Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the interim report tabled on behalf of Senator Brown and as a member of the Joint Standing Committee on National Capital and External Territories. The report is on the committee's deliberations and its visit to the Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas Islands in the Indian Ocean.

In 2014 this committee examined issues associated with Norfolk Island in a very bipartisan way, and I am pleased to report that we presented a unanimous set for recommendations to government. Starting on 1 July, just a week from today, we will see a radical change in the overall administration of Norfolk Island, bringing it much closer in a sense to Australia and in fact conferring on citizens of Norfolk Island and Australian citizens who determine to reside on Norfolk Island many of the privileges and rights that were denied them prior to the advice of this committee.

I now turn to the Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas Islands. Really the only thing they have in common is that they are in the Indian Ocean. They are more distant to each other than the east coast of Australia is to Norfolk Island, and each has its unique challenges. The work of this committee is by no means finished. This interim report deals with three areas and three recommendations, which I will address. I do want to place on the record that, before this committee finishes its work, recommendations will come forth on the overall governance of the Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas Islands. At the moment there is an ad hoc process in the selection of an administrator: each time the federal government changes, the administrator changes. Mr John Stanhope was the Administrator prior to the coalition coming to government; Mr Barry Haase, formerly the member for Durack, is now the Administrator. One of my real concerns is the actual role of the administrator, along with the reporting responsibilities of the administrator and the relationship of the administrator to government, to the minister, to cabinet and further to the communities. As you would know, Mr Acting Deputy President, I do have some personal experience in the administration of an island, which was in absolute disarray and was experiencing many of the maladies that these islands suffer now. Over a seven-year period, it was a pleasure to be able to address those issues. I do want to put on notice the fact that governance is a real issue.

The voice and representation of the people in the two island groups is certainly an issue. On our visits to Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas islands, they expressed deep dismay and concern to us about the lack of consultation on the ground and their inability to be heard. Again, I believe that is tied up in the question of governance.

Their political representation is of interest. Whilst the islands are both off the north-west coast of Western Australia, in the federal parliamentary sphere their interests are represented by the member for Lingiari, in the Northern Territory, in the other place; and by the two Northern Territory senators here in the Australian Senate. Again—without casting any aspersions at all on how they are currently represented—they certainly raised those points with us.

With regard to economic opportunities for both island groups, as Christmas Island now moves away from being substantially an island which has housed refugees and asylum seekers in recent times—and we know that those numbers are declining rapidly—we must look to its future and of course that of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. They have economic opportunities in tourism and even in agriculture. There is a very, very interesting agricultural program underway on Christmas Island which I think has a lot of merit.

The only other area I wanted to mention before going to the recommendations is the method of service delivery. For nearly all services on both island groups, delivery is actually an arrangement between the federal government and various agencies of the Western Australian government, coordinated through Premier and Cabinet. I can assure you, both from the feedback we got on the islands and from the consultations I have had with key service deliverers within the Western Australian government, it is an area that needs urgent attention.

In the few minutes remaining for me to speak, I want to talk specifically about the three recommendations in this interim report. The first, about Christmas Island's economic future and tourism, is a recommendation to examine reopening the Christmas Island casino. It was built many years ago by Mr Frank Woodmore, a Western Australian businessman. It had a colourful, although eventually unfortunate, history. The time is well nigh for us to examine the opportunity to once again grant a casino licence—through the federal government now, not through the state of the Western Australia—and there is widespread enthusiasm right across Christmas Island for that idea.

The second recommendation is about international students:

The Committee recommends the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development take action to address any legislative anomalies or administrative deficiencies that may prevent educational institutions in the Indian Ocean Territories from providing educational services to international fee-paying students in accordance with the framework established by the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 …

We heard about a program, in glowing terms—from the principal of a Christmas Island school—that got underway with international students on Christmas Island but had to cease.

The third and possibly most important recommendation in economic terms is for a shipping service for freight. For example, the cost of a tonne of cement on the mainland is $300; on Cocos island, it is $3,300 with delivery.

Question agreed to.