No Bananas?

Is It Yes, They Have

From a Correspondent It will be some months yet before Norfolk Island has the chance of telling the Australian Government —once and for all just what kind of Government it wants for the future. It will get its chance at a referendum, which was promised the island by the Australian Minister for Territories, Mr. Hasluck, in August.

HOWEVER, the Australian Federal elections in December have made it impossible for anything to be done before the end of the year, and it will probably be well into next year before Norfolk goes to the polls to attempt to clear up some of the confusion which has been baffling everybody for so long.

Just what does Norfolk want?

Small communities have a habit of becoming split on questions now and again, but it must be a long time since any community was split as wide as Norfolk has been over the Local Government question, and even longer since any issue has been so confused.

The louder some Norfolk groups cry their wants, the darker the picture becomes, and the referendum is the only possible way out. Even then, the whole thing will hinge on just what questions are to be asked the electors, and no doubt there will be a great deal more confusion —and no doubt some recriminations before this is worked out.

As the Minister has said„l are probably four political pm to be looked at on Norfolk: scheme whereby the Norfolk : Council will assume some • functions of Local Government.} present Council has (b) a t whereby the Council merely ; an advisor to the Administrae the old Council did (c) a schea the Council to be given wicb powers of lawmaking and com the budget, which is what most? bers of the new Council waiu (d) a kind of Council-of-Statea ing with the Administrator.

Mr. R. S. Leydin, Administrator of Norfolk Island, who had a heart aţack in Augu[?] was flown to the Mercy Hospital in Melbourne in a special flight by RAAF Hercule making "satisfactory progress" at the end of September and was expected to ret[?] Norfolk by the end of October. Meanwhile Norfolk has an Acting Administrator in W. McConaghy, a special projects officer with the Department of Territories, Canberras Hercules, which can land on a short strip, was the first Norfolk had seen, and this[?] was taken as she came in over the island to pick up Mr. Leydin.

! Minister made it clear during sit that he did not regard the al views held by the majority i present Council as necessarily the will of the people. The al, he said, did not have a ite because people voted for nt reasons. ey may have thought they had e either for apples or oranges > they voted for either apples mges,” said Mr. Hasluck. “In ome of them probably wanted is.” e the decision was made to hold ;rendum (which is what the il wanted) feelings on the island teen running less high. At the )f the Minister’s visit it was ly armed warfare, with both iccusing each other of attempt divide and rule. There were— till are—allegations of Red Nobody, fortunately, has ted that any members of the unist Party are behind the :, but it has been suggested that icople are using well-tried Corn tactics because they happen to eir purpose.

Minister himself, during his ame face to face with a ham d-sickle which somebody had 1 on the outside of the door he and Council members were d in committee. The hammer kle obviously wasn’t meant 5 Minister, who was extremely :d anyhow at having to hear ouncil’s views behind closed Council explained later that it deluded the public “to avoid isleading reports which might iise Council’s negotiations le Minister”—an extraordinary Minister met this problem by virtually nothing at the closed (except to stick up for the istrator when somebody on the il alleged that he, too, was at ig to divide and rule).

Obsession open session followed the meeting, but the public had home by then. The Minister take any chances of any con 'eports getting out this meeting, sooner had he returned to Can than he had sent back for I distribution a report on vas said. folk’s obsession with politics has overshadowed its other big m—how it can earn an income own. It still lives on handouts

from Australia, whose Territory it is.

There is no income tax, and very little to export. Norfolk lately has made some headway in getting New Zealand to relax some of her trade restrictions and take fresh green beans from the island, but there are still problems.

Tourism still looks the most likely possibility for the future. Qantas in December will turn its fortnightly service to Sydney into a weekly one, for the summer, and this should help get an increased flow.

Mr. Reg Ansett, of Ansett-ANA,

still says he wants to build a tourist hotel on Norfolk, although most people had thought he had dismissed the idea when he failed to get a licence to operate air services to Norfolk. He has made no arrange ments for getting land for a hotel.

Norfolk deserves to become a first class tourist resort. The climate is excellent, the scenery beautiful, the convict ruins fascinating, and Nor folk Islanders themselves are among the friendliest people in the South Seas. So long as you are not discuss ing politics, anyhow.