He served as a backbench MP for the 2006 – 2010 term

Cabinet

Glassie was re-elected in the 2010 election and appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Health and Minister of Agriculture. A Cabinet reshuffle in November 2013 saw him lose the Agriculture portfolio to

Kiriau Turepu Kiriau Turepu is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party. Turepu was educated at Northland College in New Zealand. He represented the Cook Islands in tennis at the 1971 South Pacific Gam ...

and take over as Minister of Internal Affairs, the Ombudsman, and Parliamentary Services. He was re-elected at the 2014 election. A further Cabinet reshuffle in March 2015 saw him yield the Internal Affairs and Ombudsman portfolios to

Albert Nicholas Albert Nicholas (May 27, 1900 – September 3, 1973) was an American jazz clarinet player, who was mostly based in Europe after 1953. Career Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown ...

and become Minister of Justice. During this term Glassie launched a mental health strategy and a health workforce plan. He lost his seat at the 2018 election to Te-Hani Brown. Following his election loss Glassie founded the Cook Islands United Party with former MP

Teariki Heather Teariki William Heather (born 30 July 1959) is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet minister who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 2013 to 2018. Previously a member of the Cook Islands Party, he is now the leader o ...

. He subsequently contested the 2019 March Tengatangi-Areora-Ngatiarua by-election, sparked by the defection of Te-Hani Brown from the Democratic Party, as a Democratic Party candidate, but was unsuccessful. When Brown resigned again to avoid an unfavourable election petition ruling, he was too ill to contest a second by-election. Glassie had four sons and lived with his wife in Rarotonga. He died on Rarotonga on 4 September 2020 of cancer.

References

1951 births 2020 deaths People from Atiu University of Auckland alumni Massey University alumni Cook Islanders Members of the Parliament of the Cook Islands Cook Islands Party politicians Agriculture ministers of the Cook Islands Health ministers of the Cook Islands Interior ministers of the Cook Islands Justice ministers of the Cook Islands New Zealand public servants {{CookIslands-politician-stub