The remote Australian island with a fascinating history – but an uncertain future

The hand-written sign leaning against the old stone wall that protects Norfolk Island’s historic former Legislative Assembly building declares: “Norfolk Island under siege!!!”

Beside it, another four signs have similarly defiant messages, and under the arched entrance to the parliament’s grounds, is an invitation to “come in for a cuppa and find out why”. It’s an invitation I can’t pass up.

Crossing the cattle grid that keeps out wandering stock (cows have right of way on this South Pacific island’s roads), I find the bearded figure of Duncan Sanderson who set up a “tent embassy” in April 2016 to protest legislative changes that he believes will be the ruin of his island home at the hands of “thugs and bullies” in the Australian Government.

Since Captain Cook claimed the remote and uninhabited volcanic outcrop for Britain in 1774, Norfolk has had a rich, if somewhat dark, history. The first settlers, between 1788 and 1855, were British convicts and soldiers, and the island was infamous for its brutality.

In 1856, the descendants of the Bounty mutineers came to Norfolk – which sits about 1500km east of Brisbane and 1600km north-east of Sydney – from Pitcairn Island. Some later returned to Pitcairn, but the remainder stayed on and their legacy remains strong, with Bounty descendants making up about one third of the island’s population of 1800. The combination of convict history and continuing fascination for the Bounty story form the foundation for the island’s tourism industry.

Many early convict buildings and ruins still stand, with a conservation program in place since the 1960s ensuring the hardship those early inhabitants endured is not forgotten. Four public museums keep their stories alive.

Since 1979, Norfolk Island has been a self-governing territory of Australia, the island’s affairs run by an elected parliament of nine. But in 2015, the island sought financial assistance from the Australian government, setting in train events that have brought it under the control of the State Government of New South Wales.

In May 2015, 68 per cent of Norfolk Island people voted – in an island referendum – to retain their “legal right to determine their own political status and their economic, social and cultural development”.

“That means 65 per cent wanted a say in the future,” says Duncan Sanderson. “And since then, many [who voted against it] have changed their minds.”

Despite the referendum result, in 2016 the Australian Federal Government repealed the Norfolk Island Act of 1979, abolishing the island’s parliament and replacing it with an administration managed from New South Wales. This means many changes, including the loss of Norfolk Island’s tax-free status, but gives the island’s population access to Australia’s Medicare system and other services.

A retired jeweller, Sanderson, is part of the Norfolk Island People for Democracy movement, which claims 1,400 supporters and was set up to protest the change of status for the island and seek self-determination. He takes me on a tour of the former parliament building, now stripped bare of its furniture, fittings and trappings of office.

He says appeals have been lodged with the United Nations Human Rights Council against “re-colonisation” and breaches of the islanders’ civil and political rights.

In the main street of Norfolk’s Burnt Pine settlement, a second community protest group, Hands Up for Democracy, has established an eye-catching presence to show “our concern and distress that the Commonwealth Government has removed our democratically elected government, and left us with no real say in what happens to our island home and the culture, laws and values we hold dear”. A large sign outlining their grievances stands at the entrance to a large block of land planted with white cards stencilled with green hands – each signed by a concerned resident or, in some cases, visitor.

But while the fight quietly continues, tourists still come to the island for its peace and quiet, rugged scenery and fascinating history. This is a place which has no traffic lights or fast food chains (the nearest is 1,000km away in New Zealand), no house numbers and few street lights. It also boasted, until a few years ago when there were two murders within two years, no serious crime. It is still a place where drivers leave their cars unlocked while they go about their business.

Making the most of its natural assets, Norfolk Island has developed a great range of soft adventure tours including guided snorkelling and diving, kayaking beside the 200-metre cliffs of nearby Phillip Island, glass-bottom boat tours, bushwalking, horse riding, mountain biking, surfing and 4WD excursions.

Other diversions include relaxing on uncrowded beaches and under the towering Norfolk pine trees, as well as trying out the island’s 35 restaurants. Progressive dinners in private homes give visitors a way to meet the locals and are very popular.

As well as four museums, one of the most interesting sights is the cemetery, where the hand-hewn gravestones record the stories of early pioneers and are dotted with the names of the mutineers: Christian, Adams, McCoy, Quintal and Young. The Pacific crashes on the beach just steps away.

The grave of Australian best-selling author Colleen McCullough, a modest plaque, is also here. Fans can tour “Out Yenna”, the house where McCullough lived for the last 35 years of her life until her death in 2015. Tours take in the ground floor of the house, revealing the quirky and often ostentatious tastes of Norfolk Island’s most celebrated modern-day resident, and offering a glimpse of where her books were researched and written.

Norfolk Islanders will tell you this is “da bass side orn Earth” (the best place on Earth), using the hybrid burr of Tahitian and Old English developed in the 18th century by the Bounty mutineers and considered one of the world’s rarest languages.

In some ways, it’s hard to argue against that locally-held belief. Shaped by their genealogy and isolation, Norfolk Islanders created a homeland which was far removed from many of the complications of modern life. Until now.

Air New Zealand flies direct to Norfolk Island from Sydney and Brisbane twice a week. Average flight time is two hours.