Cook Islands Progressive Association

[1] Its initial demands were the establishment of co-operative trading stores and for a ship to enable cash-crops to be exported independently of the irregular service provided by the monopoly Union Steam-ship Company.

A petition to the Resident Commissioner was not forwarded to Wellington, and the issue was taken up in New Zealand by the local Cook Islands community and the Auckland Trades Council, resulting in a government inquiry.

[1] In January 1946 the CIPA organised a strike for higher wages by Avarua harbour workers a few days before the Union Steamship Company's Maui Pomare arrived in Rarotonga.

The strike was successful, and resulted in a significant increase in membership for the CIPA: by May 1946 it claimed 3,000 financial members,[5] roughly half the population.

After 1948, the CIPA focused on economic development, acquiring a ship for inter-island transport[13] and establishing a Producer's Cooperative Society.