# Lord Howe Island Board

The Lord Howe Island Board is a NSW Statutory Authority established under the Lord Howe Island Act, 1953, to administer Lord Howe Island, an unincorporated island territory within the jurisdiction of the State of New South Wales, Australia, in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. It comprises seven members, of whom four are directly elected by the island population, and reports directly to the New South Wales Minister for Environment and Heritage, and is responsible for the care, control and management of the island.

## Responsibilities

Its duties include the:
* protection of World Heritage values
* control of development
* administration of Crown Land, including the island’s protected area, the Permanent Park Preserve
* provision of community services and infrastructure
* delivery of sustainable tourism
The Lord Howe Island Regulation 2014 give effect to the LHI Act by establishing measures for administration including: Board elections, licensing of businesses, environment protection, sale and consumption of alcohol, and placed the board under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993.

## Composition

Since 2004 the Board has comprised seven members, four of whom are elected from the islander community, thus giving the approximately 350 permanent residents a high level of autonomy. The remaining three members (including the Chairperson) are appointed by the Minister of whom:
* One appointee must represent the interests of business and tourism.
* One appointee must represent the interests of conservation.
* One appointee must be an employee of the Department of Planning and Environment.
The full Board meets quarterly on the island while the day-to-day affairs of the island are managed by the Board’s administration which operates in a similar manner to a local government authority in New South Wales, with a permanent staff of 50 led by a Chief Executive Officer.

## Legislative history

The Board dates back to 1913, when the Sydney-based Lord Howe Island Board of Control was formed to replace a single magistrate appointed by the NSW Government. The Lord Howe Island Board of Control comprised three members appointed by the Chief Secretary of New South Wales, mostly to regulate the palm seed industry, but also administering the affairs of the island from Sydney until the present Lord Howe Island Board was set up in 1954.
The Lord Howe Island Board commenced operations from 23 April 1954 and comprised five members appointed by the Chief Secretary. The members included the Under Secretary of the Chief Secretary's Department (as Chairman), the responsible Member of Parliament (the Member of the Legislative Assembly for King until 1973), a nominee of the Secretary for Lands (in practice the Under Secretary of the Department of Lands), and two appointed members from the Lord Howe Island Advisory Committee.
In 1981, the Lord Howe Island Amendment Act gave islanders the administrative power of three elected members on a five-member board. Under the Lord Howe Island Amendment Act, 2004, the board now comprises seven members, four of whom are elected from the islander community.

## Chairs

| # | Chairman/Chairperson | Term | Time in office |
| Lord Howe Island Board of Control |||||
| 1 | Frederick Albert Coghlan | 12 February 1913 – 9 June 1914 | 1 year, 117 days |
| 2 | George Hulton Smyth King | 9 June 1914 – 24 August 1917 | 3 years, 76 days |
| 3 | John Fitzpatrick | 24 August 1917 – 7 August 1932 | 14 years, 349 days |
| 4 | Edward Burns Harkness CMG | 28 October 1932 – 24 November 1938 | 6 years, 27 days |
| 5 | Stanley Llewellyn Anderson | 25 November 1938 – 16 July 1949 | 10 years, 234 days |
| 6 | Cecil Jones Buttsworth | 16 July 1949 – 23 April 1954 | 4 years, 281 days |
| Lord Howe Island Board |||||
| 1 | Cecil Jones Buttsworth OBE | 23 April 1954 – 30 March 1958 | 3 years, 341 days |
| 2 | Arthur Gerald Kingsmill ISO | 31 March 1958 – 29 January 1971 | 12 years, 304 days |
| 3 | John Brettell Holliday AM | 30 January 1971 – 12 August 1975 | 4 years, 194 days |
| 4 | Rodney Ernest Murdoch | 12 August 1975 – 19 March 1982 | 6 years, 219 days |
| 5 | Bruce Richard Davies | 19 March 1982 – 24 August 1983 | 1 year, 158 days |
| 6 | Gerald Gleeson AC | 24 August 1983 – 5 September 1986 | 3 years, 12 days |
| 7 | Frederick Arnold Elliott | 12 September 1986 – 1989 | |
| 8 | John Frederick Whitehouse | 1989 – 1990 | |
| 9 | Vivienne Ingram | 1990 – 1999 | |
| 10 | John O'Gorman | February 1999 – 31 March 2005 | |
| 11 | Anthony Fleming | 1 April 2005 – 3 December 2007 | 2 years, 246 days |
| – | Barney Nichols (acting) | 3 December 2007 – 3 March 2008 | |
| 12 | Robert Pallin | 3 March 2008 – March 2008 | |
| 13 | Alistair Henchman | April 2008 – July 2012 | |
| – | Barney Nichols (acting) | July 2012 – 19 November 2012 | |
| 14 | Bob Conroy | 19 November 2012 – 11 August 2013 | 265 days |
| 15 | Chris Eccles | 12 August 2013 – 25 June 2014 | 317 days |
| – | Barney Nichols (acting) | 25 June 2014 – 26 June 2015 | 1 year, 1 day |
| 16 | Phil Minns | 26 June 2015 – 27 November 2015 | 154 days |
| 17 | Sonja Stewart | 28 November 2015 – 15 July 2019 | 3 years, 229 days |
| 18 | Anissa Levy | 15 July 2019 – 1 January 2021 | 1 year, 170 days |
| 19 | Atticus Fleming AM | 1 January 2021 – date | 3 years, 282 days |