STATING OUR CASE


The Joint Standing Committee for the National Capital and External Territories is visiting on what they call a 'Familiarisation' visit. Although this group, whose membership has changed under the new Rudd Government, did not have any particular issue they were investigating, there was no shortage of people wanting to speak with them. No doubt this was particularly important to folk in the light of the recent announcement by Minister Debus about changes to the Norfolk Island Act.
Now there are some on this island who are seasoned attenders of J.S.C. hearings, and make submissions every time. I am not one of them, although I have made written submissions.
And there are many like me who, in spite of holding firm convictions, feel a little intimidated about fronting up before this group of Canberra politicians. So when it was suggested by someone a group of us go together to meet with them, they expected to gather a handful of people. But within hours, just by word of mouth, a large number of Norfolkers had asked to be included.
And when we gathered at the South Pacific before our appointed time, they just kept coming, until there were 45 of us, with many sending their apologies because they were working the ship, or were unable to leave their work. And I think every one of us could think of many more who would have been there if only they had known about it.
Anyway, there was this group of Norfolkers, many Islanders and spouses, long term residents, and some who have been here a shorter time, but all feeling a strong commitment to this island. They were not from any particular family group, or political organisation or any other special interest group. It was obvious they were all just people who felt that "Enough is enough" and the time had come to speak out.
We were not called into the room until at least an hour after our appointed time. We were graciously welcomed by a smiling Kate Lundy, the chairman, which was just as well, because the others all looked a bit like members of the Glum family. We realised that they were somewhat overwhelmed by the size of the group, and they apologised that only half a dozen chairs were available. It was obvious too, that they thought it was time for lunch, because we were informed that our 20 minutes we had been allocated would be cut to 15 minutes, and that the following 20 minutes that had been allocated in Robin's name would be similarly reduced to 10 minutes.
Now most of those people there had come from their own place of work, and were busy people. It had taken some courage for many to front up in the first place, and we had been kept waiting for over an hour, presumably while other people went over their allocated time. We had planned our presentation to fit within the 40 minutes we had been allowed. There were some moments of tension, and it was obvious that many among us were feeling angry and "short-changed."
Senator Lundy quickly recognised the tension, and attempted to rescue the situation with a reasonable degree of diplomacy and discretion.
There were ten of us made presentations of varying length, beginning with our much loved elder statesman Greg. The body language of the Committee was quite fascinating. One or two appeared to bristling with the unexpectedness of the onslaught. A couple appeared to be bored and weary. I will not read 'antagonism' into any of it, but it was certainly not designed to be friendly and put us at our ease.
As people moved forward to have their say, I was just so proud of this group. They spoke with quiet conviction. Some explained why Australia's proposals would not work in a practical sense, some refuted the faulty assumptions that Australia seems to make about the island and its people. Others addressed the matter of the historic and democratic rights of the Norfolk people. Most expressed a desire to see a good working relationship with Australia, but with the balance tipped a little more in Norfolk Island's favour than has been evident in the past. Disappointment was expressed in the tone of some previous reports and the conduct of previous Committee members. The final speaker promoted the idea of saying 'Sorry' for past wrongs and injustices, so that healing can take place and we can move forward. All spoke with passion of their love for this island, and their belief that it was special, unique, and could set an example to the rest of the world.
Now an interesting thing happened. By the end, the body language had definitely changed, and most of the Committee seemed to be engaged and listening. They could not fail to have been moved, and I suspect that many of them had never heard our case stated in quite this way before.
Even if there had been time, we had decided not to wait for questions. We just wanted our firm and sincerely held convictions to speak for themselves.
As we left quietly, there were no long post mortems. Each of us just went our own way, back to our places of work, our homes, our families.
This had been a truly special time, a real grass roots gathering of representatives of the"Silent Majority."
But there was a disconcerting note. At the conclusion of our time, Senator Lundy stated that they were only on a Familiarisation trip. and would be making no recommendations. She urged us to contact the Minister Debus with our views. It did not sound as if she had any intention of passing them on!
So if they don't have time to talk to each other in Canberra on mutually shared matters of responsibility, what hope and confidence have we got that they would give much time or thought to our specific wishes and needs if they were to assume greater control of our affairs?