A PEOPLE AND A PLACE

The frustration of still not knowing what will happen to this island continues, and as Christmas approaches, the prospect of celebrating that season with either uncertainty or bad news hanging over our heads is a worrying one.
But things are happening. The High Court has heard our case. Their judgment will take quite some time, and even then it will be a majority decision of seven judges who are known to approach their task in different ways, and frequently reach different conclusions. Constitutions are funny things, and it is sometimes difficult to interpret something that was framed some time ago in a way that reflects modern values and needs. And, as Judge Michael Kirby reminded the court
"we have to give effect to the Constitution of the Commonwealth. That is our constitutional duty. "
In other words. it is the Australian Constitution and Australian law which will form the basis of their final judgment.
I have been wading through the transcript, and some of the legal jargon and references are daunting. But a couple of things stand out in my mind. The first is that both sides of the case are somewhat short on the facts about this island, its people, their background and their way of life, and if I had been there in the courtroom, I would have been very tempted to interrupt and correct a few basic errors of fact, things that are very obvious to anyone who has actually lived here and thrown their lot in with this community.
The second aspect of the case and the associated legal argument is this..... much of it seems to centre on the theme of Norfolk Island as a geographical place, as opposed to Norfolk Island as a "people". Counsel for the Commonwealth took the view that Norfolk Island(the place) came under Australia's jurisdiction, and therefore whoever lives here (even if it were just penguins as on Heard Island) also come automatically under Australia's jurisdiction. Australia legislates for Norfolk Island simply because it can!!
The fact that the Norfolk Island people are a distinct community, with their own ethnicity, history, roots and traditions is, according to the Commonwealth's Counsel, irrelevant. Indeed, he goes on to question the right to even use the words distinct or separate in relation to Norfolk Island. He makes the following points:
*that we are no more a "distinct and separate settlement" than, say, Byron Bay or other country towns or settlements within Australia.
*that saying that we are Norfolk Islanders from Norfolk Island is no different to saying we are Tasmanians from Tasmania.
*that different ethnicity carries no weight, because there are many other ethnic groups in Australia, such as the descendants of the German settlers in Hahndorf in S.A.
That sort of thinking is what we are up against.
It is ignorant and it is false.
But it is something they trot out frequently. In a letter to Mr Rick Kleiner, Minister Lloyd said:(Norfolk Island's) 'cultural differences are no more pronounced than those of other communities within Australia.'
He proceeds to back up these insulting claims by quoting from Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, from The Joint Standing Committee's 2003 Report, the Nimmo Commission, and the Berwick Case in the High Court.
These are, of course, all Australian bodies, making judgments and observations, as usual, from an Australia-centric point of view. It is a view that the people of Norfolk Island, those of Pitcairn descent, and the others who have married into the Pitcairn community or who have thrown their lot in and made this their home, must strongly and proudly deny and resist.
The consequences of allowing this view of Norfolk Island are dire.
*Our culture will be reduced (in Australia's eyes)to a few recipes, a bit of island dancing, a handful of public holidays, an odd dialect to which they will pay a bit of token lipservice.
*Norfolk Island will no longer be a "homeland". Those German settlers of Hahndorf who decided voluntarily to migrate to Australia, for whatever reasons, accepted that they were leaving Germany behind, and making a new life with the people of another country. Their homeland, Germany, is still there. Australia wants to take away our right to call Norfolk Island our special place, our homeland where we have our roots, a place to which we belong in a special sense, and a place with values and traditions that have developed separately from Australia. If they take that away, we have nothing left. We are just a few insignificant and indistinguishable drops in a big Australian ocean. Not only will we have lost our sense of this being "our place", but we will be diminshed as a people.
To read the transcript of the High Court proceedings
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/hca/transcripts/recent-transcripts.html
To read the Minster's reply to Rick Kleiner asking whether he considers that Norfolk Island has an indigenous population
http://www.nagnorfolk.com/Indigeneous.pdf