KINGSTON – The Australian government has put clamps on the Norfolk Island community radio station, directing it to avoid broadcasting political interviews.

Canberra is involved in a battle with many of the 1800 islanders after it removed their limited autonomy last year.

The Commonwealth parliament voted last year to reduce the island’s government to that of a regional council under the auspices of New South Wales.

Some have embraced the year-long transition but the opposition, led by many of the island’s deposed politicians, has a lot of support.

It wants to take the matter to the UN and have the island inscribed on the list of non-self governing territories, which already includes New Caledonia, Pitcairn, French Polynesia, Tokelau and others.

The Norfolk Island People for Democracy group is campaigning for Australia to change its mind and is upset at the broadcasting limits.

But the executive director for the administration, Peter Gesling, says the ban is not a curb on free speech. He says Radio Norfolk is a government radio station and he is merely applying the Norfolk Island Broadcasting Act.

“The requirement is that there be a balance in approach and specific political views are not to aired on the radio and all I did was advise the manager of the radio station and the staff of the radio station of their responsibility under the Act and the broadcasting guidelines.”

But Norfolk Island People for Democracy say it’s being censored for telling the truth about Australia’s reforms.

One member and the island’s last chief minister, Lisle Snell, says part of their aim has been to question the validity of the Australian reform process.

“We feel that the process hasn’t been done in a consultative manner. A lot of the consultaton reports are false.

“The people of Norfolk Island, and indeed the people of Australia, have been given falsehoods, they have been told incorrrect information and they have been misled.

“And we have brought those to the attention of the media, and we have been censored for it.”

Tim Sheridan, who was broadcasting minister in the island’s last government before its autonomy was removed by Canberra, says this action is childish and adding to the tension on Norfolk.

“The decision they have taken to stifle this group’s freedom of speech on the local radio – which is a community radio –so the whole community should be able to put on air what they wish.

“It’s creating tension on the island and its dividing the community, and it’s an unfortunate situation that we find ourselves in.”

The media clamp came just ahead of the first visit to Norfolk of the new Australian local government and territories minister Paul Fletcher, who has replaced the disgraced Jamie Briggs.

But Snell says Fletcher was only on the island for a day and people had little opportunity to put their concerns.

He says the minister made clear Canberra had no intention of changing anything.

“Regardless to what had been said to him in the one hour and 45 minutes that he allowed us to question him and to give accounts and our views on what is transpiring here on the island, his final words were, ‘no matter what we said the course of the Australian government in the reform process will go ahead’.”

While Gesling says the Australian government is consulting widely, Sheridan says there is little information on what changes will be made on July and this is adding to the frustration and tension on Norfolk.

The painting of the workd ‘MUTINY’ on a wall in the historic Kingston area has caused division on the island.

Facebook commenter Cherie Nobbs wrote: “ There are some who view this as sheer vandalism but I guess I am looking at things a little differently.

“To me this is a sign of frustration, anger, sadness, loss and grief. When someone is in the process of losing everything that matters to them, they can react in many ways.

“ If they feel they aren’t being heard, this is a way to draw attention to their hurt and pain.

“I am not condoning vandalism of any kind, but if you look beyond the actual deed you can see this person believes things have reached a point where they are desperate to be heard.

“This is not a tag – this is a ‘call to arms’ to those who feel the same, not to do something similar of course but maybe to remind those who wish to destroy our homeland and destroy our way of life what we are capable of.”

- RNZI/PNC