Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I want to briefly comment on the previous legislation before the House: the Biological Control Amendment Bill 2016. As the then acting federal minister for the environment, I was involved in the ministerial council that authorised the initial release of the calicivirus, so I am aware of the matters which the assistant minister addressed. Good luck with that!

Labor supports the Australian government's commitment to reforms for Norfolk Island. Self-government has challenged the Norfolk Island community to provide government services to modern Australian standards. That is something which I know disappoints many, but the fact is the services that have been provided to Norfolk Island residents have not been to the standard that other Australians have been able to enjoy.

As you may well know, Mr Deputy Speaker Irons, given not only the way you wear your ties but also your deep knowledge, there have been numerous inquiries since 1979 over matters to do with Norfolk Island. These have included a royal commission, 12 parliamentary inquiries and 20 commissioned expert reports. Norfolk Island has proven difficult for the Commonwealth government over some decades, and various successive governments have sought to inform the governance arrangements on Norfolk Island to ensure that Norfolk Islanders are seen as part of the wider Australian family and are treated as part of the wider Australian family in the same way as their family members who might live in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth—or Alice Springs, for that matter—are treated. There has been a deficiency in the standard of services and particularly in terms of infrastructure, which has frustrated the development of the island.

I might comment on another tie while I am here. We have just had the pink leave and the red arrive, Mr Deputy Speaker Mitchell. I am pleased to see the new Deputy Speaker has let the pinko leave and has let the red ones in.

Whilst distracted by the change in chair, I am absolutely committed to ensuring that people who may be listening to this debate understand that the Labor Party is committed to supporting these changes to the territories legislation. When in office, Labor started the reform agenda for Norfolk Island, and indeed I was the parliamentary secretary responsible for territories in the mid-1990s. We started this exercise then—talking to the community about the need to look at the taxation arrangements that applied on the island and the need to look at the infrastructure and services that the island needed, to try and bring about an understanding in the broader community that we as a government at that point were committed to engaging in a discussion with the Norfolk Island community about what change might look like. Ultimately, and later, Labor started further reform with the passage of the Territories Law Reform Bill and initiating the roadmap for reform in 2011 with the people of Norfolk Island under the aegis of Simon Crean, who was then the minister, together with providing emergency funding assistance and investments in infrastructure to lift economic opportunities on the island.

This process has been continued by the current government, and Labor supported the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015. Of course, Norfolk Island means much to us. As Australians, it is a significant part of our colonial history and a very important part of Australia in the Pacific Ocean.

This Territories Legislation Amendment Bill amends the definition of Australia to include Norfolk Island as it currently includes the external territories of Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands. Commonwealth legislation in this bill to apply to Norfolk Island includes the Fair Work Act and other employment laws and the Commonwealth Electoral Act to ensure the Norfolk Island community is properly represented in this parliament. For the first time, the default position will be that laws passed by this parliament apply to Norfolk Island unless it is expressly stated in the legislation that they are not to apply.

Having had responsibility not only for Norfolk Island but also for representing the Indian Ocean territories, I have deep insight into the processes in consideration of Commonwealth legislation applying to territories generally and specifically, in this case, to Norfolk Island. That includes, in particular, what a territory community requires in consideration or consultation before Commonwealth legislation is extended to a territory.

As we know, the minister has already noted that this amendment bill is one among others that will come before this parliament regarding the application of Commonwealth legislation to Norfolk Island. As the minister said, the legislation requires complex transitional arrangements. As I pointed out earlier, the bill extends the Fair Work Act and other federal employment legislation to Norfolk Island.

The electoral arrangements are significant and are of particular interest to the member for Canberra, who will be speaking following me. Currently there is no single member of parliament formally representing and advocating for the community of Norfolk Island. This bill, for the first time, provides dedicated representation for the Norfolk Island community in the parliament by including voters in a single federal electorate, the division of Canberra. Voting will be compulsory, as it is in the rest of Australia, and the community of Norfolk Island will have Senate representation through the senators for the ACT.

Some people might ask why this is. Why is it not New South Wales? The fact is that it is a territory, and for Norfolk Island to be included in the state of New South Wales or Queensland for the purposes of Commonwealth electoral law, there would have to be a referendum in New South Wales or Queensland to allow the state to incorporate Norfolk Island as part of the state. This is true of Norfolk Island as it is true of Christmas and Cocos Islands, who are in the electorate of Lingiari in the Northern Territory—you might think that is strange—which I was first elected to in 1987. It does not seem that long ago.

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