Norfolk Island

• 1. Introduction

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  Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia, had 2,188 inhabitants at the 2021 census. They share roughly 35 square kilometres of land in the Pacific Ocean. The island lies 1412 kilometres due east of Evans Head on the Australian coast, between New Zealand and New Caledonia. Two smaller neighbours, Phillip Island and Nepean Island, complete the territory. Its capital is Kingston.

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• 2. First Visitors and Flax

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  In the 13th or 14th century, seafarers from East Polynesia landed on Norfolk Island. Archaeologists think they sailed either from the Kermadec Islands, north of mainland New Zealand, or from New Zealand's North Island. Artefacts of both Polynesian and Melanesian origin have turned up, so travellers from nearby New Caledonia may have come too. The island was empty for at least a few hundred years before Europeans arrived in the late 18th century. Isolation and poor ground for gardening gave nobody a reason to stay.

  Captain James Cook sighted the island and landed on the 10th of October 1774, during his second voyage to the South Pacific. He named it after Mary Howard, Duchess of Norfolk. John Call later made the case for settling it. In his view, an uninhabited island where New Zealand flax grew had real value, because flax could supply rigging for ships.

  The Royal Navy's rope supply made that argument urgent. Nearly all the hemp and flax it used for cordage and sailcloth came from Russia. Catherine II of Russia pursued policies, such as the League of Armed Neutrality of 1780 to 1783, that threatened to restrict hemp sales. Meanwhile the American Revolutionary War, which began in 1775, had halted convict transport to the Thirteen Colonies, and British prisons were overcrowding. In December 1785 the government announced it would send convicts to parts of what is now Australia. In 1786 its colonisation plan for New South Wales added Norfolk Island as an auxiliary settlement, as Call had proposed.

  The First Fleet reached Port Jackson in January 1788. Governor Arthur Phillip then ordered Lieutenant Philip Gidley King to take 15 convicts and seven free men to Norfolk Island and prepare it for commercial development. They landed on the 6th of March 1788. In its first year the settlement was also called Sydney, like its parent, and more convicts and soldiers arrived from New South Wales.

  Robert Watson, a harbourmaster, had come with the First Fleet as quartermaster of a ship. He was still serving in that role when the ship was wrecked at Norfolk Island in 1790. The next year he obtained a grant of 60 acres and began to farm it.

  The experiment soon disappointed. As early as 1794, Francis Grose, Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, proposed closing the penal settlement. He judged it too remote, too awkward for shipping and too costly to maintain. The first group of people left in February 1805, and only about 200 remained by 1808. The last were removed in 1813. A small party stayed behind to slaughter the livestock and destroy every building, so that no other European power would be tempted to visit and claim the place. That emptiness lasted until the 6th of June 1825, when British policy turned the island into something far grimmer.

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• 3. Second Penal Settlement

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  In 1824 the British government instructed Thomas Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales, to reoccupy Norfolk Island as a home for "the worst description of convicts". What had once counted against the island now counted in its favour. Its remoteness suited the detention of defiant male prisoners.

  For generations, people assumed these men were hardened repeat offenders. Many were thought to be "doubly-convicted capital respites". That label described men who committed fresh crimes in the colony, were sentenced to death, and were spared the gallows on condition of life on Norfolk Island.

  A 2011 study drawing on a database of 6,458 Norfolk Island convicts told a different story. More than half of them had been sent to the island without ever receiving a colonial conviction. Only 15% had been reprieved from a death sentence. The overwhelming majority had committed non-violent property offences, and the average stay was three years.

  Even so, the island was far from calm. Between 1826 and 1846, convicts staged a number of uprisings and mutinies, and every one of them failed. After 1847 the British government began to wind down the settlement. The last convicts were removed to Tasmania in May 1855. By then, transportation from the United Kingdom to Van Diemen's Land, as Tasmania was known, had ceased in 1853. Penal servitude at home replaced it.

  The penal era officially ended on the 5th of May 1855. The empty buildings did not stay empty for long.

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• 4. Pitcairn Descendants

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  On the 3rd of May 1856, 193 people left the Pitcairn Islands aboard the Morayshire. When the ship arrived on the 8th of June, the count stood at 194, because a baby had been born during the voyage. The passengers were descendants of Tahitians and of the Bounty mutineers, including the line of Fletcher Christian. Pitcairn had become too small for their growing numbers.

  The newcomers occupied many of the buildings left by the convict era. Gradually they built up traditional farming and whaling industries. Some families went back to Pitcairn in 1858 and 1863, yet the population kept growing. Additional settlers were welcomed, and they often arrived on whaling vessels.

  The Britannia, in November 1793, was the first whaler on record to call at Norfolk Island. The Andrew Hicks, in August and September 1907, was the last. In the age of sail, ships stopped for water, wood and provisions. Sometimes they signed islanders on as crew.

  In 1867 the Melanesian Mission of the Church of England made Norfolk Island its headquarters. In 1920 the mission moved to the Solomon Islands, closer to where most of the people lived. Faith among the islanders also divided. After the first chaplain, Reverend G. H. Nobbs, died in 1884, a Methodist church formed. In 1891 one of Nobbs' sons led a Seventh-day Adventist congregation. Several forces drove these changes. Some islanders were unhappy with Nobbs, and the mission brought a more formal style of Church of England service. American whalers had influence, and Christians overseas sent literature after hearing the Pitcairn story. Descendants of the mutineers still on Pitcairn had also adopted Seventh-day Adventism.

  Today congregations rarely exceed 30 local residents, and ministers are usually short-term visitors. Yet the arrival itself is remembered every year on Bounty Day, the island's most important local holiday.

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• 5. Island Ways

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  Carrots, Dar Bizziebee, Diddles, Geek, Lettuce Leaf, Possum, Pumpkin, Smudgie, Truck and Wiggy all appear in the Norfolk Island telephone directory. About half of the islanders trace their roots to Pitcairn, and that shared ancestry means only a limited number of surnames. Nicknames fill the gap, so the directory lists them beside many subscribers.

  Islanders speak English and Norfuk, a creole that blends 18th-century English with Tahitian and is based on Pitkern. In 2004 an act of the Norfolk Island Assembly made Norfuk a co-official language. The act recognises and protects the language without requiring anyone to use it. Any official use must come with an accurate English translation.

  The 2016 census found Norfuk spoken most at home by 40.9% of people. By 2021 that share had fallen to 30.5%, while English rose from 45.5% to 52.4%. More tourists and young people leaving for work and education are blamed. To keep the language alive, islanders publish dictionaries and have renamed some tourist attractions with their Norfuk equivalents. Children learn both English and Norfuk at school.

  No indigenous culture existed on the island when Europeans settled it. The Tahitian influence of the Pitcairn settlers, however, brought the hula dance into island life. Mudda, a dish of green banana dumplings, and kumara pilhi are recipes of Pitcairn origin. Chopped salads and fruit pies joined them later. Businesses close on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday. Norfolk Island is also one of the few places outside North America that celebrates Thanksgiving.

  The novelist Colleen McCullough, author of The Thorn Birds and the Masters of Rome series, was a long-term resident. Her novel Morgan's Run is set largely on the island. Ruth Park, who wrote The Harp in the South, lived there for several years after the death of her husband, the writer D'Arcy Niland. The singer and actress Helen Reddy moved to the island in 2002 and kept a house there. James A. Michener, who served in the United States Navy in the Second World War, set a chapter of Tales of the South Pacific on Norfolk Island. That same war would give the island an airstrip.

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• 6. Who Governs

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  In 1896 the Governor of New Zealand wrote that the Islanders, "while protesting against any change, would prefer to come under the control of New Zealand rather than that of New South Wales". The question arose after a British inquiry in 1894 into the administration of justice on the island. London decided not to annex Norfolk Island to New South Wales. Instead, the office of Governor of Norfolk Island was abolished on the 19th of March 1897, and the Governor of New South Wales administered the island. The Norfolk Island Act 1913 then accepted it as a territory of Australia, separate from any state. The change took effect on the 1st of July 1914.

  Four court cases have tested whether Australia's authority is valid. In 1939, Samuel Hadley argued that only laws made under the 1856 Order in Council counted, and the High Court rejected his case. In 1965 the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island rejected Henry Newbery's appeal. He claimed the island had a constitution in 1857 that the Crown could not abolish. Berwick Ltd claimed to be resident on the island after Australia moved in 1972 to stop it being used as a tax haven. In 1976 the High Court unanimously held that Norfolk Island was part of Australia. In 2007 the High Court rejected a challenge to a 2004 amendment that removed the right of non-citizens to enrol and stand for election.

  Australia therefore holds that the island has no international status independent of its own. The United Nations Decolonization Committee does not list Norfolk Island as a non-self-governing territory. Some islanders dispute this position. They claim the island gained independence when Queen Victoria gave Pitcairn Islanders permission to resettle there.

  In 1979 the Norfolk Island Act gave the island limited self-government. Its Legislative Assembly had nine seats, and each elector cast nine equal votes, with no more than two for any one candidate. Four members formed the Executive Council. Every seat was held by an independent. Australia could still extend its laws to the island and override the Assembly.

  A 2006 review considered turning the Assembly into a local council. The Australian government ended it on the 20th of December 2006, citing the "significant disruption" that change would cause. Then on the 6th of November 2010, Chief Minister David Buffett announced that the island would give up self-government in return for a federal bailout to cover significant debts. Three years later, the last Chief Minister, Lisle Snell, floated independence, to be funded by fishing, offshore banking and foreign aid.

  In March 2015 Australia announced reforms. It cited the island's failure to reach self-sufficiency and a subsidy of $12.5 million in 2015 alone. On the 8th of May 2015-68% of 912 voters backed a referendum question asking that islanders be consulted before such changes. Snell said the result would "blow a hole in Canberra's assertion" that the reforms had overwhelming support. The Australian Parliament passed the legislation anyway, and the Assembly was abolished on the 17th of June 2015.

  A Regional Council took office on the 1st of July 2016. From that day, taxation, social security, immigration, customs and health arrangements followed mainland rules. Residents began paying income tax and gained access to welfare schemes such as Centrelink and Medicare. At the 2016 federal election, 328 islanders voted in the electorate of Canberra. Since 2018, the island has voted in Bean. Geoffrey Robertson lodged a petition with the United Nations on the 25th of April 2016 on behalf of the local population.

  In October 2019, the advocacy group Norfolk Island People for Democracy surveyed 457 residents, about a quarter of the population. Free association with New Zealand drew 37%, free association with Australia 35%, full independence 25% and full integration with Australia just 3%.

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• 7. Edge of the Map

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  When a supply ship reaches Norfolk Island, whaleboats towed by launches unload it five tonnes at a time. A mobile crane lifts the freight in nets and straps onto the pier. The jetty at Kingston or Cascade is chosen by the weather of the day. If the wind shifts mid-job, the ship moves around to the other side. Visitors often gather to watch.

  The island has 80 kilometres of roads, 53 of them paved. Local law gives livestock the right of way. The general speed limit is 50 kilometres per hour, dropping to 30 near schools. Drivers greet each other in a tradition nicknamed the "Norfolk wave". Television arrived on the 21st of November 1963, when the radio technician Ray Hoare picked up a distant Sydney signal on the island's only set.

  Norfolk Island Hospital is the only medical centre. It can perform minor surgery, but serious conditions are treated on the mainland. A charter flight can cost as much as 30,000, a bill the Australian government covers. The island has one ambulance, one employed St John officer and a group of volunteers. Many older residents move to New Zealand or Australia for care. Only one lawyer kept a full-time legal practice on the island. Meanwhile the population has fallen from a high of 2,601 in 2001, as many people aged 20-34 left.

  In 1942 Australian, New Zealand and United States servicemen built the island's airstrip. It became a key airbase and refuelling depot between Australia and New Zealand, and between New Zealand and the Solomon Islands. A New Zealand Army unit called N Force garrisoned it from a large camp able to house 1,500 men. N Force relieved a company of the Second Australian Imperial Force and left in February 1944. The island proved too remote to be attacked.

  Today the Australian Federal Police normally station one sergeant and two constables on the island. Five local Special Members hold police powers but are not employees of the force. No active military installations or defence personnel remain. In 2023, Australian and American forces held joint exercises near the island.

  Around the island, Australia controls an exclusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles, roughly 428,000 square kilometres. Islanders may fish recreationally in only a small section of it, known locally as "the Box".

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• 8. Pines, Birds and Sharks

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  Mount Bates, at 319 metres, is the highest point on Norfolk Island. Norfolk and Phillip islands were formed by basaltic volcanic eruptions between 3.1 and 2.3 million years ago. They form the highest point on the Norfolk Ridge, part of the submerged continent Zealandia. Phillip Island lies 7 kilometres south of the main island. Pigs and rabbits introduced in the penal era stripped its vegetation, giving it a red-brown colour when seen from Norfolk. Pest control by park staff has recently brought some improvement.

  The Norfolk Island pine, native to the island, is pictured on its flag. The flag has three vertical bands of green, white and green, with the pine centred in the slightly wider white band. The tree is also a key export, popular as an ornamental in Australia and worldwide. In 1986, the last 5 square kilometres of rainforest was declared the Norfolk Island National Park. Today the park covers around 10% of the island and also includes Nepean and Phillip islands.

  Norfolk Island has 174 native plants, 51 of them endemic. The smooth tree-fern, the tallest tree-fern in the world, is common in the park but rare elsewhere. Weeds now outnumber native plant species on the island.

  The birds have fared worse. The Norfolk kākā, the Norfolk ground dove and the Norfolk pigeon are all extinct. The Norfolk boobook owl survives only through genes in a hybrid population descended from the last female. Clearing of rainforest, hunting, and introduced rats, cats, foxes, pigs and goats took their toll. Introduced blackbirds and crimson rosellas also competed with native birds. The island has one native mammal, Gould's wattled bat, which is very rare and may already be extinct there.

  The providence petrel was hunted to local extinction by the beginning of the 19th century, but it has shown signs of returning to breed on Phillip Island. Islanders have traditionally harvested the eggs of the sooty tern, locally called the whale bird. Whale hunting operated commercially around the island until 1956. Southern right whales were depleted by the hunts and later by illegal Soviet and Japanese whaling. Humpback, minke and sei whales can still be seen near shore.

  A 2019 episode of Discovery Channel's Shark Week turned to another sea creature. Norfolk Island holds one of the largest tiger shark populations in the world. To control its growing cattle herds, islanders cull older cattle and feed the carcasses to tiger sharks well off the coast. The practice is meant to keep the sharks from coming closer to shore in search of food. Australia has banned it as cruelty to animals. Islanders fear the ban will bring more shark attacks and damage a tourist trade that is already shrinking.

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