Australia’s Assault on Norfolk Island 2021–22: Zombie Policies to End?

Norfolk Island, an external territory under the authority of Australia, enjoyed a large measure of self-government from 1979 and for the subsequent 37 years. In 2016 the Australian Government abolished that structure against the wishes of the great majority of Islanders expressed at a legally constituted referendum, and imposed a regime with much reduced island autonomy.

This book, the fourth in a biennial series and covering the years 2021–22, traverses a range of issues including: Norfolk Island sea transportation since 1975; the proposed re-development of the Kingston and Arthur’s Vale World Heritage Area; the Commonwealth Government’s 2021 public inquiry into the Norfolk Island Regional Council; and the subsequent conduct of the Regional Council, particularly regarding land rates and other charges. A final essay examines the conduct of Commonwealth governments on Norfolk Island in relation to the political ideology of neoliberalism. With the continuing, if slow, demise of this phenomenon, more positive opportunities may be emerging for the future of the Island.