Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will urge his Australian counterparts, on the grounds of the right to democratic self determination, to return Norfolk Island to its previous system of self-government.

Governance of Norfolk Island is a matter for Australia, in consultation with Norfolk Islanders. I am confident that Australia’s respect for democratic self-determination is undimmed: before introducing recent reforms, it ran a full consultation process, which included a number of public hearings with Islanders, and have committed to retaining a local regional council with responsibility for local services and with powers to legislate on local issues.