THE NORFOLK PUZZLE

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
I will be the first to admit that the Commonwealth Government has had a well-thought out game plan for the process of changing governance arrangements for Norfolk Island. In fact, it has been very difficult to persuade them to take the slightest detour from their plan of action, or even to pause a while in order to allow any of us to catch our breath or take stock.
Relentlessly, the Inquiries and Commissions and Studies and Surveys have come and gone. Each of them have had their strict instructions and terms of reference, and there has been no leeway to depart from these in any way.
That is not to say that valuable information has not been collected. It would seem that we have been remarkably helpful and co-operative in providing this data and information. I cannot help being reminded of the prisoner who was asked to build his own gallows, or dig his own grave. But we remain ever optimistic that we can use much of this data to assist in our own aspirations for good governance on Norfolk Island, which is not necessarily what the Commonwealth has in mind.
DOTARS, the JSC, the ABS, the Grants Commission, the Minister, the Administrator's Office on Norfolk Island, the Norfolk Island Government, and those responsible for various economic reports (including the recent Economic Impact Assessment) have all had input.
The problem is that these little piles of data are all like little pieces of a puzzle. Someone has to put them together in a meaningful way.
Who is going to put this information together and make sense of it? Who is going to make the decisions and policies? Who is going to decide on the "big picture"? What if one or more pieces of the puzzle are wrong...do they realise that this will affect all the rest? What about missing pieces, the things they have overlooked or refused to acknowledge?
We can pour our hearts out all we like to the fact-finders commissioned by the Commonwealth Government. But these things are out of their hands. Unfortunately, the views of those of us who are actually "in the picture" do not seem to carry the same weight as those of the fact-finders and number crunchers who are sent over here.
I can only hope that our own Government members, arriving in Canberra this weekend, can present our case strongly and clearly, not only to the Minister, but to those other Australian Government members who will, after all, have the final say.