Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Lingiari for his speech and thank him for the support and advice he has given me since I have been the member for Canberra. As you heard in his eloquent speech, he has been working on this issue of the external territories for many decades—I know he chokes when I say that!—and he is a wealth of knowledge. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his commitment to the betterment of the people living in the external territories and particularly for his support on this issue since I have been the member for Canberra.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the Territories Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 and a related bill. The legislation continues the ongoing process to reform the governance of Norfolk Island, which came about following a range of reviews over many years by the member for Lingiari and many others in this House. It particularly came about following the report by the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories into the current situation on Norfolk Island. The committee, of which I was a member, produced the report Same country: different world—The future of Norfolk Island. The report looked at the island's prospects for economic development in the wake of falling tourism figures, in the wake of a budget deficit and in the wake of other ongoing financial concerns. As I and the member for Lingiari have mentioned, those matters have been well documented over many years through many parliamentary reviews and many consultants' reviews since Norfolk got self-government in 1979.

The committee recommended that, as soon as practicable, the Commonwealth government repeal the Norfolk Island Act 1979 and establish an interim administration to assist the transition to a local government type body, determined in line with the community's needs and aspirations—and I underscore that. Those reforms are now well underway. Last year this parliament passed legislation that extends federal taxation, social security and Medicare to Norfolk Island from 1 July this year. The legislation we are debating today continues this reform agenda by extending a broad range of Commonwealth laws to Norfolk Island. I remember talking about this in my first term, when the former minister, Simon Crean, introduced a range of Commonwealth laws. From memory, there was FOI and there were a range of other appeals, AAT type pieces of legislation. So this has been an ongoing process of reform over many years.

The Territories Legislation Amendment Bill amends the definition of Australia to include Norfolk Island, as it currently includes the external territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This amendment will have the effect of making the default position that all Commonwealth legislation apply to Norfolk Island, as it does to other parts of Australia. This legislation also amends the Commonwealth Electoral Act to ensure that the Norfolk Island community is properly represented in this parliament.

Norfolk Island will formally join my electorate, the electorate of Canberra, making me and the two senators from the ACT the federal representatives of the residents of Norfolk Island. The electorate of Canberra has traditionally had a connection with Norfolk Island, with the member for Canberra having sat on the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories, and the residents of Norfolk Island having been able to vote in the default electorate of Canberra if they have chosen to, because voting in federal elections has been optional.

Until now, as you have just heard—and because it has been optional—Norfolk Island has had a unique electoral arrangement. It has not been compulsory for residents of Norfolk to vote or to enrol to vote in federal elections and, if they did choose to enrol, they could nominate to enrol in any Australian electorate with which they had a connection—perhaps where they had lived previously or where family members live. If residents had no such connection, they could choose to enrol in one of two 'default' electorates, as the member for Lingiari has just mentioned: the electorate of Canberra, here in the ACT, or the electorate of Solomon, in the Northern Territory.

At the 2013 federal election, 90 residents of Norfolk Island voted in the electorate of Canberra, and this was the largest number of Norfolk Islanders voting in any one electorate. What this unique system has meant, in reality, is that there has been no single member of parliament who is formally tasked with representing and advocating for the community of Norfolk Island. I remember how, on one of the committee visits with the member for Solomon—and she had people from Norfolk Island vote in her electorate as well—we were meeting with members of the community but we were playing a dual advocacy role. In my view, under the current arrangements, there has been a democratic deficit.

With the changes contained in this legislation, the requirements to enrol to vote, and to vote, will apply on Norfolk, just as they do anywhere else in Australia, and Norfolk will formally join the electorate of Canberra. The significance of this particular reform cannot be underestimated. From now on, for Norfolk Islanders, voting will not only be a right and a privilege but also a responsibility. Compulsory voting is one of the defining features of the Australian democracy, and Norfolk Island should be no exception. From now on, Norfolk Island will have dedicated representatives in our federal parliament—me, as the member for Canberra, and my colleagues in the other place, the two senators for the ACT.

I know that there are many residents of Norfolk Island who have expressed concerns about these reforms. There have been various iterations of these reforms, and I note there are concerns about them. They have wondered why Norfolk should join an electorate some 2,000 kilometres away from it. They wonder how I, as the member for Canberra, along with the senators for the ACT, can represent them when we are not permanently based on the island but on the mainland. Today I want to say to these people: I understand your concerns. I really do. I appreciate that it is not going to be easy or straightforward, but I make a commitment to you, as I have made the commitment to the people of Canberra here on the mainland, that I will do my very best to represent you, to advocate for you, and to understand your concerns.

As these wide-ranging governance reforms are implemented, the interface between residents of Norfolk Island and the Commonwealth will increase. For the first time, residents will have access to Commonwealth department agencies and services, such as Medicare, Centrelink and the tax office. As their federal member, I will be here to assist Norfolk Islanders in making this transition, to ensure they get the assistance they need in making this transition, to ensure their concerns are represented and acted upon, and to ensure that residents of Norfolk Island see the benefits that I know these reforms can unlock.

As the new federal representative for Norfolk Island, I will not be starting entirely from scratch. For the last six years, I have been getting to know the people of Norfolk Island, both as a member of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories and as a representative of one of the two default electorates. I have visited Norfolk more than 10 times since I have been the member for Canberra. My aim is to visit it three times a year. I have attended committee hearings and held mobile offices. I have attended business roundtables, taken part in Bounty Day celebrations, spoken at and attended a number of women's functions and Labor functions, and been to school presentations.

In particular, over the last two years, I have had regular correspondence with a great number of Norfolk Island residents about the proposed governance reforms. I will be the first to acknowledge that support on the island for these reforms is not universal—far from it. Many residents of Norfolk Island want to maintain the status quo of self-government. Many of these residents have been openly critical of me for my small role in this reform process, and they have been critical of these reforms, which they see as undemocratic.

But others have written to me to express their gratitude for these reforms and their hope that these reforms will provide them with the opportunities they have previously been denied. They are parents who see that having access to Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will be life-changing for their family. They are job seekers who know that access to Newstart payments or jobseeker support will mean they no longer have to rely on donated food parcels to feed the family each week.

One of the concerning trends I have noticed, having been up there more than 10 times since I was elected in 2010, was witnessing the economic deterioration for families. We all know that many people on Norfolk Island work two, three or four jobs to make ends meet and to put food on the table. What I noticed every time I went back there, from my consultations with members of the community, was that more people were accessing food bank, which is a way of getting food hampers. That just underscored the fact that people were doing it tough on the island and were reaching out for these food parcels. I also know from letters and messages from retirees and older residents that they are looking forward to having, for the first time, the security of the aged pension.

A little over a year ago, I wrote an opinion piece in which I explained why I supported governance reform. I wrote this piece before I knew exactly what the new governance model would look like and before I knew that Norfolk Island would join the electorate of Canberra, making me the federal member. I wrote:

There is no point in having self-government for self-government's sake. It is now clear to me that the current governance arrangements have met only the most basic social and economic needs of Norfolk residents. For self-government to have my support, it needs to be stable, economically responsible, democratic, sustainable and in the best interests of the people it serves. This is not the case under the current governance model on Norfolk Island. There will be democracy on Norfolk Island under a new arrangement.

We now know what this new governance arrangement will be, and I stand by my statement that it will bring democracy—genuine democracy—to Norfolk Island. I will represent all residents of Norfolk, including those who did not want these reforms and including those who have been very critical of me, to ensure that they get to have their say about how they are governed on election day.

These reforms have had bipartisan support, and I would like to thank the Minister for Territories, who is here tonight, the member for Bradfield, as well as the former minister, the member for Mayo, for engaging on this issue in a positive and bipartisan way, both here in Australia and on Norfolk. Both ministers have had an open-door policy for me when it comes to discussing these reforms and making representations on behalf of the people of Norfolk Island, and I very much look forward to that continuing.

I would like to put on the record my very great appreciation of the five members of the Norfolk Island Advisory Council, who have been overseeing the transition on the Island—and it has been very tough for them. I take my hat off to them; I salute them, because this has not been easy, and they have also been subject to criticism—a lot of support, but a lot of criticism as well. So I want to thank Melissa Ward, who was the chair of the council; Duncan Evans; Eve Semple; PJ Wilson; and Wally Beadman. As I said, their job has not been easy, but it is of vital importance for the future prosperity, security and success of Norfolk Island.

I also want to thank the current Administrator of Norfolk Island, the Honourable Gary Hardgrave, who has been through some pretty rough health issues while implementing the reform on Norfolk Island, and also former Administrator Neil Pope, as well as their staff. And I want to take this opportunity to thank Jen Pope, who was very actively engaged in the community, particularly with the food bank.

I also thank my fellow members of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories, many of whom have been engaged in the issue of governance reform on Norfolk for their entire parliamentary careers. I cited the member for Lingiari but I also want to take this opportunity to again thank former senator Kate Lundy for the work she did on Norfolk Island. She was also very actively involved in reform and many of the reviews.

Reforms of this nature are never easy, never straightforward. These are significant changes, and the residents of Norfolk Island are right to be passionate about them. So I would like to thank the people of Norfolk Island who have engaged in this reform process—those who participated in the inquiry, those who have written to me, those who have led the debate on the island. While we have not always been in agreement, I know that you are all committed to bringing out the best for Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island is home to an incredibly unique history and culture, and the story of Norfolk is one that is intrinsically linked with the story of Australia. It is in the interests of all Australians to keep this history and culture alive and vibrant for centuries to come, and it is in my interests, as the future member responsible for the islanders, that they have access to opportunity, equality and fairness. That is my primary concern.

See this speech in context