NORFOLK ISLAND –The executive director of Australia’s administration on Norfolk Island is disputing claims of widespread job losses in the island’s government.

Norfolk Island is counting down to July 1 when its formerly limited self government is replaced by regional council status under the aegis of New South Wales.

It is a move that has angered many on the island - there is an ongoing sit-in at the island’s now disused legislative assembly, an appeal has been made to the United Nations to be listed as a non-self-governing territory, and there are reports dozens of people are being laid off.

But Peter Gesling told Radio New Zealand’s Dateline Pacific that is not the case.

“There’s been no information to people that people are going to lose their jobs, certainly, the jobs are changing from one organisation to a new organisation that has a more local set of activities and quite rightly, some jobs do not exist in the new organisation and people have been told that jobs are changing and we are working through a process of offering people the opportunity of applying for jobs in the new organisation.

“I don’t have the full data to back that at this stage but at this stage there looks to be more jobs than there are currently people. So that’s why jobs are being placed on the open market in Norfork Island. The skills exist on the island. We’re seeking local people to fill them.”

DATELINE PACIFIC: But you have already brought some people in from the mainland, haven’t you?

“There are temporary people here, as I am, undertaking a particular role and there are applications being assessed at the present time for executive mangement positions in the new organisation and they have been advertised in Australia generally and on island here.

I emphasise that there are people on the island who have applied and they are in the same assessment process.”

DATELINE PACIFIC: One of the organisations I know where people have gone from is from Radio Norfolk. How do you explain that?

“The only people who have gone from Radio Norfolk were people who were on contracts and that happens in the public sector, you look at what the skills set you need and the resources you need to provide your future service and it’s been in that process either contracts are not being renewed, in most cases regarding that one, and we are looking at the future way that, that service will be offered.”

DATELINE PACIFIC: So how many other contractors have been let go?

“There are many contracts in the current administration and some of those contracts will be paid out, some of them will apply for other jobs. We’re following through what we are required to do under people’s individual employment conditions.

DATELINE PACIFIC: So how many people roughly would be on contracts and are not going have those contracts rolled over?

“Well I can’t tell you the number. Again those people are still eligible to apply for positions that are going to become available.

DATELINE PACIFIC: There’s clearly a growing gulf between two sides on the island. The administration doesn’t appear to be making a great deal to try and bridge that. Why is that?

“ I don’t know that I can comment further on that. We’re doing what we can to work with the community, provide information to the community about the transition between the previous organisation and the future organisation that has less functions and quite frankly within a budget framework that we need to manage.

“We’re no different from any other public sector organisation that is paid for by the community that needs to be sustainable in the longer term so it’s that balance that we’re trying to achieve there. But we are out there, we have engaged other resources to provide information to the community and we’re continuing to respond to that information as best we can.

DATELINE PACIFIC: The Chamber of Commerce last week called for the administration to delay this process by a year because a whole lot more work, they claim, needs to be done before anything is put in place ahead of July 1.

“I haven’t had anything from the Chamber of Commerce in the last week and I don’t have control over that time frame. The Australian parliament’s made a decision about when these things will happen and they’ve got to work to that time frame.” - RNZI