Norfolk Island (, ;

Norfuk Norfuk ( pih, Norfuk) (increasingly spelt Norfolk) or Norf'k is the language spoken on Norfolk Island (in the Pacific Ocean) by the local residents. It is a blend of 18th-century English and Tahitian, originally introduced by Pitkern-speakin ...

: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an

external territory A dependent territory, dependent area, or dependency (sometimes referred as an external territory) is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a sovereign state, yet remains politically outside the controlli ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

located in the Pacific Ocean between

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

. Together with the neighbouring

Phillip Island Phillip Island (Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. The island is named after Governor Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, by explorer ...

and Nepean Island, the three islands collectively form the Territory of Norfolk Island. At the 2021 census, it had inhabitants living on a total area of about . Its capital is Kingston. The first known settlers in Norfolk Island were East

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

ns but they had already departed when

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

settled it as part of its 1788 settlement of Australia. The island served as a convict penal settlement from 6 March 1788 until 5 May 1855, except for an 11-year hiatus between 15 February 1814 and 6 June 1825, when it lay abandoned. On 8 June 1856, permanent civilian residence on the island began when descendants of the ''Bounty'' mutineers were relocated from

Pitcairn Island Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn Islands, of which many inhabitants are descendants of mutineers of HMS ''Bounty''. Geography The island is of volcanic origin, with a rugged cliff coastline. Unlike many other ...

. In 1914 the UK handed Norfolk Island over to Australia to administer as an

. Native to the island, the evergreen

Norfolk Island pine ''Araucaria heterophylla'' (synonym ''A. excelsa'') is a species of conifer. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine (or Norfolk pine) implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific ...

is a symbol of the island and is pictured on its

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

. The pine is a key export for Norfolk Island, being a popular ornamental tree in Australia (where two related species grow), and also worldwide.

History

Early settlement

Norfolk Island was uninhabited when first settled by Europeans, but evidence of earlier habitation was obvious. Archaeological investigation suggests that in the 13th or 14th century the island was settled by East

n seafarers, either from the

Kermadec Islands The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total are ...

north of New Zealand, or from the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

of New Zealand. However, both Polynesian and

Melanesian Melanesian is the adjectival form of Melanesia. It may refer to: * Melanesians * Melanesian mythology * Melanesian languages In linguistics, Melanesian is an obsolete term referring to the Austronesian languages of Melanesia: that is, the Oceani ...

artefacts have been found, so it is possible that people from

, relatively close to the north, also reached Norfolk Island. Human occupation must have ceased at least a few hundred years before Europeans arrived in the late 18th century. Ultimately, the relative isolation of the island, and its poor

horticultural Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

environment, were not favourable to long-term settlement.

First penal settlement (1788–1814)

The first European known to have sighted and landed on the island was Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

, on 10 October 1774, on his second voyage to the South Pacific on . He named it after Mary Howard, Duchess of Norfolk. Sir

John Call Sir John Call, 1st Baronet (30 June 1731 – 1 March 1801) was an English engineer and baronet. He was born at Fenny Park, Tiverton, Devon, educated at Blundell's School and went to India at the age of 17 with Benjamin Robins, the chief enginee ...

argued the advantages of Norfolk Island in that it was uninhabited and that

New Zealand flax New Zealand flax describes the common New Zealand perennial plants ''Phormium tenax'' and ''Phormium colensoi'', known by the Māori names ''harakeke'' and ''wharariki'' respectively. Although given the common name 'flax' they are quite distinc ...

grew there. After the outbreak of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

in 1776 halted

penal transportation Penal transportation or transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became their ...

to the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

, British prisons started to overcrowd. Several stopgap measures proved ineffective, and the government announced in December 1785 that it would send convicts to parts of what is now known as Australia. In 1786, it included Norfolk Island as an auxiliary settlement, as proposed by John Call, in its plan for colonisation of the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

. The decision to settle Norfolk Island was taken after Empress

Catherine II of Russia , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

restricted the sale of

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

. At the time, practically all the hemp and flax required by the Royal Navy for cordage and sailcloth was imported from Russia. When the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

arrived at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

in January 1788, Governor

Arthur Phillip Admiral Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Greenwich Hospital School from June 1751 unti ...

ordered Lieutenant

Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a British politician who was the third Governor of New South Wales. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detailed to colonise Norfolk Island for defence an ...

to lead a party of 15 convicts and seven free men to take control of Norfolk Island, and prepare for its commercial development. They arrived on 6 March. During the first year of the settlement, which was also called "Sydney" like its parent, more convicts and soldiers were sent to the island from New South Wales. Robert Watson, harbourmaster, arrived with the First Fleet as quartermaster of , and was still serving in that capacity when the ship was wrecked at Norfolk Island in 1790. Next year, he obtained and cultivated a grant of on the island. As early as 1794, Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales

Francis Grose Francis Grose (born before 11 June 1731 – 12 May 1791) was an English antiquary, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) and ''A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Prove ...

suggested its closure as a penal settlement, as it was too remote and difficult for shipping and too costly to maintain. The first group of people left in February 1805, and by 1808, only about 200 remained, forming a small settlement until the remnants were removed in 1813. A small party remained to slaughter stock and destroy all buildings, so that there would be no inducement for anyone, especially from other European powers, to visit and lay claim to the place. From February 1814 until June 1825, the island was uninhabited. Norfolk Island jail1

Second penal settlement (18241856)

In 1824 the British government instructed the Governor of New South Wales,

Thomas Brisbane Major General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet, (23 July 1773 – 27 January 1860), was a British Army officer, administrator, and astronomer. Upon the recommendation of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had served, he was appoint ...

, to reoccupy Norfolk Island as a place to send "the worst description of convicts". Its remoteness, previously seen as a disadvantage, was now viewed as an asset for the detention of recalcitrant male prisoners. The convicts detained have long been assumed to be hardcore recidivists, or 'doubly-convicted capital respites' – that is, men transported to Australia who committed fresh crimes in the colony for which they were sentenced to death, but were spared the gallows on condition of life on Norfolk Island. However, a 2011 study, using a database of Norfolk Island convicts, has demonstrated that the reality was somewhat different: more than half were detained on Norfolk Island without ever receiving a colonial conviction, and only 15% had been reprieved from a death sentence. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of convicts sent to Norfolk Island had committed non-violent property offences, and the average length of detention there was three years. Nonetheless, Norfolk Island went through periods of unrest with convicts staging a number of uprisings and mutinies between 1826 and 1846, all of which failed. The British government began to wind down the second penal settlement after 1847, and the last convicts were removed to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in May 1855. The island was abandoned because transportation from the United Kingdom to

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

(Tasmania) had ceased in 1853, to be replaced by penal servitude in the UK.

Settlement by Pitcairn Islanders (1856present)

The next settlement began on 8 June 1856, as the descendants of Tahitians and the HMS ''Bounty'' mutineers, including those of

Fletcher Christian Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 20 September 1793) was master's mate on board HMS ''Bounty'' during Lieutenant William Bligh's voyage to Tahiti during 1787–1789 for breadfruit plants. In the mutiny on the ''Bounty'', Christian sei ...

, were resettled from the

Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...

, which had become too small for their growing number. On 3 May 1856, 193 people left Pitcairn Islands aboard the ''Morayshire''. On 8 June 194 people arrived, a baby having been born in transit. The Pitcairners occupied many of the buildings remaining from the penal settlements, and gradually established traditional farming and whaling industries on the island. Although some families decided to return to Pitcairn in 1858 and 1863, the island's population continued to grow. They accepted additional settlers, who often arrived on whaling vessels. The island was a regular resort for whaling vessels in the

age of sail The Age of Sail is a period that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid- 15th) to the mid- 19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of naval ...

. The first such ship was the ''Britannia'' in November 1793. The last on record was the ''Andrew Hicks'' in August–September 1907. They came for water, wood and provisions and sometimes they recruited islanders to serve as crewmen on their vessels. In 1867, the headquarters of the

Melanesian Mission The Melanesian Mission is an Anglican missionary agency supporting the work of local Anglican churches in Melanesia. It was founded in 1849 by George Selwyn, the first Bishop of New Zealand. History Bishop Selwyn's see was focused on New Zealand. ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

was established on the island. In 1920 the Mission was relocated from Norfolk Island to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

to be closer to the focus of population. Norfolk Island was the subject of several experiments in administration during the century. It began the 19th century as part of the Colony of New South Wales. On 29 September 1844, Norfolk Island was transferred from the Colony of New South Wales to the Colony of Van Diemen's Land. On 1 November 1856 Norfolk Island was separated from the Colony of Tasmania (formerly Van Diemen's Land) and constituted as a "distinct and separate Settlement, the affairs of which should until further Order in that behalf by Her Majesty be administered by a Governor to be for that purpose appointed". The

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

was constituted as the Governor of Norfolk Island. On 19 March 1897 the office of the Governor of Norfolk Island was abolished and responsibility for the administration of Norfolk Island was vested in the Governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Yet, the island was not made a part of New South Wales and remained separate. The Colony of New South Wales ceased to exist upon the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901, and from that date responsibility for the administration of Norfolk Island was vested in the Governor of the State of New South Wales.

20th century

The

Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...

accepted the territory by the ''Norfolk Island Act 1913'' (Cth), subject to British agreement; the Act received royal assent on 19 December 1913. In preparation for the handover, a proclamation by the

on 23 December 1913 (in force when gazetted on 24 December) repealed "all laws heretofore in force in Norfolk Island" and replaced them by re-enacting a list of such laws. Among those laws was the ''Administration Law 1913'' (NSW), which provided for appointment of an Administrator of Norfolk Island and of magistrates, and contained a code of criminal law. British agreement was expressed on 30 March 1914, in a UK

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' Ki ...

made pursuant to the ''Australian Waste Lands Act'' 1855 (Imp). A proclamation by the

Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the island became a key

airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

and refuelling depot between Australia and New Zealand, and New Zealand and the

. The airstrip was constructed by Australian, New Zealand and the United States servicemen during 1942. Since Norfolk Island fell within New Zealand's area of responsibility, it was garrisoned by a

New Zealand Army , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

unit known as

N Force N Force was a small New Zealand Army unit of infantry and artillery that garrisoned the Australian territory of Norfolk Island between October 1942 and February 1944, during the Second World War. The island was considered strategically important d ...

at a large army camp which had the capacity to house a strong force. N Force relieved a company of the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial ...

. The island proved too remote to come under attack during the war and N Force left the island in February 1944. In 1979, Norfolk Island was granted limited self-government by Australia, under which the island elected a government that ran most of the island's affairs.

21st century

In 2006, a formal review process took place, in which the Australian government considered revising this model of government. The review was completed on 20 December 2006, when it was decided that there would be no changes in the governance of Norfolk Island. Financial problems and a reduction in tourism led to Norfolk Island's administration appealing to the Australian federal government for assistance in 2010. In return, the islanders were to pay income tax for the first time but would be eligible for greater welfare benefits. However, by May 2013 agreement had not been reached and islanders were having to leave to find work and welfare. An agreement was finally signed in Canberra on 12 March 2015 to replace self-government with a local council but against the wishes of the Norfolk Island government. A majority of Norfolk Islanders objected to the Australian plan to make changes to Norfolk Island without first consulting them and allowing their say, with 68% of voters against forced changes. An example of growing friction between Norfolk Island and increased Australian rule was featured in a 2019 episode of Discovery Channel's annual

Shark Week Shark Week is an annual, week long TV programming block at the Discovery Channel, which features shark-based programming. Shark Week originally premiered on July 17, 1988. Featured annually, in July or early August, it was originally devoted to c ...

. The episode featured Norfolk Island's policy of culling growing cattle populations by killing older cattle and feeding the carsasses to tiger sharks well off the coast. This is done to help prevent tiger sharks from coming further toward shore in search of food. Norfolk Island holds one of the largest populations of tiger sharks in the world. Australia has banned the culling policy as cruelty to animals. Norfolk Islanders fear this will lead to increased shark attacks and damage an already waning tourist industry. On 4 October 2015, the time zone for Norfolk Island was changed from UTC+11:30 to UTC+11:00.

Reduced autonomy 2016

In March 2015, the Australian Government announced comprehensive reforms for Norfolk Island. The action was justified on the grounds it was necessary "to address issues of sustainability which have arisen from the model of self-government requiring Norfolk Island to deliver local, state and federal functions since 1979". On 17 June 2015, the Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly was abolished, with the territory becoming run by an Administrator and an advisory council. Elections for a new Regional Council were held on 28 May 2016, with the new council taking office on 1 July 2016. From that date, most Australian Commonwealth laws were extended to Norfolk Island. This means that taxation, social security, immigration, customs and health arrangements apply on the same basis as in mainland Australia. Travel between Norfolk Island and mainland Australia became domestic travel on 1 July 2016. For the

2016 Australian federal election The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It ...

, 328 people on Norfolk Island voted in the ACT electorate of Canberra, out of 117,248 total votes. Since 2018, Norfolk Island is covered by the electorate of Bean. There is opposition to the reforms, led by Norfolk Island People for Democracy Inc., an association appealing to the United Nations to include the island on its list of "

non-self-governing territories Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter defines a non-self-governing territory (NSGT) as a territory "whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government". In practice, an NSGT is a territory deemed by the United Nations Gener ...

". There has also been movement to join New Zealand since the autonomy reforms. In October 2019, the Norfolk Island People For Democracy advocacy group conducted a survey of 457 island residents (about one quarter of the entire population) and found that 37% preferred free association with New Zealand, 35% preferred free association with Australia, 25% preferred full independence, and 3% preferred full integration with Australia.

Geography

The Territory of Norfolk Island is located in the South Pacific Ocean, east of the Australian mainland. Norfolk Island itself is the main island of the island group that the territory encompasses and is located at . It has an area of , with no large-scale internal bodies of water and of coastline. Norfolk was formed from several volcanic eruptions between 3.1 and 2.3 million years ago. Norfolk Island-CIA WFB Map

The island's highest point is

Mount Bates Mount Bates is the highest point of Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia, at 319 metres (1,047 ft) above sea level. External links * Landforms of Norfolk Island Bates Bates may refer to: Places * Bates, Arkansas, an ...

reaching

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

, located in the northwest quadrant of the island. The majority of the terrain is suitable for farming and other agricultural uses. Phillip Island, the second largest island of the territory, is located at , south of the main island. The coastline of Norfolk Island consists, to varying degrees, of cliff faces. A downward slope exists towards Slaughter Bay and Emily Bay, the site of the original colonial settlement of Kingston. There are no safe harbour facilities on Norfolk Island, with loading

jetties A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

existing at Kingston and Cascade Bay. All goods not domestically produced are brought in by ship, usually to Cascade Bay. Emily Bay, protected from the Pacific Ocean by a small coral reef, is the only safe area for recreational swimming, although surfing waves can be found at Anson and Ball Bays. The climate is subtropical and mild, with little seasonal differentiation. The island is the eroded remnant of a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

active around 2.3 to 3 million years ago, with inland areas now consisting mainly of rolling plains. It forms the highest point on the

Norfolk Ridge The Norfolk Ridge is a long submarine ridge running between New Caledonia and New Zealand, about 1300 km off the east-coast of Australia. It is part of a complex region of ridges between the crust of the Pacific Basin and the continental cr ...

, part of the submerged continent

Zealandia Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori) or Tasmantis, is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83–79 million years ago.Gurnis, M., Hall, C.E., and Lavier, L.L., ...

. The area surrounding Mount Bates is preserved as the

Norfolk Island National Park Norfolk Island National Park is a protected area of located at in the South Pacific Ocean, about off the East coast of Australia. The park’s area includes the Mount Pitt section on the namesake Norfolk Island with an area of / , as well a ...

. The park, covering around 10% of the land of the island, contains remnants of the forests which originally covered the island, including stands of subtropical

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

The park also includes the two smaller islands to the south of Norfolk Island, Nepean Island and

. The vegetation of Phillip Island was devastated due to the introduction during the penal era of pest animals such as pigs and rabbits, giving it a red-brown colour as viewed from Norfolk; however,

pest control Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest; any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage done and will range ...

and remediation work by park staff has recently brought some improvement to the Phillip Island environment. The major settlement on Norfolk Island is

Burnt Pine Burnt Pine ( Norf'k: ''Ban Pain''Buffett, Alice Inez, ''Speak Norfolk Today: An Encyclopedia of the Norfolk Island language'', Himii Publishing, Norfolk Island, 1999: 25) is the largest town on Norfolk Island (in the Pacific Ocean located betwee ...

, located predominantly along Taylors Road, where the shopping centre, post office, bottle shop, telephone exchange and community hall are located. Settlement also exists over much of the island, consisting largely of widely separated homesteads.

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

, the official residence of the Administrator, is located on Quality Row in what was the penal settlement of Kingston. Other government buildings, including the court, Legislative Assembly and Administration, are also located there. Kingston's role is largely a ceremonial one, however, with most of the economic impetus coming from Burnt Pine.

Climate

Norfolk Island has a mid-latitude and marine subtropical climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfa''). The temperature never falls below or rises above . The absolute maximum recorded temperature is , while the absolute minimum is . Average annual precipitation is around , with most rain falling from April to August. Other months receive significant amounts of precipitation as well.

Environment

Norfolk Island is part of the

Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities. It was devel ...

region "Pacific Subtropical Islands" (PSI), and forms subregion PSI02, with an area of . The country is home to the Norfolk Island subtropical forests terrestrial ecoregion.

Flora

Norfolk Island has 174 native plants; 51 of them are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

. At least 18 of the endemic species are rare or threatened. The Norfolk Island palm (''

Rhopalostylis baueri ''Rhopalostylis baueri'' is a species of palm native to Norfolk Island ( Australia) and to the Kermadec Islands (New Zealand). Norfolk Island is the type locality. The common names on Norfolk Island are 'Norfolk Island palm' or 'niau'. In New Ze ...

'') and the smooth tree-fern (''

Cyathea brownii ''Sphaeropteris excelsa'', synonym ''Cyathea brownii'', commonly known as the Norfolk tree fern or smooth tree fern, is probably the largest fern species in the world. It is endemic to Norfolk Island, in the Pacific Ocean near Australia and New ...

''), the tallest tree-fern in the world, are common in the Norfolk Island National Park but rare elsewhere on the island. Before European colonisation, most of Norfolk Island was covered with subtropical rain forest, the canopy of which was made of ''

Araucaria heterophylla ''Araucaria heterophylla'' (synonym ''A. excelsa'') is a species of conifer. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine (or Norfolk pine) implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific ...

'' (Norfolk Island pine) in exposed areas, and the

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

''Rhopalostylis baueri'' and

tree fern The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...

s ''Cyathea brownii'' and '' C. australis'' in moister protected areas. The

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abov ...

was thick with

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

s and ferns covering the forest floor. Only one small tract, , of rainforest remains, which was declared as the

in 1986. This forest has been infested with several

introduced plants Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

. The cliffs and steep slopes of Mount Pitt supported a community of shrubs,

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

s, and climbers. A few tracts of cliff top and seashore vegetation have been preserved. The rest of the island has been cleared for pasture and housing. Grazing and introduced weeds currently threaten the native flora, displacing it in some areas. In fact, there are more weed species than native species on Norfolk Island.

Fauna

As a relatively small and isolated oceanic island, Norfolk has few land birds but a high degree of endemicity among them. Norfolk Island is home to a radiation of about 40 endemic snail species. Many of the endemic bird species and subspecies have become

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

as a result of massive clearance of the island's native vegetation of

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

for agriculture, hunting and persecution as agricultural pests. The birds have also suffered from the introduction of mammals such as

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

s, cats, pigs and goats, as well as from introduced competitors such as

common blackbird The common blackbird (''Turdus merula'') is a species of true thrush. It is also called the Eurasian blackbird (especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds), or simply the blackbird where this does not ...

s and

crimson rosella The crimson rosella (''Platycercus elegans'') is a parrot native to eastern and south eastern Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. The ...

s. Although the island is politically part of Australia, many of Norfolk Island's native birds show affinities to those of neighbouring New Zealand, such as the

Norfolk kaka Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

Norfolk pigeon The Norfolk pigeon or Norfolk Island pigeon (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae spadicea''), sometimes called a wood quest, was a subspecies of the New Zealand pigeon (kererū) that inhabited Norfolk Island. This population probably colonized Norfolk I ...

, and

Norfolk boobook The Norfolk boobook (''Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata''), also known as the Norfolk Island boobook, Norfolk Island owl or Norfolk Island morepork, is a bird in the true owl family endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman S ...

. Extinctions include that of the endemic Norfolk kaka, Norfolk ground dove and Norfolk pigeon, while of the endemic subspecies the

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus ''Sturnus'', which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, ''sturnus''. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, ...

triller The trillers are a group of passerine birds belonging to the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae partially making up the genus '' Lalage''. Their name come from the loud trilling calls of the males. There are about 12 species that usually exist i ...

, thrush and

boobook owl ''Ninox'' is a genus of true owls comprising 36 species found in Asia and Australasia. Many species are known as hawk-owls or boobooks, but the northern hawk-owl (''Surnia ulula'') is not a member of this genus. Taxonomy The genus was introduced ...

are extinct, although the latter's genes persist in a hybrid population descended from the last female. Other endemic birds are the

white-chested white-eye The white-chested white-eye (''Zosterops albogularis'') also known as white-breasted white-eye or Norfolk white-eye is a passerine from the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island between New Caledonia and New Zealand and it is regar ...

, which may be extinct, the

Norfolk parakeet The Norfolk parakeet (''Cyanoramphus cookii''), also called Tasman parakeet, Norfolk Island green parrot or Norfolk Island red-crowned parakeet, is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island (located between ...

, the Norfolk gerygone, the slender-billed white-eye and endemic subspecies of the Pacific robin and

golden whistler The Australian golden whistler (''Pachycephala pectoralis'') or golden whistler, is a species of bird found in forest, woodland, mallee, mangrove and scrub in Australia (except the interior and most of the north)Ken Simpson, K., & N. Day. (1994) ...

. Subfossil bones indicate that a species of ''

Coenocorypha The austral snipes, also known as the New Zealand snipes or tutukiwi, are a genus, ''Coenocorypha'', of tiny birds in the sandpiper family (biology), family, which are now only found on New Zealand outlying islands, New Zealand's outlying islands ...

'' snipe was also found on the island and is now extinct, but the taxonomic relationships of this are unclear and have not been scientifically described yet. The Norfolk Island Group Nepean Island is also home to breeding seabirds. The providence petrel was hunted to local extinction by the beginning of the 19th century but has shown signs of returning to breed on

. Other seabirds breeding there include the

white-necked petrel The white-necked petrel (''Pterodroma cervicalis''), also known as the white-naped petrel, is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. During the non-breeding season it occurs throughout a large part of the Pacific, but it is only known ...

Kermadec petrel The Kermadec petrel (''Pterodroma neglecta'') is a species of gadfly petrel in the family Procellariidae. It is 38 cm long with a wingspan of 100 cm. It is polymorphic, with light, dark and intermediate morphs known. It eats squid, fis ...

wedge-tailed shearwater The wedge-tailed shearwater (''Ardenna pacifica'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and ...

Australasian gannet The Australasian gannet (''Morus serrator''), also known as the Australian gannet or tākapu, is a large seabird of the booby and gannet family, Sulidae. Adults are mostly white, with black flight feathers at the wingtips and lining the traili ...

red-tailed tropicbird The red-tailed tropicbird (''Phaethon rubricauda'') is a seabird native to tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. One of three closely related species of tropicbird (Phaethontidae), it was described by Pieter Boddaert in 1783. Superfic ...

and grey ternlet. The

sooty tern The sooty tern (''Onychoprion fuscatus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, returning to land only to breed on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Taxonomy The sooty tern was described by Carl Linnaeu ...

(known locally as the whale bird) has traditionally been subject to seasonal egg harvesting by Norfolk Islanders.Norfolk Island
at Australian National Botanic Gardens. Environment Australia: Canberra, 2000. Norfolk Island, with neighbouring Nepean Island, has been identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

because it supports the entire populations of white-chested and slender-billed white-eyes, Norfolk parakeets and Norfolk gerygones, as well as over 1% of the world populations of wedge-tailed shearwaters and red-tailed tropicbirds. Nearby Phillip Island is treated as a separate IBA.Birdlife Data Zone: Norfolk Island
, BirdLife International. (2015). Retrieved 17 February 2015. Norfolk Island also has a botanical garden, which is home to a sizeable variety of plant species. However, the island has only one native mammal,

Gould's wattled bat Gould's wattled bat (''Chalinolobus gouldii'') is a species of Australian wattled bat named after the English naturalist John Gould.Chruszcz, Bryan & Barclay, M. R. (2002)''Mammalian Species'' Chalinolobus gouldii The American Society of Mammal ...

(''Chalinolobus gouldii''). It is very rare, and may already be extinct on the island. The Norfolk swallowtail (''Papilio amynthor'') is a species of butterfly that is found on Norfolk Island and the

Loyalty Islands The Loyalty Islands Province ( French ''Province des îles Loyauté'') is one of three administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia encompassing the Loyalty Island (french: Îles Loyauté) archipelago in the Pacific, which are located northeast of ...

Cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...

s were historically abundant around the island as commercial hunts on the island were operating until 1956. Today, numbers of larger whales have disappeared, but even today many species such

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

minke whale The minke whale (), or lesser rorqual, is a species complex of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common (or northern) minke whale and the Antarctic (or southern) minke whale. The minke whale was first described by the Danish n ...

sei whale The sei whale ( , ; ''Balaenoptera borealis'') is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the blue whale and the fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters. It avoids polar and tropical ...

, and dolphins can be observed close to shore, and scientific surveys have been conducted regularly.

Southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...

s were once regular migrants to Norfolk, but were severely depleted by historical hunts, and further by recent illegal Soviet and Japanese whaling, resulting in none or very few, if remnants still live, right whales in these regions along with

Whale shark The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of .McClain CR, Balk MA, Benfield MC, Branch TA, Chen C, Cosgrove J, D ...

s can be encountered off the island, too. File:Norfolk Island Gannet chick.jpg, Gannet File:Norfolk Island masked boobies.jpg, Masked boobies File:Norfolk Island white turn chick.jpg, White tern File:Norfolk Island Emily Bay.jpg, Emily Bay File:Norfolk-Island-Pines.jpg, Norfolk Island pines File:Norfolk Island Captain Cook lookout.jpg, Captain Cook Lookout File:Norfolk Island Bird Rock.jpg, Bird Rock (off the north coast) File:Norfolk Island Cathedral Rock2.jpg, Cathedral Rock (off the north coast)

List of endemic and extirpated native birds

, ''Cyanoramphus cookii'' (endangered) *

, ''Nestor productus'' (extinct) *

Brown goshawk The brown goshawk (''Accipiter fasciatus'') is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found in Australia and surrounding islands. Description Its upperparts are grey with a chestnut collar; its underparts are mainly rufous, fin ...

, ''Accipiter fasciatus'' (extirpated) *

, ''Hemiphaga novaseelandiae spadicea'' (extinct, subspecies of NZ pigeon) * Norfolk ground dove, ''Aloepecoenas norfolkensis'' (extinct) *

Norfolk snipe Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

, ''Coenocorypha spp.'' (extinct, undescribed) * Norfolk rail, ''Gallirallus spp.'' (extinct, undescribed) * Norfolk robin, ''Petroica multicolor'' (endangered) *

Norfolk golden whistler The Norfolk golden whistler (''Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta''), also known as the Norfolk Island whistler or Norfolk Island thickhead, and locally as the “tamey”, is a small bird in the whistler family, Pachycephalidae. It is a su ...

, ''Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta'' (vulnerable, subspecies of golden whistler) *

Norfolk triller The Norfolk triller (''Lalage leucopyga leucopyga'') was a small passerine bird in the cuckooshrike family, Campephagidae. It is the extinct nominate subspecies of the long-tailed triller which was endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian terr ...

, ''Lalage leucopyga leucopyga'' (extinct, nominate subspecies of long-tailed triller) * Norfolk Island thrush, ''Turdus poliocephalus poliocephalus'' (extinct, nominate subspecies of Island thrush) * Norfolk Island starling, ''Aplonis fusca fusca'' (extinct, nominate subspecies of extinct Tasman starling) *

, ''Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata'' (extinct except for hybrids with nominate subspecies, subspecies of Morepork\Southern boobook) *

White-chested white-eye The white-chested white-eye (''Zosterops albogularis'') also known as white-breasted white-eye or Norfolk white-eye is a passerine from the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island between New Caledonia and New Zealand and it is regar ...

, ''Zosterops albogularis'' (critically endangered, possibly extinct) * Slender-billed white-eye, ''Zosterops tenuirostris'' (near threatened) * Norfolk gerygone, ''Gerygone modesta'' (near threatened) * Norfolk grey fantail, ''Rhiphidura albiscapa pelzelni'' (least concern, subspecies of grey fantail) * Norfolk petrel, ''Pterodroma spp.'' (extinct, undescribed)

Demographics

The population of Norfolk Island was 2,188 in the 2021 census, which had declined from a high of 2,601 in 2001. In 2011, residents were 78% of the census count, with the remaining 22% being visitors. 16% of the population were 14 years and under, 54% were 15 to 64 years, and 24% were 65 years and over. The figures showed an ageing population, with many people aged 20–34 having moved away from the island. Most islanders are of either

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

-only (mostly British) or combined European- Tahitian ancestry, being descendants of the ''Bounty'' mutineers as well as more recent arrivals from Australia and New Zealand. About half of the islanders can trace their roots back to

. This common heritage has led to a limited number of surnames among the islanders – a limit constraining enough that the island's telephone directory also includes nicknames for many subscribers, such as Carrots, Dar Bizziebee, Diddles, Geek, Lettuce Leaf, Possum, Pumpkin, Smudgie, Truck and Wiggy. Population * (as of the 2016 census) Population growth rate *0.01% Ancestry * Australian (22.8%) * English (22.4%) * Pitcairn Islander (20%) * Scottish (6%) * Irish (5.2%) Citizenship (as of the 2011 census) *Australia 79.5% *

13.3% *

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

2.5% *

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

1.1% *

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

1% *Other 1.8% *Unspecified 0.8%

Religion

62% of the islanders are Christians. After the death of the first chaplain Rev G. H. Nobbs in 1884, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

church was formed and in 1891 a

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

congregation led by one of Nobbs' sons. Some unhappiness with G. H. Nobbs, the more organised and formal ritual of the

service arising from the influence of the Melanesian Mission, decline in spirituality, the influence of visiting American whalers, literature sent by Christians overseas impressed by the Pitcairn story, and the adoption of Seventh-day Adventism by the descendants of the mutineers still on Pitcairn, all contributed to these developments. The

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

began work in 1957 and in the late 1990s a group left the former Methodist (then Uniting Church) and formed a

charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

fellowship. In 2011, 34% of the ordinary residents identified as

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

, 13% as

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

, 12% as Roman Catholic and 3% as Seventh-day Adventist. 9% were from other religions. 24% had no religion, and 7% did not indicate a religion. Typical ordinary congregations in any church do not exceed 30 local residents . The three older denominations have good facilities. Ministers are usually short-term visitors. Statistics: *

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

49.6% **

31.8% **

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

10.6% **

Seventh-Day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

3.2% *

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

11.7% *Other 8.6% *None 23.5% *Unspecified 6.6%

Country of birth

All information below is from the 2016 Census. * Australia (39.7%) * Norfolk Island (22.1%) * New Zealand (17.6%) * Fiji (2.7%) * England (2.6%) * Philippines (2.3%)

Language

Islanders speak both English and a

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...

known as

, a blend of 18th-century English and Tahitian, based on

Pitkern Pitkern, also known as Pitcairn-Norfolk or Pitcairnese, is a language spoken on Pitcairn and Norfolk islands. It is a mixture of English and Tahitian, and has been given many classifications by scholars, including cant, patois, and Atlantic Cre ...

. The Norfuk language is decreasing in popularity as more tourists visit the island, and more young people leave for work and education. However, efforts are being made to keep it alive via dictionaries and the renaming of some tourist attractions to their Norfuk equivalents. In 2004, an act of the Norfolk Island Assembly made Norfuk a co-official language of the island. The act is long-titled: "An Act to recognise the Norfolk Island Language (Norf'k) as an official language of Norfolk Island". The "language known as 'Norf'k'" is described as the language "that is spoken by descendants of the first free settlers of Norfolk Island who were descendants of the settlers of Pitcairn Island". The act recognises and protects use of the language but does not require it; in official use, it must be accompanied by an accurate translation into English. 32% of the total population reported speaking a language other than English in the 2011 census, and just under three-quarters of the ordinarily resident population could speak Norfuk. Languages All information below is from the 2016 Census. * English (45.5%) * Norfuk (40.9%) * Fijian (2.0%) * Tagalog (1%) *

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

(0.8%) *

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

(0.7%) * Population who speaks a non-English language at home (51.7%) * Population that only speaks English at home (45.5%)

Education

The sole school on the island, Norfolk Island Central School, provides education from

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

through to Year 12. The school has a

contractual A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

arrangement referred to as a Memorandum of Understanding with the New South Wales

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

regarding the teaching staff of the school, the latest of which took effect in January 2015. In 2015 enrolment at the Norfolk Island Central School was students. Children on the island learn English as well as Norfuk, in efforts to revive the language. No public tertiary education infrastructure exists on the Island. The Norfolk Island Central School works in partnership with

Registered Training Organisation A registered training organisation (RTO), in Australia, is an organisation providing Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses to students, resulting in qualifications or statements of attainment that are recognised and accepted by indust ...

s (RTOs) and local employers to support students accessing

Vocational Education and Training Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesman, tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education give ...

(VET) courses.

Literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

is not recorded officially, but can be assumed to be roughly at a par with Australia's literacy rate, as islanders attend a school which uses a

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

curriculum, before traditionally moving to the mainland for further study.

Culture

While there was no "indigenous" culture on the island at the time of settlement, the Tahitian influence of the Pitcairn settlers has resulted in some aspects of Polynesian culture being adapted to that of Norfolk, including the

hula Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form accompanied by chant (oli) or song (Mele (Hawaiian language), mele). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of t ...

dance. Local cuisine also shows influences from the same region. Islanders traditionally spend a lot of time outdoors, with fishing and other aquatic pursuits being common pastimes, an aspect which has become more noticeable as the island becomes more accessible to tourism. Most island families have at least one member involved in primary production in some form. Norfolk Island Philip Island3

Religious observance remains an important part of life for some islanders, particularly the older generations, but actual attendance is about 8% of the resident population plus some tourists. In the 2006 census 19.9% had no religion compared with 13.2% in 1996. Businesses are closed on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and Sundays. One of the island's long-term residents was the novelist

Colleen McCullough Colleen Margaretta McCullough (; married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 193729 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being ''The Thorn Birds'' and ''The Ladies of Missalonghi''. Life ...

, whose works include ''

The Thorn Birds ''The Thorn Birds'' is a 1977 novel by Australian author Colleen McCullough. Set primarily on Drogheda – a fictional sheep station in the Australian Outback named after Drogheda, Ireland, the story focuses on the Cleary family and spans 1 ...

'' and the ''

Masters of Rome ''Masters of Rome'' is a series of historical novels by Australian author Colleen McCullough, set in ancient Rome during the last days of the old Roman Republic; it primarily chronicles the lives and careers of Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sul ...

'' series as well as ''

Morgan's Run ''Morgan's Run'' is a historical novel by Colleen McCullough published in 2000 about the life of an English prisoner driven to the first penal colonies in Australia in the 18th century. Much of the novel is set in the penal colony on Norfolk Is ...

'', set, in large part, on Norfolk Island. Ruth Park, notable author of ''

The Harp in the South ''The Harp in the South'' is the debut novel by Australian author Ruth Park. Published in 1948, it portrays the life of a Catholic Irish Australian family living in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, which was at that time an inner city slum. P ...

'' and many other works of fiction, also lived on the island for several years after the death of her husband, writer D'Arcy Niland. Actress/singer

Helen Reddy Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 194129 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a showbusiness family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on rad ...

also moved to the island in 2002, and maintained a house there. American novelist

James A. Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...

, who served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during World War II, set one of the chapters of his episodic novel ''

Tales of the South Pacific ''Tales of the South Pacific'' is a Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of sequentially related short stories by James A. Michener about the Pacific campaign in World War II. The stories are based on observations and anecdotes he collected while st ...

'' on Norfolk Island. The island is one of the few locations outside North America to celebrate the holiday of

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

Government and politics

Norfolk Island is the only non-mainland Australian territory to have had self-governance. The ''

Norfolk Island Act 1979 The Norfolk Island Act 1979 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia. It acknowledged the sovereign British Possession of Norfolk Islands' powers of self-government in conjunction to standing Australian policy. The Act formally recognised the ...

'', passed by the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

in 1979, is the Act under which the island was governed until the passing of the ''Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act'' 2015 (Cth). The

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

maintains authority on the island through an Administrator, currently

Eric Hutchinson Eric Hutchinson (born September 8, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his songs " Rock & Roll", "OK, It's Alright with Me", "Not There Yet", "Watching You Watch Him", and "Tell the World". Hutchinson was named an AOL "About t ...

. From 1979 to 2015, a Legislative Assembly was elected by popular vote for terms of not more than three years, although legislation passed by the Australian Parliament could extend its laws to the territory at will, including the power to override any laws made by the assembly. The Assembly consisted of nine seats, with electors casting nine equal votes, of which no more than two could be given to any individual candidate. It is a method of voting called a "weighted

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

system". Four of the members of the Assembly formed the Executive Council, which devised policy and acted as an advisory body to the Administrator. The last Chief Minister of Norfolk Island was

Lisle Snell Lisle Denis Snell is a Norfolk Island politician, who from 20 March 2013 until 17 June 2015 was the final Chief Minister of Norfolk Island. He also served as Minister for Tourism. Both offices were abolished, along with the Norfolk Island Legis ...

. Other ministers included: Minister for Tourism, Industry and Development; Minister for Finance; Minister for Cultural Heritage and Community Services; and Minister for Environment. All seats were held by independent candidates. Norfolk Island did not embrace party politics. In 2007, a branch of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

was formed on Norfolk Island, with the aim of reforming the system of government. Since 2018, residents of Norfolk Island have been required to enrol in the

Division of Bean The Division of Bean is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, electoral division for the Australian House of Representatives in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Norfolk Island, which was created in 2018 and conteste ...

. As is the case for all Australian citizens, enrolment and voting for Norfolk Islanders is compulsory. Disagreements over the island's relationship with Australia were put in sharper relief by a 2006 review undertaken by the Australian government. Under the more radical of two models proposed in the review, the island's legislative assembly would have been reduced to the status of a local council. However, in December 2006, citing the "significant disruption" that changes to the governance would impose on the island's economy, the Australian government ended the review leaving the existing governance arrangements unaltered. In a move that apparently surprised many islanders, the Chief Minister of Norfolk Island, David Buffett, announced on 6 November 2010 that the island would voluntarily surrender its self-government status in return for a financial bailout from the federal government to cover significant debts. It was announced on 19 March 2015 that self-governance for the island would be revoked by the Commonwealth and replaced by a local council with the state of

providing services to the island. A reason given was that the island had never gained self-sufficiency and was being heavily subsidised by the Commonwealth, being given $12.5 million in 2015 alone. It meant that residents would have to start paying Australian income tax, but they would also be covered by Australian welfare schemes such as Centrelink and Medicare. The Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly decided to hold a referendum on the proposal. On 8 May 2015, voters were asked if Norfolk Islanders should freely determine their political status and their economic, social and cultural development, and to "be consulted at referendum or plebiscite on the future model of governance for Norfolk Island before such changes are acted upon by the Australian parliament". 68% out of 912 voters voted in favour. The Norfolk Island Chief Minister, Lisle Snell, said that "the referendum results blow a hole in Canberra's assertion that the reforms introduced before the Australian Parliament that propose abolishing the Legislative Assembly and Norfolk Island Parliament were overwhelmingly supported by the people of Norfolk Island". The ''Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015'' passed the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

on 14 May 2015 (assented on 26 May 2015), abolishing self-government on Norfolk Island and transferring Norfolk Island into a

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

as part of New South Wales law. From 1 July 2016 Norfolk Island legislation will be transferred to New South Wales and subject to NSW legislation. The island's official capital is Kingston; it is, however, more a centre of government than a sizeable settlement. The largest settlement is at

. The most important local holiday is Bounty Day, celebrated on 8 June, in memory of the arrival of the Pitcairn Islanders in 1856. Local ordinances and acts apply on the island, where most laws are based on the Australian legal system. Australian common law applies when not covered by either Australian or Norfolk Island law.

Suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

is universal at age eighteen. As a territory of Australia, Norfolk Island does not have diplomatic representation abroad, or within the territory, and is also not a participant in any international organisations, other than sporting organisations. The

is three vertical bands of green, white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centred in the slightly wider white band. The

Norfolk Island Regional Council The Norfolk Island Regional Council is the local government body of Norfolk Island, an island territory of Australia in the south Pacific Ocean. It is subject to the state-level legislation of New South Wales. History Prior to July 2015, Nor ...

was established in July 2016 to govern the territory at the local level in line with local governments in mainland Australia.

Constitutional status

From 1788 until 1844, Norfolk Island was a part of the

. In 1844, it was severed from New South Wales and annexed to the Colony of

. With the demise of the third settlement and in contemplation that the inhabitants of Pitcairn Island would move to Norfolk Island,''Newbery v The Queen'' (1965) 7 FLR 34 (25 March 1965),

Supreme Court of Norfolk Island The Supreme Court of Norfolk Island is the superior court for the Australian territory of Norfolk Island. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters and hears the most serious criminal matters. (NI) s 5 Jurisdiction of ...

. the ''Australian Waste Lands Act'' 1855 (Imp), gave the Queen in Council the power to "separate Norfolk Island from the Colony of Van Diemen's Land and to make such provision for the government of Norfolk Island as might seem expedient". (Imp). In 1856, the Queen in Council ordered that Norfolk Island be a distinct and separate settlement, appointing the Governor of New South Wales to also be the Governor of Norfolk Island with "full power and authority to make laws for the order, peace, and good government" of the island. Under these arrangements Norfolk Island was effectively self-governing, Although Norfolk Island was a colony acquired by settlement, it was never within the ''British Settlements Act''. The constitutional status of Norfolk Island was revisited in 1894 when the British Government appointed an inquiry into the administration of justice on the island. By this time, there had been steps in Australia towards federation including the 1891 constitutional convention. There was a correspondence between the Governor of Norfolk Island, the British colonial office and the Governor of New Zealand as to how the island should be governed and by whom. Even within NSW, it was felt that "the laws and system of government in the Colony of New South Wales would not prove suitable to the Island Community". In 1896, the Governor of New Zealand wrote "I am advised that, as far as my Ministers can ascertain, if any change is to take place in the government of Norfolk Island, the Islanders, while protesting against any change, would prefer to come under the control of New Zealand rather than that of New South Wales". The British government decided not to annex Norfolk Island to the Colony of NSW and instead that the affairs of Norfolk Island would be administered by the Governor of NSW in that capacity rather than having a separate office as Governor of Norfolk Island. The order-in-council contemplated the future annexation of Norfolk Island to the Colony of NSW or to any federal body of which NSW form part. Norfolk Island was not a part of NSW and residents of Norfolk Island were not entitled to have their names placed on the NSW electoral roll. Norfolk Island was accepted as a territory of Australia, separate from any state, by the ''Norfolk Island Act'' 1913 (Cth),. passed under the territories power, Government of territories. and made effective in 1914.. Norfolk Island was given a limited form of self-government by the ''Norfolk Island Act'' 1979 (Cth).. There have been four challenges to the constitutional validity of the Australian Government's authority to administer Norfolk Island: *In 1939, Samuel Hadley argued that the only valid laws in Norfolk Island were those made under the 1856 Order in Council and that all subsequent laws were invalid; his case was rejected by the High Court. (not in law reports) *In 1965, the

rejected Henry Newbery's appeal against conviction for failing to apply to be enrolled to vote in Norfolk Island Council elections. He had argued that in 1857 Norfolk Island had a constitution and a legislature such that the Crown could not abolish the legislature nor place Norfolk Island under the authority of Australia. In the Supreme Court, Eggleston J considered the constitutional history of Norfolk Island and concluded that the ''Australian Waste Lands Act'' 1855 (Imp) authorised any form of government, representative or non-representative, and that this included placing Norfolk Island under the authority of Australia. *As a result of the Australian Government's decision in 1972 to prevent Norfolk Island from being used as a tax haven, Berwick Ltd claimed to be resident in Norfolk Island but was convicted of failing to lodge a tax return. One of the arguments for Berwick Ltd was that Norfolk Island, as an external territory, was not part of Australia in the constitutional sense. In 1976, the High Court unanimously rejected this argument, approving the ''Newbery'' decision and holding that Norfolk Island was a part of Australia. *In 2004 the Australian Government amended the ''Norfolk Island Act'' 1979 (Cth) to remove the right for non-Australian citizens to enrol and stand for election to the Legislative Assembly of Norfolk Island. The validity of the amendments was challenged in the High Court, arguing that as an external territory Norfolk Island was not part of Australia in the constitutional sense and that disenfranchising residents of Norfolk Island who were not Australian citizens was inconsistent with self-government. In 2007 the High Court of Australia rejected these arguments, again approving the ''Newbery'' decision and holding that Norfolk Island was part of Australia and that self-government did not require residency rather than citizenship to determine the entitlement to vote. The Government of Australia thus holds that: : Norfolk Island has been an integral part of the Commonwealth of Australia since 1914 when it was accepted as an Australian territory under section 122 of the Constitution. The Island has no international status independent of Australia. Much of the self-government under the 1979 legislation was repealed with effect from 2016.. The reforms included, to the chagrin of some of the locals of Norfolk Island, a repeal of the preambular sections of the Act which originally were 3–4 pages recognising the particular circumstances in the history of Norfolk Island. Consistent with the Australian position, the United Nations Decolonization Committee does not include Norfolk Island on its list of

. This legal position is disputed by some residents on the island. Some islanders claim that Norfolk Island was actually granted independence at the time

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

granted permission to Pitcairn Islanders to re-settle on the island. Following reforms to the status of Norfolk Island, there were mass protests by the local population. In 2015 it was reported that Norfolk Island was taking its argument for self-governance to the United Nations. A campaign to preserve the island's autonomy was formed, named Norfolk's Choice. A formal petition was lodged with the United Nations by

Geoffrey Robertson Geoffrey Ronald Robertson (born 30 September 1946) is a human rights barrister, academic, author and broadcaster. He holds dual Australian and British citizenship.

on behalf of the local population on 25 April 2016. Various suggestions for retaining the island's self-government have been proposed. In 2006, a UK MP,

Andrew Rosindell Andrew Richard Rosindell MP (; born 17 March 1966) is a British Conservative politician. He became the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Romford constituency in Greater London in 2001. He has been the international director of the European ...

, raised the possibility of the island becoming a self-governing

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

. In 2013, the island's last chief minister,

, suggested independence, to be supported by income from fishing, offshore banking and foreign aid. The laws of Norfolk Island were in a transitional state, under the Norfolk Island Applied Laws Ordinance 2016 (Cth), from 2016 until 2018. Laws of New South Wales as applying in Norfolk Island were suspended (with five major exceptions, which the 2016 Ordinance itself amended) until the end of June 2018. From 1 July 2018, all laws of New South Wales apply in Norfolk Island and, as "applied laws", are subject to amendment, repeal or suspension by federal ordinance. The Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) has been amended for application to Norfolk Island.

Immigration and citizenship

The island was subject to separate immigration controls from the remainder of Australia. Before 1 July 2016, immigration to Norfolk Island, even by other Australian citizens was heavily restricted. In 2012, immigration controls were relaxed with the introduction of an Unrestricted Entry Permit for all Australian and New Zealand citizens upon arrival and the option to apply for residency; the only criteria were to pass a police check and be able to pay into the local health scheme. From 1 July 2016, the Australian migration system replaced the immigration arrangements previously maintained by the Norfolk Island Government. Holders of Australian visas who travelled to Norfolk Island would have departed the

Australian Migration Zone The Australian migration zone is a legal device created by the Australian Government for the purpose of Australia's visa policy and immigration policy, as the territory in which Australia's visa policy applies. The Australian migration zone co ...

before 1 July 2016. Unless they held a multiple-entry visa, the visa would have ceased; in which case they would require another visa to re-enter mainland Australia. Australian citizens and residents from other parts of the nation now have an automatic right of residence on the island after meeting these criteria (Immigration (Amendment No. 2) Act 2012). Australian citizens can carry either a passport or a form of photo identification to travel to Norfolk Island. The Document of Identity, which is no longer issued, is also acceptable within its validity period. Citizens of all other nations must carry a passport to travel to Norfolk Island even if arriving from other parts of Australia. Non-Australian citizens who are permanent residents of Norfolk Island may apply for Australian citizenship after meeting normal residence requirements and are eligible to take up residence in mainland Australia at any time through the use of a Confirmatory (Residence) visa (subclass 808). Children born on Norfolk Island are Australian citizens as specified by

Australian nationality law Australian nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds Australian legal nationality. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applic ...

. Non-Australian citizens who are

Australian permanent resident Australian permanent residents are residents of Australia who hold a permanent visa but are not citizens of Australia. A holder of a permanent visa may remain in Australia indefinitely. A 5-year initial travel facility, which corresponds to the ...

s should be aware that during their stay on Norfolk Island they are "outside of Australia" for the purposes of the Migration Act. This means that not only will they need a still-valid migrant visa or

Resident return visa Resident return visas (RRV) are three separate but related systems for allowing ordinarily resident and former resident foreign nationals in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States to travel to another country and return to the issuing count ...

to return from Norfolk Island to the mainland, but also the time spent in Norfolk Island will not be counted for satisfying the residency requirement for obtaining a Resident return visa in the future. On the other hand, as far as

is concerned, Norfolk Island is a part of Australia, and any time spent by an Australian permanent resident on Norfolk Island will count as time spent in Australia for the purpose of applying for Australian citizenship.

Health care

Norfolk Island Hospital is the only medical centre on the island. From 1 July 2016, medical treatment on Norfolk Island was covered by Medicare and the

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is a program of the Australian Government that subsidises prescription medication for Australian citizens and permanent residents, as well as international visitors covered by a reciprocal health care ag ...

as it is in Australia. Emergency medical treatment is covered by Medicare or a private health insurer. Although the hospital can perform minor surgery, serious medical conditions are not permitted to be treated on the island and patients are flown back to mainland Australia. Air charter transport can cost as much as , which is covered by the Australian Government. For serious emergencies,

medical evacuation Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

s were provided by the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

; currently this service is provided by Australian Retrieval Services. The island has one ambulance, staffed by one employed St John Officer and a group of

St John Ambulance Australia St John Ambulance Australia (also known as St John) (SJAA) is a charitable organisation, dedicated to helping people in sickness, distress, suffering or danger. It is part of an international organisation that consists of eight priories that f ...

volunteers. The lack of medical facilities available in most remote communities has a major impact on the health care of Norfolk Islanders. As is consistent with other extremely remote regions, many older residents find it impossible to remain on the island when their health falters, many leave their homes and live in New Zealand or Australia to get more complex medical care which they require towards the end of their lives.

Defence and law enforcement

Defence is the responsibility of the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

. There are no active military installations or defence personnel on Norfolk Island. The Administrator may request the assistance of the Australian Defence Force if required. Civilian law enforcement and community policing are provided by the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

. The normal deployment to the island is one

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

and two

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

s. These are augmented by five local Special Members who have police powers but are not AFP employees.

Courts

The

Norfolk Island Court of Petty Sessions The Norfolk Island Court of Petty Sessions was created by the Court of Petty Sessions Act 1960 (Norfolk Island), and is the equivalent of most Australian mainland Magistrates' Courts or Local Courts. Role The Chief Magistrate of Norfolk Islan ...

is the equivalent of a

Magistrates Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cou ...

and deals with minor criminal, civil or regulatory matters. The Chief Magistrate of Norfolk Island is usually the current Chief Magistrate of the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

. Three local

Justices of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

have the powers of a Magistrate to deal with minor matters. The

deals with more serious criminal offences, more complex civil matters, administration of deceased estates and federal laws as they apply to the Territory. The Judges of the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island are generally appointed from among Justices of the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

and may sit on the Australian mainland or convene a circuit court. Appeals are to the Federal Court of Australia. As stated by the Legal Profession Act 1993, "a resident practitioner must hold a Norfolk Island practising certificate." , only one lawyer maintained a full-time legal practice on Norfolk Island.

Census

Until 2016, Norfolk Island took its own censuses, separate from those taken by the

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

for the remainder of Australia.

Postal service

Prior to 2016, the Norfolk Island Postal Service was responsible for mail receipt and delivery on the island and issued its own postage stamps. With the merger of Norfolk Island as a regional council, the Norfolk Island Postal Service ceased to exist and all postage is now handled by

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...

. Australia Post sends and receives mail from Norfolk Island with the postcode 2899.

State-based services

From 1 January 2022 Queensland will provide state-based services directly for Norfolk Island. Previously New South Wales provided state-based services since July 2016.

Economy and infrastructure

Tourism, the primary economic activity, has steadily increased over the years. As Norfolk Island prohibits the importation of fresh fruit and vegetables, most produce is grown locally. Beef is both produced locally and imported. The island has one winery, Two Chimneys Wines. The Australian government controls the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and revenue from it extending around Norfolk Island equating to roughly , and territorial sea claims to from the island. There is a strong belief on the island that some of the revenue generated from Norfolk's EEZ should be available to provide services such as health and infrastructure on the island, which the island has been responsible for, similar to how the Northern Territory is able to access revenue from their mineral resources. The exclusive economic zone provides the Islanders with fish, its only major natural resource. Norfolk Island has no direct control over any marine areas but has an agreement with the Commonwealth through the

Australian Fisheries Management Authority The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is the Australian Government agency responsible for the management and sustainable use of fisheries resources including combating illegal fishing activities in the Australian Fishing Zone that c ...

(AFMA) to fish "recreationally" in a small section of the EEZ known locally as "the Box". While there is speculation that the zone may include oil and gas deposits, this is not proven. There are no major arable lands or permanent farmlands, though about 25 percent of the island is a permanent pasture. There is no irrigated land. The island uses the Australian dollar as its currency. In 2015 a company in Norfolk Island was granted a licence to export medicinal cannabis. The medicinal cannabis industry has been viewed by some as a means of reinvigorating the economy of Norfolk Island. The Commonwealth stepped in to overturn the decision, with the island's administrator, former Liberal MP Gary Hardgrave revoking the local licence to grow the crop. Legislation to allow the cultivation of cannabis in Australia for medical or scientific purposes passed Federal Parliament in February. The Victorian Government will be undertaking a small-scale, strictly controlled cannabis cultivation trial at a Victorian research facility.

Taxes

Formerly, residents of Norfolk Island did not pay Australian federal taxes, which created a

tax haven A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

for locals and visitors alike. There was no

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

so the island's legislative assembly raised money through an

import duty A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...

, fuel levy, medicare levy, goods and services tax of 12%, and local/international phone calls. The Chief Minister of Norfolk Island, David Buffett, announced on 6 November 2010 that the island would voluntarily surrender its tax-free status in return for a financial bailout from the federal government to cover significant debts. The introduction of income taxation came into effect on 1 July 2016. Prior to these reforms, residents of Norfolk Island were not entitled to social services. It appears that the reforms do extend to companies and trustees and not only individuals.

Communications

, telephone main lines are in use, a mix of analog () and digital () circuits. Satellite communications services are planned. The island has a locally based radio station ( Radio Norfolk), broadcasting on both AM and FM frequencies. There is also one television station, Norfolk TV, featuring local programming, plus transmitters for Australian channels

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, SBS,

Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...

(through

Imparja Television Imparja Television (IMP) is an independent Australian television station servicing over , across six states and territories: Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It is based in Alice Spring ...

) and

Seven 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...

. The Internet

country code Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes (geocodes) developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The term '' ...

top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...

(

ccTLD A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all t ...

) is

.nf .nf is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sover ...

. A small

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as ...

(2G) mobile network operates on the island across 3 towers, however no data transmission is available on this network. An 8-tower 4G/LTE 1800 MHz network was installed in November 2018, improving data service significantly on the island.

Transport

There are no railways, waterways, ports or harbours on the island. Loading

are located at Kingston and Cascade, but ships cannot get close to either of them. When a supply ship arrives, it is emptied by whaleboats towed by launches, five tonnes at a time. A mobile crane picks up the freight using nets and straps and lifts the freight onto the pier. Which jetty is used depends on the prevailing weather of the day; the jetty on the leeward side of the island is often used. If the wind changes significantly during unloading/loading, the ship will move around to the other side. Visitors often gather to watch the activity when a supply ship arrives. Norfolk Forwarding Services is the primary Freight Forwarding service for Norfolk Island handling both sea and airfreight. In 2017 Norfolk Forwarding Services shipped most of the freight for the Cascade Pier Project over a period of 18 months. The island hosts of roads, of which are paved and unpaved. As with the rest of Australia, driving is on the left side of the road. Uniquely, local law gives livestock right of way. Speed limits are lower than most mainland Australian roads; the general speed limit is , reducing to in town and near schools. Drivers on the island wave to other passing vehicles, this tradition is nicknamed the "Norfolk wave". There is one airport,

Norfolk Island Airport Norfolk Island Airport , also referred to as Norfolk Island International Airport, is the only airport on Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia. The island is located in the Pacific Ocean between Australia, New Zealand, and New Ca ...

. It was formerly serviced by a local airline, Norfolk Island Airlines, which connected Norfolk Island with Brisbane. As of March 2018, there are no direct flights from New Zealand to Norfolk Island, leaving only services via

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. In mid 2018,

Air Chathams Air Chathams Limited is an airline based in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. It was established in 1984 and operates scheduled passenger services between the Chatham Islands and mainland New Zealand along with routes between Auckland a ...

announced it was looking to re-establish flights between Auckland and Norfolk Island and in August 2019 announced a weekly service between Auckland and Norfolk Island would begin on 6 September using a

Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

. Following Jacinda Ardern's announcement of the opening of the Trans-Tasman bubble, Air Chathams announced a return to service effective from 27 May 2021, this service to Auckland, operates on Thursdays using a 36-seater

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

aircraft.

Sport

* Norfolk Island at the Commonwealth Games * Norfolk Island at the Pacific Games -

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

* Norfolk Island at the Pacific Mini Games * Athletics Norfolk Island * Norfolk Island national rugby league team *

Norfolk Island national cricket team Cricket is recorded as having been played on Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia, as early as 1838, by soldiers stationed on the island. It continued to be played after the island was settled in 1856 by Pitcairn Islanders, descended ...

* Norfolk Island national netball team

Regional teams

Teams that Norfolk Island players qualify for: * Pacific Oceania Davis Cup team *

Pacific Oceania Fed Cup team The Pacific Oceania Fed Cup team represents the island nations of Oceania in Fed Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Oceania Tennis Federation. In 2015 they took part in Fed Cup competition for the first time in ten years. Current tea ...

References

Citations

Sources

* *

Andrew Kippis Andrew Kippis (28 March 17258 October 1795) was an English nonconformist clergyman and biographer. Life The son of Robert Kippis, a silk-hosier, he was born at Nottingham. Having gone to Carre's Grammar School in Sleaford, Lincolnshire he pass ...

, ''The Life and Voyages of Captain James Cook'', Westminster 1788, Reprint London and New York 1904, pp. 246 ff * Nobbs, Raymond, ''Norfolk Island and its Third Settlement: The First Hundred Years 1856–1956'' Sydney, Library of Australian History, 2006. ; History of penal settlements * Causer, Ti
'"The Worst Types of Sub-Human Beings": the Myth and Reality of the Convicts of the Norfolk Island Penal Settlement
1825–1855', ''Islands of History'', Sydney, 2011, pp. 8–31. (). * Causer, Ti
'Norfolk Island's "Suicide Lotteries": Myth and Reality'
''Islands of History'', Sydney, 2011, pp. 61–68. (). * Clark, Manning, ''A History of Australia'', Vols. I–III,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Melbourne University Press Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne. History MUP was founded in 1922 as Melbourne University Press to sell text books and stationery to students, and soon began publishing books itself. ...

, 1962, 1968, 1973. * Clarke, Marcus, ''For the Term of his Natural Life'' (novel). * Hazzard, Margaret, ''Punishment Short of Death: a history of the penal settlement at Norfolk Island'', Melbourne, Hyland, 1984. (). * Murray-Brown, David, ''Norfolk Island Cancellations and Postal Markings.'' London: Pacific Islands Study Circle, 3rd edition, 2012, 978-1-899833-20-7, 130pp; http://www.pisc.org.uk * Hughes, Robert, ''

The Fatal Shore ''The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding'' by Robert Hughes is a history of the early years of British colonisation of Australia, and especially the history and social effects of Britain's convict transportation system. It also ad ...

'', London, Pan, 1988. (). * Wright, R., ''The Forgotten Generation of Norfolk Island and Van Diemen's Land'', Sydney, Library of Australian History, 1986.

External links

Government
Official government website

Australian Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development
General information
Norfolk Island
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The World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...

''.

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. * * Archaeology and Polynesian settlement in prehistory * * * Others
''Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Inquiry into Governance on Norfolk Island''
Commonwealth Parliament, Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories, 2003

1879 account by Joseph Campbell *
Anglican history on Norfolk Island
Primary texts and photographs {{Coord, 29, 02, S, 167, 57, E, type:isle_region:NF_dim:10000, display=title * Island countries 1856 establishments in the United Kingdom 1914 establishments in Australia Australian penal colonies Defunct prisons in Australia Extinct volcanoes Former penal colonies Geography of Polynesia Important Bird Areas of Australian External Territories Islands of the Pacific Ocean Pliocene Oceania Pliocene volcanoes Polygenetic volcanoes Prison museums in Australia States and territories established in 1856 States and territories of Australia Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Volcanoes of Australia Volcanoes of the Pacific Ocean Volcanoes of Zealandia Whaling stations in Australia Important Bird Areas of Oceania IBRA subregions