I am very pleased to be back at work after several weeks away due to illness. I am busy catching up on activities at the site, and am very grateful to the Council's Team Leader KAVHA, Mike Johnston, and the KAVHA Works Team for keeping things moving along in my absence.

On 10 February 2021, the Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories (Minister) announced a Public Inquiry into the Norfolk Island Regional Council (NIRC). The Minister has appointed Ms Carolyn McNally as the commissioner to hold the Inquiry.

The Inquiry will inquire into whether, since 2016:

The department engaged a consultancy to establish economic baselines and develop a modelling tool to monitor the Norfolk Island economy now and into the future. The consultancy engaged directly with the department and the Administrator of Norfolk Island, who convened an on-Island working group, to identify and gather suitable data to inform the project. The tool allows the department to input, extract and publish economic data for Norfolk Island in a manner that is interactive and freely available to the local community and other stakeholders.