PARLIAMENTARY RIGHTS
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economy. It became necessary to seek – to a relatively modest extent – financial assistance from the Australian government. This was forthcoming, but on conditions which included the Island government abandoning its opposition to a Federal measure to drastically reduce the powers of the Legislative Assembly (the Territories Law Reform Bill 2010) and agreeing, in exchange for financial assistance, to the Island’s inclusion in Australian taxation and social security systems. Those changes were accepted by the Norfolk
Island Government and by the Legislative Assembly. They were formally embodied in inter-governmental agreements. Those agreements did not contemplate the abolition of the Assembly or Norfolk Island’s other democratic institutions. The expressed preference of the Norfolk Island Government was for Federal-type functions to be assumed by the Australian authorities, leaving State-type and local government functions to be undertaken by the elected representatives of the Island’s community.
Instead, the notion that
Above: The Legislative Assembly of Norfolk Island (Chamber and Offices are shown in the foreground). Image courtesy of Harvie Allison.
the Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly should be abolished arose quite recently, in a report by an Australian Parliamentary Committee published in October 2014. That Committee’s perspective was that “a new legislative framework” was required and that State-level services ought to be provided by a state government, “most probably New South Wales”, on a contracted fee for service basis. Local government services would be provided by a proposed
Norfolk Island regional council. This model explicitly
mirrored the governance model of Australia’s Indian Ocean Territories – Christmas Island, and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands – which was referred to in the Committee’s Report in the following terms:
“This model has delivered appropriate State-level government services to the Indian Ocean Territories at an affordable cost to residents.” Contrary to that though, the
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