22 Feb 2022

Norfolk lawyer chasing a seat in Aust federal parliament

5:18 am on 22 February 2022

A Norfolk Island lawyer standing in this year's federal elections in Australia hopes to make people aware of the plight of the island and Canberra's mismanagement of it.

The federal government took over running the island six years ago and there is continuing ill feeling over the removal of Norfolk's autonomy.

The Australian Parliament House, Canberra.

Photo: Long Zheng/ CC BY-SA 2.0

John Brown is standing as an independent in the local seat, which is Bean, 1800 kilometres distant, in the Canberra suburbs.

He said he wants to show people what the federal government has been up to on Norfolk.

John Brown said when Canberra decided to remove Norfolk Islands's autonomy there were just ten MPs in the House.

"Through my campaign and, if I am elected, through my membership, but certainly through the campaign, I will be able to bring Norfolk Island's plight to the attention of a lot of people," he said.

"If I am successful I will be able to ensure that every parliamentarian in the Australian parliament knows a lot more about Norfolk Island than they know now."