UN General Assembly
1965

their right to self-determination under United Nations supervision. These 20,000 people chose to become fully self-governing and freely associated with New Zealand rather than to be a separate, sovereign State. The special feature of this arrangement is that the New Zealand Parliament has legislated away all its power over the Cook Islands. Thus these 20,000 people are free at any time of their choosing to establish themselves as a sovereign State or to move into any other status that they might desire and that might become practicable.