Mr Henry stripped of knighthood

Press, 12 April 1980, Page 3

Mr Henry stripped of knighthood

PA Wellington The former Cook Islands Premier, Mr Albert Henry, has been stripped of his knighthood as a result of his conviction for offences arising out of the 1978 Cook Islands General Election. The announcement was made from Government House in Auckland yesterday. It said: “The GovernorGeneral has announced that the Queen has directed that the appointment of the Honourable Albert Royle Henry, of Rarotonga, Cook Islands, to be a knight commander of the civil division of the

Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, dated January 1, 1974, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the register of the order.” Mr Henry was personally dubbed a knight by the Queen when she visited Rarotonga in 1974. A member of an Order such as the Order of the British Empire convicted of an offence Is normally given time to resign before any action is made to cancel the honour, but Mr Henrv did not do so. The Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) said the action was “very sad” but inevitable because of the nature of the offences of

which Mr Henry had been convicted. “It is in accordance with all the precedents in these things and there was no option but for it to happen,” he said. Mr Muldoon said the Cook Islands Government had been consulted and had concurred with the action taken. The move to strip Mr Henry of his knighthood was a formal reconnndation of the New Zealand government but Mr Muldoon emphasised that it was inevitable. He had discussed the matter with the Cook Islands Premier (Dr Tom Davis) when he was last in New Zealand.