An Uneasy Relationship

The situation of Norfolk Island, as a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, is one of the historical anomalies in governance, which has persisted since 1914. It reflects the direct historical linkages
between the British Crown and those Norfolk Islanders who were descendants of Pitcairn Islanders of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. Yet, once Federation was in the wind, the British Government, against the expressed wishes of the Norfolk Island community, sought to divest itself of all responsibility for Norfolk
Island. There is a curiously ‘Yes Minister’ quality about the negotiations which lead to the final take-over by Australia, and the appointment of the first Commonwealth Administrator of Norfolk Island. The direct involvement of Atlee Hunt, then Secretary of the Department of External Affairs, eventually ensured the appointment of Michael Vincent Murphy. In order to achieve this end, Hunt had to fend off other applicants who were busy ingratiating themselves with the Minister for External Affairs Patrick McMahon Glynn and the then Prime Minister Joseph Cook. This is essentially a study of the relationships between governors, politicians, public servants and community leaders during the years which followed the take-over of Norfolk Island, and of the struggle of one Norfolk Islander, Charles Chase Ray Nobbs, against
Australian administrative authority.

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About the Author After undergraduate studies in Australia, Maev O’Collins completed a Doctorate of Social Welfare at Columbia University, New York. From 1972 to 1989 she taught at the University of Papua New Guinea and was appointed Professor of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology in 1979. She received an MBE in the Papua New Guinea Honours List in 1987 and was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus by the University Council in 1989. Her monograph Social Development in Papua New Guinea: 1972–1990 was published in 1993 by the Department of Political and Social Change, The Australian National University. Since then she has combined a continuing interest in social development issues with research into the political career of her maternal grandfather, Patrick McMahon Glynn. Now living in Canberra, she is a Visiting Fellow with the Department of Politicaland Social Change, The Australian National University, and an Adjunct Professorat the Australian Catholic University Signadou Campus.