TRANSCRIPT – 666 ABC CANBERRA AM 30/01/16

Topics: Norfolk Island

NICK GRIMM: Norfolk Island residents, some came something close to insurrection at a public meeting with the Australian Minister for Territories as anger boiled over there this week about the process put in place to remove its system of self-government.

The residents there - many of whom are descendants of the infamous Bounty Mutineers - are complaining that their concerns have been ignored and that new laws determining their future are based on flawed and misreported data. Norfolk Island was self-governed for nearly four decades until last year when the mainland resumed control of the external territory. Sarah Sedghi reports.

SARAH SEDGHI: At a public meeting on the island residents who disagree with ending self-government made their frustrations known to visiting Minister for Territories Paul Fletcher. At times that meeting

[Indistinct background noise from the public meeting]

SARAH SEDGHI: Andre Nobbs is a former Chief Minister for the island and with the group, Norfolk Island People for Democracy.

ANDRE NOBBS: The process that's being used to guide the Australian Parliament and the decisions to, for example, collapse our democratically-elected Government and remove our Parliament, those decisions have been based on very flawed data also based on a process of misreporting and misleading information from Government officials from Australia. So what the community was asking for was a review of the process.

SARAH SEDGHI: Andre Nobbs says that he is disappointed with the response he's had so far.

ANDRE NOBBS: His response, in my view, was an unwillingness to change course.

SARAH SEDGHI: The changes will see the islands former legislative assembly replaced with a regional council this year. Residents will pay tax to the Commonwealth and access services delivered by the Australian Government.

[Indistinct background noise from the public meeting.]

SARAH SEDGHI: The Norfolk Islands population of 1800 people, Andre Nobbs, says many don't feel they are being heard.

ANDRE NOBBS: I'll just give you an idea on the many, many mechanisms that were used to make our voices heard. There were petitions to the Senate, petitions to the House of Representatives, there was an official referendum which - in each of these cases, you're talking about 68 to 75 per cent of the electoral roll number saying that they do not agree with the imposed changes.

SARAH SEDGHI: The Government has said that there is overwhelming support for the reforms and that change is necessary because infrastructure is outdated and services such as health are insufficient but Andre Nobbs says he and many Norfolk Island residents don't think it's the right way forward.

ANDRE NOBBS: The changes that are being imposed are causing massive distress and anxiety, have removed stability from the island for families and for businesses.

[Indistinct background noise from the public meeting.]

NICK GRIMM: A rendition of what’s known as the Pitcairn anthem by Norfolk Islanders, and before that the Island’s former Chief Minister Andre Nobbs ending Sarah Sedghi’s report there. The Federal Minister for Territories and Local Government, Paul Fletcher has just returned from Norfolk Island and joins me on the line now. Minister, judging by the sounds of the response you received earlier this week on Norfolk Island, listeners might imagine you were literally run off the island. Would they be wrong?

PAUL FLETCHER: No. I don’t think that would be an accurate characterisation. Look, I visited Norfolk Island on Thursday and Friday this week to meet with a whole range of people in the community. I met with the Advisory Council, the interim Advisory Council which is supporting the Government in the transition work there, I met with the Council of Elders, that’s representatives of the eight original Pitcairn Island families, I met with the school principal, with a women’s advocacy group, with another carer-supporter group, and we had a significant community meeting, over 300 people, that went from six o’clock to about quarter to eight. Look, there was some vigorous discussion there because we are introducing significant changes on Norfolk Island, we’re introducing greater provision of Australian Government services, and the form of self-government which Norfolk Island previously had was removed by an act of parliament, an act of the Commonwealth parliament last year. So it’s not surprising there are some people who are unhappy with that, but in the broad, I believe the changes that the Commonwealth Government is introducing will deliver significant benefits to the people of Norfolk Island.

NICK GRIMM: But is it more than a noisy minority?

PAUL FLETCHER: Well, it’s my assessment that there are many people on Norfolk Island who will be better off as a result of these changes. In total the economy of the island is expected to increase by about 14 per cent. People will now become eligible for Australian Government social security services such as, if they’re eligible for it, disabilities pension, the aged pension, Newstart and so on. People will now have the benefit of Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

NICK GRIMM: But is the Federal Government deaf to the objections of the Norfolk Island islanders? How do you begin to force a system of government on the inhabitants of an island who are fiercely independent and in the case of the descendants of the Bounty Mutineers famously inclined towards insurrection?

PAUL FLETCHER: Well, Norfolk Island is part of Australia, and the key principle here is that the people of Norfolk Island should have the same level of services as are available to people anywhere else in Australia, recognising that they’re an isolated community, but they should have the same standards of service as any other isolated community. Now at the moment people do not have the same level of service and that’s fundamentally the reason why the Australian Government had decided to bring to an end the particular model of self-government which applied on Norfolk Island from 1979, because what it’s led to is people on the Island not getting the same level of services as elsewhere in Australia. But services that the Federal Government in other parts of Australia provides will be provided by the Australian Government, and we’re making arrangements with the New South Wales Government so that some services will be provided by the New South Wales Government to Norfolk Island.

NICK GRIMM: It seems one of the major irritants for many of the people on the island is the man your Government appointed as administrator of the island, former Liberal MP Gary Hardgrave. Now, does he retain your confidence, and is he the right man for the job?

PAUL FLETCHER: Gary Hardgrave certainly retains my confidence. He’s doing a good job, and making the case for the changes that need to occur, and of course change is always difficult so what we need to do is make sure people understand what the new arrangements will be. From 1 July 2016, when, for example, Australian social security arrangements apply, when the specific 18 per cent customs duty that presently applies on Norfolk Island will be removed, when Australian tax becomes payable, but when the Norfolk Island specific GST is removed…

NICK GRIMM: [Interrupts] Minister, if I can just move onto another outcry that’s grown this week. Can I ask for your reaction to the criticism that’s developed over former army chief David Morrison’s appointment as Australian of the Year.

PAUL FLETCHER: Look, I don’t have anything to add on that matter to what’s been said by other members of the Government. Australia Day is a very important day, and the Australian of the Year is a very important office, that the person in that role is chosen through a process by a council, they do a good job, and I wish General Morrison the very best in the important work that he’s doing.

NICK GRIMM: On to another issue, there are reports today that there’s unease within the Coalition over former Minister Kevin Andrews seeking to skip the first week of parliament so he can address a conservative think tank in Washington. What’s your view on that?

PAUL FLETCHER: Well, look it’s not unusual for individual members of parliament to seek and obtain leave from the Whip, obviously it’s important that the vast majority of members of parliament are there so that parliament can function effectively, but judgements are made between individual members of parliament and the Whip of each of the major parties to determine whether it’s appropriate for a member not to be present for a certain number of days.

NICK GRIMM: Generally, how helpful is it for backbenchers like Kevin Andrews, and Tony Abbott for that matter, to be giving speeches like this, given most punters(*) see it as evidence of a rift in Government unity?

PAUL FLETCHER: Look, I don’t think that’s an accurate characterisation. Backbench members of the Liberal Party are free to express their views, and of course we have many senior eminent experienced parliamentarians, including of course both Tony Abbott and Kevin Andrews, who are eminent, senior, very experienced parliamentarians, and it’s only to be expected that from time to time they’ll have views that they’ll want to put.

NICK GRIMM: Paul Fletcher, thanks very much for talking with us.

PAUL FLETCHER: Thanks [indistinct]

NICK GRIMM: Paul Fletcher there, he’s the Federal Minister for Territories and Local Government.