Norfolk Islands finds a champion in Pauline Hanson

Transcript

PAULINE HANSON: No this island and the people here have actually sustained themselves for a long time now, over a hundred years. They have built this infrastructure themselves, not the Australian government; they have a tourism industry here. They've gone through a hard time with the GFC (global financial crisis) like many other countries around the world, including Australia. And saying that just over four million dollars in debt is not being able to sustain themselves when Australia has over a 400-billion debt, so I don't think Australia should be pointing the finger at Norfolk Island. My concern is what Australia has done. They didn't consult with the people. They never listened to them. There was not a vote taken on it. And since they have had a vote... and the majority of the voters here are saying no, we are not happy with what's happened. The people of Norfolk island, they love Australia, there are no problems with that whatsoever. But they don't want to lose their own self-determination and they don't want to be taken over and controlled by Australia. I can understand that.

DON WISEMAN: You've spoken very strongly about the government-appointed administrator on the island, you want him recalled. But what else do you want Canberra to do, or what can Canberra do now?

PH: I think Canberra needs to actually come down, come over here and speak to the people themselves, not the few chosen at the behest of the administrator here. He has not done his job and I think there's a lot of problems here on the island. And what I'm hearing is he is arrogant, bombastic, he's actually a dictator and he's not helping matters at all. And the people are just being ignored. They've sent petitions, they have sent letters to the prime minister, to the governor-general. Australia has already said sorry to one group of people, and we don't need, and shouldn't have to say sorry to another group of people if we destroy their culture and their way of life.

DW: What chances do you think you've got of swaying the Australian government? Because as well as the liberal government making these changes, there's still a lot of support for what they've done from Labour.

PH: The locals tell me that when they were actually sitting in the gallery when this was passed by the parliament, there was no opposition, there was no talk, it was just basically agreed upon by the major political parties. There was only about five or six people in the chamber at the time when this was passed. And the impact that it had on them, I don't believe that senators knew what was going on. Now I've encouraged them to have other senators come over here to speak to the people and know what's happening. We can't just railroad and say this is what's going to happen. There has to be consultation. You have to have the right administrator in here that is going to work with not only Canberra but also work with then people as well. And they have a right to their own self-determination. They've done it all these years and I believe they should have the right to continue to do it.