Norfolk Island Regional Council

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Location of the island, about 1400 kilometers from Australia

The Norfolk Island Regional Council is a regional parliament of the Norfolk Island , an outer area of ​​Australia located in the South Pacific and which has been subject to the applicable laws of the Australian state of New South Wales since 2018 .

history

Colonial times

The uninhabited Norfolk Island was discovered by the navigator James Cook in 1784. The island was founded in March 1788 after the establishment of the first Australian convict colony in Bounty Bay as the second convict colony and thus became part of the New South Wales convict colony. Norfolk Island was abandoned in 1813 and remained deserted until 1825 when a penal prison was established on the island, one of the most cruel prisons in the British Crown. It was abandoned in 1855 and in 1856 numerous descendants of Bounty mutineers , so-called Pitcairner , settled on Norfolk Island with the permission of the British colonial administration . In the same year it became a separate, New South Wales subordinate territory with the greatest possible autonomy.

houses of Parliament

When the Australian state and its states were founded in 1901, New South Wales became one of the Australian states. In 1913, Norfolk Island was recognized by the Australian government as an independently governed outer area of ​​Australia and had its own parliament, the Norfolk Legislative Assembly , which could pass its own laws. From 1979, the Norfolk Island Act 1979 was passed, empowering the Norfolk Island government to provide various Australian, state and local services on the Norfolk Island, with the exception of tax, immigration, health and social welfare regulations that were not or only partially adopted were.

In 2015, a new model of self-government was pursued on Norfolk Island and passed with the Norfolk Island Act 2015 . This legal regulation led to the installation of the Norfolk Island Regional Council. The Australian Parliament adopted it through the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015 .

It was agreed with the Norfolk Island Applied Laws Ordinance of July 1, 2016 that the laws on taxation, social security, immigration, customs, biology and health protection, and health care and medication in Australia from July 1, 2018 also on Norfolk Island in Kicking power. From this point on, this regional parliament is only responsible for regional planning, municipal taxes and waste disposal and has to coordinate with the Australian ministries, which are responsible for the relevant planning and development tasks. A large part of the island's population does not see themselves as part of Australia, but as descendants of the Bounty mutineers ( Pitcairner ) and other Pacific peoples and was dissatisfied with this decision. However, they had to put up with it, as the island government could not prevent the island's economy from going into severe deficit and could not avert an economic crisis.

elections

The regional parliament of the Norfolk Island is re-elected every four years and has five members who elect their chairmen from among their number. The first election took place on May 28, 2016. Robin Adams (Mayor), John McCoy (Deputy Mayor), Rod Buffett, David Porter and Lisle Snell were elected. In the elections to the Australian Parliament , Norfolk Island is represented in the constituency of the Australian Capital Territory .

Island administration

The island administration is based on the legal regulations that apply in Australia to the so-called territories in Australia. The chief administrator of Norfolk Island is the two-year administrator appointed by the Governor General of Australia . This is currently (2020) Australian Eric Hutchinson , who was newly appointed April 1, 2017 and reappointed on February 23, 2019.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Norfolk Island History and Culture . In: New Norfolkonline undated, accessed on May 9, 2020
  2. ↑ Anual Report 2016-2017 (PDF). In: Norfolk Island Council, February 21, 2018. p. 5
  3. ↑ Andreas Stummer: Is there a threat of mutiny on Bounty Island? . In: DW of June 28, 2016
  4. ↑ Anual Report 2016–2017 (PDF). In: Norfolk Island Council, February 21, 2018. p. 18
  5. ^ Norfolk Island Governance. . In: Australian Regional Government, February 20, 2020
  6. ↑ Administrator . In: Regional from July 12, 2019