Joe Williams (Cook Islands politician)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Joe Williams
Queen's Representative
Apenera Short
Preceded byGeoffrey Henry
Succeeded byTerepai Maoate
Additional Ministries
Cook Islands Parliament
for Overseas
In office
24 March 1994 – 7 September 2004
Preceded byIaveta Arthur
Succeeded byNone (Constituency abolished)
Personal details
Born(1934-10-04)4 October 1934
Aitutaki, Cook Islands
Died4 September 2020(2020-09-04) (aged 85)
Auckland, New Zealand
Political partyCook Islands Party
Alma materOtago Medical School, University of Hawaiʻi

Joseph Williams

QSO (4 October 1934 – 4 September 2020) was a Cook Islands politician and physician who served as Prime Minister of the Cook Islands for four months in 1999. He is credited with having worked to prevent the spread of the tropical disease lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis). He principally resided in Auckland, New Zealand, where he was medical director of the Mt Wellington Integrated Family Health Centre.[1]

Early life and family

Williams was born on Aitutaki on 4 October 1934,[2][3] and was a descendant of William Marsters of Palmerston Island.[4] He travelled to New Zealand in 1947, and was educated at Northland College after winning a government scholarship.[3][5][6]

Medical career

Williams graduated from

tropical diseases, including filariasis.[5][7]

Williams led research and public-health practices that resulted in the Cook Islands meeting “all the criteria required for the World Health Organization (WHO) to acknowledge elimination of LF [lymphatic filariasis] as a public health problem".[8] He served as a member of the World Health Organization's executive board from 1995 to 1997[9] and as a member of the Program Review Group for the Global Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis from 1998 to 2004.[7] In 2002 the Cook Islands Government unsuccessfully nominated Williams to head the World Health Organization.[10]

In 1999, Williams was reportedly found by New Zealand's Health and Disability Commissioner to have breached ethical standards when one of his patients was misdiagnosed and given tablets that were past their expiry date.[11]

In 2002, Williams became involved in a controversy regarding a proposed medical trial in the Cook Islands.[12] The trial, which involved injecting pig cells into humans as a means of fighting diabetes, could not legally take place in New Zealand, and therefore moved to the Cook Islands, where less strict regulations applied. Williams, a strong supporter of the proposal, believed that it would bring benefits to the Cook Islands' economy, but the scheme aroused much controversy.[13]

In 2015 Williams published a book based on his clinical experience in treating eczema.

eczema.[16]

Political career

Williams was first elected to the Cook Islands Parliament as a Cook Islands Party candidate for the electorate of Aitutaki in the 1968 election.[17] He served as Minister of Health and Education from 1974 to 1978[9] in the government of Albert Henry, as well as being Henry's personal physician.[18] As Health Minister, he supported Czech cancer therapist Milan Brych relocating his clinic to the Cook Islands, despite Brych being removed from the medical register in New Zealand.[13][19] He was one of three prominent CIP members to have left the party immediately before the 1978 election,[20] and subsequently contested the Arorangi electorate for the Unity Party, but lost his seat.[21]

Williams subsequently migrated to New Zealand. He rejoined the Cook Islands Party and was re-elected in the

Democratic Alliance Party and the New Alliance Party. Terepai Maoate became the new prime minister. He lost his seat when the overseas electorate was abolished in 2003.[26]

Williams later attempted to start a political career in New Zealand, standing as a candidate for the

party list[27] and contesting the Maungakiekie electorate seat in the 2005 parliamentary elections. He did not succeed in becoming an MP, as he placed third in Maungakiekie[28] and New Zealand First received only seven seats.[29]

Williams re-entered New Zealand politics before the

Māori Party under which it ran Pasifika candidates on the Māori Party list.[30]

Honours

Williams was awarded the

Companion of the Queen's Service Order, for services to the Cook Islands community, in the 2011 New Zealand New Year Honours.[32]

In 2015, Williams was named inaugural Patron of the Pasifika Medical Association [33] and in 2016 he received the World Health Organization's Award of Appreciation for his contribution to eliminating lymphatic filariasis.[34]

Death

Williams was hospitalised in Auckland on 13 August 2020, after testing positive for COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. He died from the virus on 4 September 2020, at the age of 85.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Mt Wellington Integrated Health Centre". Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Death search:registration number 2020/24493". Births, deaths & marriages online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  3. ^
    ISSN 1172-9813
    .
  4. ^ a b Melina Etches (5 September 2020). "Dr Joseph Williams – a man of mana and humility". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  5. ^
    East and Bays Courier. Stuff. Archived
    from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  6. ^ "COOK ISLANDERS GAIN ACADEMIC SUCCESSES". Te Ao Hou / The New World. No. 35. June 1961. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  7. ^ a b Pasifika Medical Association. "The Pacific Health Realities: The Way Forward" (PDF). Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  8. PMID 29785168
    .
  9. ^ a b c d "Dr Joseph Williams, Auckland, QSO". New Zealand Government House. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  10. ^ "UNHAPPINESS IN COOKS OVER WHO NOMINATION". Pacific Islands Report. 27 November 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Cook Islands government supports nomination of Dr Joe Williams to WHO". RNZ. 28 November 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2021. Mrs Baudinet complained to New Zealand's Health and Disability commissioner about Dr Williams treatment of her in 1999 when she had to be hospitalised after being misdiagnosed and given tablets that were past their expiry date. The commissioner's report states that Dr Williams breached the code and ethics of the country's Medical Association in several instances.
  12. ^ "Researcher has bigger plans in Cooks than pig cell transplants". Radio NZ. 9 May 2002. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  13. ^ a b Misa, Tapu (12 March 2002). "Dialogue: Where doctors rule a brave new world". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Health Pioneer shares 50 year legacy with new eczema book". Scoop. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Families support GP's controversial 'miraculous' eczema cream". RNZ. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Woonton stands up for 'Dr Joe'". Cook Islands News. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  17. ^ "Albert Henry back in the Cooks with a bang". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 39, no. 6. 1 June 1968. Retrieved 14 June 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "Sir Albert in a corner". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 49, no. 83. 1 August 1978. p. 19. Retrieved 14 June 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "Cancer Expert Not Listed". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 13 May 1977. p. 6. Retrieved 23 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^ "Cook Islands Election Stakes". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 49, no. 3. 1 March 1978. p. 32. Retrieved 14 June 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ISBN 0-908597-002
    .
  22. ISBN 982-02-0115-2
    .
  23. ^ "Cook Island PM resigns". The New Zealand Herald. 30 July 1999. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  24. ^ "Dr. Joe Williams Sworn In As New Cook Islands Prime Minister". Pacific Islands Report. 30 July 1999. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. ^ "Cooks PM Joe Williams Appoints New Cabinet". Scoop.co.nz. 16 November 1999. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  26. ^ "Cook Islands Parliament drops "Overseas Seat"". Radio NZ. 17 April 2003. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  27. ^ "NZ First release party list". TVNZ. 23 August 2005. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  28. ^ "Official Count Results – Maungakiekie". ElectionResults.govt.nz. New Zealand Government. 2005. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  29. ^ "Official Count Results – Overall Status". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  30. ^ "United voice for Maori and Pacific politics". Cook Islands News. 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  31. ISBN 0-908578-34-2
    .
  32. ^ "New Year honours list 2011". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  33. ^ Pasifika Medical Association (2 October 2015). "Dr Joe Williams Named Patron of Pasifika Medical Association". Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  34. ^ Angie Enoka (7 November 2016). "WHO honours former PM". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joe_Williams_(Cook_Islands_politician)&oldid=1197122309"