Norfolk Island’s self-government under threat again
Mrs Robin Eleanor Adams, in Kingston.
The people of Norfolk Island, a tiny Australian external territory in the South Pacific, have a long history of surviving changes in their governance which have been imposed on them without consultation, and sometimes without warning.And it seems to be happening again, writes the Clerk of the island’s Legislative Assembly.
Mrs Adams has been the Clerk to the Legislative Assembly of Norfolk Island since 1984.
In August 2009, the people of Norfolk Island are proudly making plans to celebrate 30 years of self- government.This is in spite of renewed moves by Australia to remove or limit some of the demo- cratic freedoms that are cherished by this small island state.
2009 will be a time to pause and
reflect on past achievements, and to plan for the future to ensure the very best outcome for future generations of Norfolk Islanders.With this in mind, the 12th Legislative Assembly at its June 2008 sitting moved the fol- lowing as its Vision for the Legislative Assembly: “Delivering quality services
through sustainable governance so that the people of Norfolk Island might preserve their unique language, traditions and culture and continue to determine their own future.” At the time, the government and the people of the island were looking to the future with confidence and optimism, after the Australian federal
government had abandoned its plans to impose governance changes in 2006. (See The Parliamentarian Issue Two/2006).
After an announcement in the Australian Parliament in October 2008, the Parliament of this island is once again forced to direct resources to defend its position and the right to govern its own people. Throughout the history of the people of Norfolk Island, there has always been a tension arising from the equivocal nature of the island’s status. In the past, the attitude of first the British, and then the Australian government has ranged from pater- nalistic to “laissez-faire”. In more recent times, the fact that the island and its system of governance is some- thing of an anomaly has led to Australian authorities espousing inte- gration of the island into mainland political units, including taxation and welfare, immigration and customs. The Norfolk Islanders have consis- tently resisted this approach. The following snapshot of our political history, although not com- prehensive, illustrates that for the past 152 years, the question of the island’s
status vis-à-vis Australia – and British colonial authorities in previous times – continues to be a live political issue up to the present day.
1789
After an initial period of violence, the Pitcairn Island descendants of the H.M.S. Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian wives live a peaceful and orderly self-governing existence on remote Pitcairn Island.
1883
Captain Elliott of H.M.S. Fly helps the community to draw up a simple code of laws, and a Chief Magistrate is elected each year from the local inhabitants.The Pitcairners lead the world in legislating for free and com- pulsory education and female suf-