Official Visit to Isle of Man and London

Over the next few weeks I will share with you some of the highlights of my recent official visit to the Isle of Man and to London. Whilst my travel to London was funded by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (the CPA) through our annual subscription paid to the international body of the CPA, my trip to the Isle of Man from the UK was self funded; and I record my thanks to the Isle of Man Parliament (better known as Tynwald Court) for inviting me to visit as their official guest from 2 to 7 July. The main purpose of my visit to the Isle of Man was to sign a Cultural Agreement between our respective Island Parliaments in which we acknowledge, amongst other things, the strand of the early history of Norfolk Island’s settlement through our respective associations with Fletcher Christian and Captain Bligh and the subsequent settlement of Pitcairn Island following the mutiny on board HMS Bounty in 1789.

Discussion on the Cultural Agreement began in 2007 with the visit to the Isle of Man by the then Chief Minister of the 12th Assembly, the Hon Andre Nobbs MLA. During Minister Nobbs’ visit lasting friendships were forged with their Chief Minister the Hon Tony Brown MHK and with the then President of the Legislative Council the Hon. Noel Cringle OBE. It was through those friendships that the concept of a Cultural Agreement was agreed and in April this year, the terms of the Agreement were finally settled, and an invitation extended to me, as your Speaker, to visit Man to sign this historic document, a document which agreed the following:

1. The Tynwald Court on the Isle of Man and the Legislative Assembly of Norfolk Island will promote closer links in developing cultural activity;

2. The established link between our two Islands via The Bounty should be recognised on both Islands on each National Day, ie Anniversary (Bounty) Day on the 8^th of June and Tynwald Day on the 5^th of July;

3. Encouragement should be given to the exchange of music and dance via each local radio station and video recordings;

4. Educational establishments should be encouraged to exchange ideas, ultimately with a view to an exchange student scheme

5. As each step is progressed then recognition should be marked in the Hansard of both Parliaments

It was an honour and a great privilege for me as your Speaker to represent Norfolk at the official proceedings on Tynwald Day this year and on our Island’s behalf to sign the Cultural Agreement at the Tynwald Day Banquet and at the conclusion of the signing to be invited to say a few words - a very moving experience. Other official overseas guests of Tynwald came from Belgium, France, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Eire, Northern Island, Norway, Scotland, Wales, the United Kingdom and the United States of America; the American contingent being the NASA astronauts who crewed the historic final mission of the space shuttle Discovery earlier this year. To hear them speak about their work as astronauts was truly inspiring.

I will share with you some facts about their ancient Parliament - Tynwald Court. The Isle of Man is a self-governing Crown dependency. It has its own parliament, administrative system and laws but pays Britain to take responsibility for international affairs and defence. It is the oldest parliament in continuous existence in the world and in 1979, when Norfolk Island commenced its journey back to internal self-government; Tynwald celebrated the millennium of its parliament – 1000 years.

Their parliament comprises 24 members with a popularly elected lower house known as the House of Keys and an upper house, the Legislative Council. Both Houses come together each month as Tynwald Court to discuss legislation, Government administration and funding. On 5 July each year there is an open-air Assembly in St John’s on Tynwald Hill where new laws passed in the previous year are proclaimed in English and Manx and promulgated into law. This is their National Day – Tynwald Day.

The Manx people cherish their ancient rights and are a very proud people, a fact that for me was so evident when they sang the Manx National anthem. Their motto in Latin which appears with the official Three Legs of Man emblem on their national flag and on their Crest translates to “It will stand wheresoever you throw it” and accurately reflects their resilience “not to ever give up”. That is evidenced by the fact that never before in history has the Isle of Man been more prosperous or independent than they are today.

Promulgation of Manx laws on Tynwald Hill

The Isle of Man Crest

The Isle of Man has become a major player in space commerce and their Government has attracted firms to its shores due to the zero per cent corporate tax, government grants, the Island's political stability, commercially friendly legislation and its state of the art telecommunications infrastructure.

The benefits of our new association are already bearing fruit with an offer from the Hon Alex Downie OBE, Minister in the Isle of Man Government with responsibility for Economic Development who has offered us the opportunity to be linked with the Isle of Man in their recently opened “Genealogy Museum”; we will also explore how our respective Youth Assemblies can be linked.

To be continued next week …..

Issued from the Office of the Speaker on 10 August