Federal Assistance Provided to Norfolk Island
Notwithstanding the long-standing agreement that Norfolk Island should be exempt from federal taxation and be largely financially self-sufficient, Norfolk Island does receive assistance and funding from the Federal Government.
- Assistance provided through the Administrator's Office
- Funding by federal agencies operating on Norfolk Island
- Assistance provided under national grant programs
- Assistance provided as part of the Federal Government's responsibilities to the Australian community
- Federal assistance provided previously
- Aid provided by Australia to the Pacific States
Assistance provided through the Administrator's Office
The Administrator's Office on Norfolk Island acts as a point of contact for Norfolk Ministers, officials and residents dealing with or seeking information from Federal Government agencies. Most days see office staff speaking to officials in Canberra and elsewhere, seeking information, advice or inquiring about possible assistance on behalf of the Norfolk Island Government Administration, officials or residents. The topics can range from intergovernmental matters, such as loans or grants from the Federal Government, through to helping a resident with a pension or social security matter.
Funding by federal agencies operating on Norfolk Island
- An annual Federal Government contribution to Norfolk Island provided through the annual budget allocations for those Federal Government agencies that operate on Norfolk Island.
These contributions amount to between $3 and $4 million per year (eg funding for the Bureau of Meteorology, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Environment Australia and the Australian Attorney-General's Department).
- Funding is provided by the Federal Government for federal capital works projects on Norfolk Island.
Current examples of such projects include the construction of a new weather station on Norfolk Island by the Bureau of Meteorology ($2.2M) and the proposed road works by Environment Australia to restore the collapsed Mt Pitt Road and repair the Duncombe Bay Road - both popular tourist routes on-island (approximately $3M).
- An annual Federal Government financial contribution to the maintenance and conservation of the Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area (KAVHA). This is approximately $500,000 each year.
In total, the Federal Government has invested over $10,000,000 in KAVHA. This amount does not include funding provided to Norfolk Island under grant programs (such as the Australian Bicentennial Programs) or under special funding arrangements. The Federal Government takes no revenue and receives no financial return from KAVHA.
View KAVHA for further information on KAVHA and the Federal and Norfolk Island Government's investment in this historic area.
All the above have spin-offs for the Island's economy and employment through the use of Norfolk Island employees, contractors or service providers and reliance on local businesses and enterprises.
Assistance provided under national grant programs
As Norfolk Island is an Australian Territory, the Norfolk Island Government and community are eligible to apply for funding under various national grant programs. Examples include:
- the Regional Solutions Program (which provides grants between $5,000 - $500,000 to assist regional and remote communities build their capacity)
- the Regional Assistance Program (which is aimed at encouraging local community action to boost business growth and create sustainable jobs)
- the Regional Tourism Grants Program, and
- Agriculture and Farm Innovation Programs.
For details of these and other Federal Government Programs see GrantsLINK.
Examples of Federal Government grants that the Norfolk Island Government has successfully applied for in recent times include:
- An $80,000 grant under the Federal Government's Remote and Isolated Communities Fund to help the Norfolk Island Government develop and conduct telecommunications related tenders.
- A $250,000 grant under the Coast and Clean Seas component of the Natural Heritage Trust to assist the Norfolk Island Government implement an Island-wide waste management strategy.
- A $15,000 grant from AFMA for research into the Norfolk Island Inshore Fishery.
- A $774,000 grant from the Federal Government's Networking the Nation program to fund the replacement of the Island’s telecommunications billing system, the establishment of an optic fibre backbone and a wide internet network and an upgrade of the customer access network.
This follows the $750,000 Networking the Nation grant provided to fund the construction of a new satellite station on Norfolk Island. An additional $56,000 Networking the Nation grant was provided to fund a tele-health pilot project for Norfolk Island.
- The Australian Bicentennial Authority grants for the establishment of a visitor information centre in Kingston, the establishment of Norfolk Island’s four museums including a display of material from HMS Sirius and the creation of walking paths, sign posting and landscaping in the historic Kingston area.
- Grants under Environment Australia’s Historic Shipwrecks Program to assist the Norfolk Island Museum undertake surveys of the Sirius wreck off Kingston.
- Funding for a Report to the Norfolk Island Government on the Impact of Climate Change on Norfolk Island and possible remedial measures.
- Funding in 2002 from the Australian Greenhouse Office under the Federal Government's National Renewable Energy Demonstration Program to conduct a feasibility study on the use of renewable energy such as solar, wind and tidal generated power.
Assistance provided as part of the Federal Government's responsibilities to the Australian community
As with other Australian State or Territory Governments the Norfolk Island Government is eligible to apply to the Federal Government for specific purpose loans or grants to fund infrastructure related and other developments on Norfolk Island.
In 1998, for example, the Federal Government provided Norfolk Island with a $3 million interest-free loan to carry out the Cascade Cliff Safety Project (which was designed to stabilise a dangerous cliff face overlooking one of the Island's two piers). The Federal Government recently announced a $5.8 million federal interest-free loan to fund the upgrade of Norfolk Island’s only airport.
Other federal assistance is provided directly to the Norfolk Island Government or community as part of the Federal Government's ongoing programs for the Australian community. Examples include:
- Assistance and funding by the Australian Attorney-General’s Department (eg provision of funding and personnel in the development of Territory land planning and heritage laws, funding for legal aid, civil aviation and air safety regulatory services).
- Assistance and funding by the Department of Veterans Affairs for aged care on Norfolk Island (eg payment of pensions and benefits to veterans residing on Norfolk Island, studies for on-Island aged care, seeding funding for provision of specialist health services to veterans and the wider community).
- Assistance by Australian federal immigration, customs and quarantine officials to their Norfolk Island counterparts.
- Provision by the Australian Federal Police of personnel, funding and other assistance to the Norfolk Island Police Service.
- Assistance by the Department of Defence and Emergency Management Australia (eg through Norfolk Island’s participation in the Federal Government’s National Disaster and Emergency Management and Recovery Arrangements, emergency management planning studies and seminars, on-Island emergency medical evacuations of residents by the Royal Australian Air Force).
- Advice and assistance by the Federal Departments of Treasury and Finance to Norfolk Island officials as part of the Norfolk Island Government’s budget reviews.
- Norfolk Island’s inclusion in the Federal Government's medical indemnity insurance guarantee. The guarantee was a national response to the crisis in the medical indemnity insurance market and underpins policies issued by medical indemnity providers to doctors and medical specialists, including those on Norfolk Island.
There is also the continuing federal assistance available to those Norfolk Islanders who move to the Australian mainland for reasons associated with work, education, health, etc and who are entitled to apply for Federal Government social security, health and other benefits (eg Medicare, Austudy).
Federal Assistance provided previously
The above follows on from assistance provided since self-government. Noteworthy examples are:
- The upgrading of the Norfolk Island Airport to medium jet standard in 1981. The upgrade cost the Federal Government $7,400,000 and saw the construction of two new and longer sealed runways, improved landing aids, pavement strengthening and the enlargement of terminal buildings. The decision to upgrade the Airport was taken at a time when the number of tourists visiting Norfolk Island, and the Norfolk Island Government's revenues, had slumped markedly. The airport upgrade provided a capital stimulus for the Island's economy and provided work for Island contractors and labour. It also helped lay the foundation for the significant growth in tourist numbers during the 1990s (eg through the use of jet aircraft which allowed shorter flying times and doubled seat capacity).
- The transfer of the Airport to the Norfolk Island Government in 1991 provided the Norfolk Island Government with a significant revenue stream (ie through the collection of landing charges).
The Federal Government upgraded the facilities at the Airport again prior to its transfer. A federal grant of $2,500,000 was also provided in 1991 to the Norfolk Island Government to meet costs associated with the next reseal of the runway. The Federal Government also agreed not to recover the $2.5 million by imposing charges on the airline industry and thereby avoided any adverse impact on tourism and the Norfolk Island economy.
Prior to the Airport's transfer, the Federal Government also funded feasibility studies that confirmed that the Norfolk Island Government's funding and operation of the Airport would be economically viable and self supporting. - In 1984 the Federal Government agreed to a Norfolk Island Government request to provide a grant of up to $2,000,000 to help establish a reticulated water and sewerage system (a project to improve community public health and assist the tourist trade). This was on the basis that the Norfolk Island Government made an equivalent contribution. The Norfolk Island Government was operating surplus budgets at that time. The new system sought to ensure the safe disposal of sewerage from highly populated areas of the Island and thereby reduce concerns over possible contamination of the Island's underground water supply.
- In 1990 the Federal Government provided a further $100,000 grant in response to a Norfolk Island Government request for federal assistance in the extension of the reticulated water and sewerage system to the Norfolk Island Central School.
- A $60,000 federal grant in 1990 from the National Rainforest Conservation Program for the protection of stands of remnant rainforest in the Mission Road area of Norfolk Island.
- The Federal Government provided $384,000 and departmental advice and assistance in 1996-1997 to assist the development and introduction by the Norfolk Island Government of a comprehensive planning and land use and management regime for Norfolk Island.
Prior to Norfolk Island's self-government in 1979, the Federal Government provided annual grants to the Island (as well as special grants and capital loans). The annual federal grants constituted 40 per cent of Norfolk Island total public revenue in 1960, falling to 6.3 per cent in 1979 as the Island economy and public sector finances improved with the considerable growth in tourism on Norfolk Island.
For further information on the above see ML Treadgold ‘Bounteous bestowal. The economic history of Norfolk Island’ Pacific Research Monograph, National Centre for Development Studies, Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU, 1988.
Aid provided by Australia to the Pacific States
There are occasional attempts to compare the assistance provided by the Federal Government to Norfolk Island with that provided by the Federal Government to countries in the Pacific.
It is difficult if not impossible to compare the federal assistance and funds provided to Norfolk Island with the aid provided by the Federal Government to Pacific Island States. Different historical, social, political and economic circumstances exist. Australia's foreign aid programs in the Pacific are directed primarily at poverty alleviation and at countries and communities that do not enjoy the same economic and social benefits and support systems as Norfolk Island. Reports have for example noted that the Norfolk Island community enjoys:
- a gross per capita income 70 per cent higher than mainland Australia;
- an average per capita profit that its 142 per cent higher than mainland Australia; and
- an average per capita wage that is five per cent higher than mainland Australia.
Source: Commonwealth Grants Commission Report on Norfolk Island 1997 AGPS Canberra 1997 note 34 at page 39. See also Bronwyn Paddick Review of Immigration System of Norfolk Island Volume 1. Report prepared for the Government of Norfolk Island. 2000, page 32.