An economist on Norfolk Island says the Australian parliament was badly misled over problems in the territory.
Photo: Norfolk Government
Canberra assumed direct control of the island in 2016 after the passing of the Norfolk Islands Legislation Amendment Act in 2015.
An economist living on Norfolk, Chris Nobbs, said the law was the result of deeply flawed information presented by the standing committee looking into Norfolk.
Mr Nobbs said the committee claimed the Norfolk Island economy from 1979 to 2014 had been a failure.
But he said it was not until the financial crisis of 2008, coupled with the imposition of a goods and services tax GST tax by Canberra that the island's economy struggled.
"If you have got bad data and a misdiagnosis of the problem you are going to end up with a mess and despite the fact that the Australian Government has augmented services and welfare on the island the mess is still there, because it is on a much more fundamental level, about organisation of the economy and how it is going to run."