The pattern of land ownership is pivotal to the protection of cultural and scenic amenity and to the prospect of transitioning the Island to sustainability.
Immigration
With the abolition by the Australian Government of restrictions on immigration from July 2016, there is no legal or policy barrier to purchase of property on the Island by immigrants from Australia having no cultural connection. Since 2016 with the influx of new land owners and residents that are not of Island heritage, the Island way of life is quickly disappearing. Homes are being purchased by folk that do not understand Norfolk Island culture or the lifestyle that has kept Norfolk Island functioning since 1856.
If a growing number of Australians fleeing conditions in the east coast capital cities – bushfires, climate change, crime, traffic congestion – purchase property on Norfolk, prices of real estate are likely to rise beyond the capacity of Islanders to compete. In future, the young of Norfolk Island embedded in the Island economy will not be able to compete with cashed up retirees who are now coming to this Island because of its uniqueness and who are not wholly contributing to the economy. Some retirees use Norfolk as a holiday destination part-time.
The majority of new arrivals do not include young families and these are the people who contribute most to sports activities in the community.
A surge in immigration would weaken the community ethos and make preservation of the unique culture more difficult.
Land ownership and subdivision
The amenity of the Island depends heavily on large lot sizes and proximity of farming and grazing to the urban areas. If the numbers of immigrants rise, demand for small house lots will rise and the incentive for present landowners to apply to subdivide their land will increase, with serious consequences for landscape amenity, farming potential and lifestyle.
There are many portions which are uneconomical to farm because of steep slopes (cannot use machinery) or highly leached soils. Islanders are concerned that newly introduced land rates will place pressure on landowners to eke out some return from said land to pay the rates. Land rates may cause landowners to want to subdivide agricultural land and sell inherited land that has been in families since the Pitcairn people were brought to Norfolk Island with the understanding that Norfolk Island was theirs to govern as it was on Pitcairn Island.
Other islands around the world such as Hawaii have also suffered loss of culture and inheritance under the pressures of immigration and land subdivision.
There is no current policy solution in sight for the risks that unrestricted immigration presents to the Island.
This page does not necessarily represent the policy of the Norfolk Island Knowledge and Learning Centre. It has been compiled by Geoff Edwards on the basis of views widely held by descendants of the Pitcairn settlers.