A petition touted by Norfolk Island's politicians as showing strong opposition to Australian reforms on the island has been called deeply flawed.
Norfolk Island Photo: AFP
Canberra has passed legislation stripping Norfolk of state and federal rights but it gets access to all mainland government services.
Earlier this month the Norfolk Legislative Assembly ran a referendum asking Canberra to give the island a say in the changes to its governance and got resounding support.
But the Australian administrator on Norfolk, Gary Hardgrave, is scathingly critical of the method used and the manner in which the island's politicians went about the process.
"It was in fact questionable from the beginning and I think it was just seen as the latest in a series of tactics to delay the inevitable - an inevitable that the Legislative Assembly themselves wanted but yet when the decision was taken by the Australian Parliament they complained about."
The Australian administrator on Norfolk, Gary Hardgrave.
