A PAINFUL CHANGE

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
Gandhi




When I started "AngelsandEagles", one of my aims was to make people aware of what is going on with the island's relationship with Australia. I have also tried to educate people (including me!) and put a perspective on what has happened in the past. Above all I hope I have helped people feel inspired and proud to belong to this unique and wonderful island community.
I have consciously refrained from discussing current local politics up until now. That is not because there are no issues that concern me. But it has been my view that our own elected government needs and deserves support and loyalty in the extremely difficult challenges that have been thrust in front of them....demands and difficulties that none of them could have envisaged when they stood for election. At that time, they probably had a fair idea of what their "mandate" was, but ascertaining the mood and will of the people over the Canberra/governance issue would not have been easy.
I believe that the Norfolk people have been telling them strongly and clearly that that they want to see
*leadership
*action
*direction
*momentum
*communication
*negotiation
Our government has reorganised itself. Those responsible say they believe it was the only way to achieve these goals. It has been a very painful time for every member. I do not believe that any member could be accused of ignoring the challenges we face, and all have approached their task with energy and earnestness.
But the reality is that we seemed to be facing an impasse, a severe communication break-down, and change was needed. It is my belief that it is better for that change to come from within, rather than be forced on them from outside.
It is not a sign of instability...it is a sign of taking responsibility. All governments readjust and re-shuffle their human resources from time to time in order to be more effective and achieve their aims. That includes Liberal and Labour governments in Australia.
Time will tell if these are the right changes, but I strongly believe we should give them time to give it a go! Meanwhile all of us, including our elected members, will need to put self-interest, egos and personality clashes behind us, and put Norfolk Island first.
We do not need to turn our own people into adversaries. We badly need to support and understand each other, whatever our views. Or we risk damaging the very way of life we are trying to preserve.