CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
The proud external territory of Norfolk Island is today facing an uncertain future, after US President Donald Trump hits them with a tariff that is nearly triple what Australia has received.
At the 2021 census, the island had 2,188 inhabitants living on a total land area of about 35 square kilometres, they are famous for the native evergreen Norfolk Pine tree – which obviously appears on their flag.
Located approximately 1,412 km east of the New South Wales and Queensland border, Norfolk Island is one of those historically self-sufficient remote communities within the Pacific that is predominantly sustained by tourism.
However, they do also boast a local winery and a licence to export medicinal cannabis, mostly to Australia.
But it’s the local amateur bakers like Deb who will be feeling the pinch of Trump’s tariffs. The entire Island’s economy is now in a state of shock, as one of the world’s largest buyer of Deb’s carrot cakes are now placing sanctions of the delicious baked goods.
Given they have not really made international news since their heyday as a British penal colony, it is not clear how they even showed up as an external territory on the White House map.
As the rest of Australia was dealt a 10 per cent tariff from Donald Trump this morning, Norfolk Island received 29 per cent.
The White House has offered offered no explanation for the disparity between Australian and the Australian external territor.y
Given the fact that Norfolk Island doesn’t really even have a port, and instead receives all supplies from the Australian mainland via a barge that pulls up on the reef and has all freight ferried back and forth with dinghys, it is clear that this tariff is definitely not ‘reciprocal’ – despite what The White House may claim.
While Prime Minister Albanese has been clear about not joining America ‘in a race to the bottom’ by escalating the trade war with the US – the Norfolk Islanders have refused to rule out a fiery retaliation.
It is believed that America could very well face global ramifications for their treatment of the Pine Tree People, and will rue the day they ever thought they could get away with disrespecting them like this.
