Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00287:reg:3:p20
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00287
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 3 (pt 20/276)
Character Range: 67981–70779

13°C to 15°C in winter and between 18°C and 20°C in summer. Average daily maximum temperatures range from 18°C to 19° C in winter and between 23°C and 25°C in summer. Annual average rainfall is 1,312 millimetres, peaking from May to August. Prevailing winds are primarily east to south-easterly during summer and autumn, swinging to the south or south-west in mid-winter, and returning to south in spring. Tropical cyclones occasionally have an influence in the early part of the year (Bureau of Meteorology 2021).

1.2.5        Human history
Excavations on Norfolk Island have revealed evidence of a small Polynesian village (Anderson 1996) which pre-dates European settlement. Two Polynesian adzes (stone axes) and stone flakes were discovered during a dig on Norfolk Island in 2022, which provide strong evidence for a Polynesian settlement on the island during the 13th and 15th centuries CE (Anderson & White 2001; Australian Museum 2022). The presence of Polynesians on Norfolk Island prior to European settlement is further supported by the presence of a banana grove, Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans) and stone axes found elsewhere on the island (Norfolk Island Conservation Society 1988; Gilmour & Helman 1989a, 1989b).
The island was first settled by Europeans in 1788, at which time it was uninhabited. The aim of the initial European settlement of the island was to clear land for the cultivation of native flax, as well as grains and vegetables to support the new colony at Port Jackson. The island had two periods of operation as a penal colony: firstly from 1788 until 1814, after which it remained uninhabited for 10 years, and again from 1825 until 1855.
At the time of settlement, Norfolk Island was covered with dense forest, which now largely remains only on the highest land (Green 1994), while Phillip Island was mostly covered with white oak (Lagunaria patersonia)/low forest (Mills 2009b). Since settlement, land use has had a very significant impact on vegetation. Accounts by early settlers describe the vegetation on Norfolk Island as very dense with complete canopy excluding light, very little growth on the forest floor and abundant towering emergent pines (Hoare 1969). The early penal colonies and free settlers progressively cleared much of the natural vegetation for agriculture and timber export during the first 75 years of settlement. They also stocked Phillip Island with pigs, goats and rabbits to provide a food source, and these animals were left behind when the settlements folded.
During its time as a penal colony, most of the island, apart from the two mountains and the land to the north, was cleared for crops or pasture (Benson 1980). Following the removal of convicts in 1855, the island supported a smaller agricultural community. Only about 100 ha