A sad read: "I’ve been to Cook Islands Māori languages week events where the speaker has said: “You’re not one of us if you can’t speak te reo.”"
What we did in NZ to suppress te reo is a true shame on our government of the time. Unfortunately it seem like there is still that mindset in many people here - including some in our current government.
Every little thing we can do to support te reo (both for Aotearoa and the Cooks) is good