Norfolk Island chief saved from political gallows as Kristy McBain focuses on feeding his flock

Norfolk Island administrator Eric Hutchinson has been saved from the political gallows by the new Labor government.

Norfolk Island administrator Eric Hutchinson. Picture: Richard Jupe

Norfolk Island administrator Eric Hutchinson has been saved from the political gallows by the new Labor government after it greenlit the former Liberal MP serving out the last eight months of his term.

Senior government sources told The Australian a “merit-based process” would find Hutchinson’s replacement when his term expires next March.

Territories Minister Kristy McBain visited the former penal colony for three days last week to inform locals there would be no return to self-governance under the Albanese administration.

The 1700 residents of Norfolk, 1400km off the coast of Byron Bay, are in their seventh year of Commonwealth rule after former prime minister Tony Abbott abolished the island’s parliament following years of economic turmoil.

Hutchinson, a one-term Liberal wonder in the Tasmanian electorate of Lyons, was appointed administrator by the Turnbull government in 2017 after losing his seat. He succeeded Gary Hardgrave, a Howard government minister turned Sky News host, in the $313,220 position, which comes with keys to the Georgian mansion Government House.

At the time, Hutchinson did not say why he was picked as ­administrator, only that he was approached for the job.

The former MP and wool buyer, who has a relative buried on the 8km x 5km island – was gifted two-year extensions to his tenure by the Morrison government in 2019 and 2021.

Hutchinson did not respond to inquiries on whether he would seek reappointment.

His survival comes amid a push to end a growing “jobs for mates” culture that Arts Minister Tony Burke described as “off the charts” in the previous government. Research from the Grattan Institute found one in five federal government board positions were held by a political appointee.

Since the change of government, a swath of Liberal picks have resigned, including former Victorian premier Denis Napthine as chair of the National Disability Insurance Agency and Gary Johns from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

Norfolk Island falls into the federal seat of Bean in the ACT, held by Labor MP David Smith.

At the May election, Labor finished third behind Liberal candidate Jane Hiatt and independent Jamie Christie at the two polling booths on the island.

Norfolk has been inhabited by descendants of the infamous mutineers on the Bounty since the 1850s. Britain transferred ownership to Australia prior to World War I and in 1979 it became the first non-mainland territory granted limited self-rule.

The island appealed to Australia for a bail out after running up an annual deficit of $3m a year during the global financial crisis.

The decision by the Abbott government to take over in 2015 was met with bipartisan support in Canberra, despite 68 per cent of islanders voting to keep self-rule in a non-binding referendum.

McBain led a fact-finding mission to Norfolk last week in which she had “hard, truthful discussions” with the Council of Elders about the community’s many challenges.

The Albanese government’s priority is to fix a food supply shortage that has left supermarket shelves bare and sent the cost of living soaring on the island.