Administrator’s Speech: Welcome to Old Year’s night!
Welcome to Old Year’s night!
Today has been overshadowed by the fact that Aunt Trina passed away yesterday and was laid to rest earlier today. My thoughts and prayers are with her family, who kindly gave their blessing to continue with this reception tonight.
I cannot believe that 2024 is over already! It seems like only yesterday that the Okalolies first kidnapped Louise and took her to Prince Philip Hall. I am relieved that she wasn’t kidnapped today as it’s costing me a fortune in ransom payments!
Time certainly does move quickly on Tristan, but it’s probably also a reflection of the amount of work that we have all achieved this year. I have been fortunate enough to visit Nightingale twice, and Gough for a week in March. Louise and I also visited St Helena in April, but so far, Inaccessible has remained inaccessible to me!
We started the year with a bumper cruise ship season – the best yet! Kelly, Iris and their teams together with Connie and the immigration team ensured that the cruise ship passengers had memorable and safe visits, and above all, spent loads of money! Thanks to you all.
The Council has been working extremely hard behind the scenes this year. Their work has involved seeking a better deal for islanders, including assessing applications to run the next lobster concession whilst representing the views of the community. More of that later. James and I both spent some time off island, representing Tristan at various meetings and events, putting forward the views of the Council and islanders. During our respective visits to the UK James met His Majesty the King, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary. I met Trevor in Lowestoft!
Trevor was in Lowestoft with our Young Ocean Champions where they learnt new skills which will enable them to continue the good work of the Conservation Team, protecting and preserving our pristine ocean and fishery well into the future. Thank you Trevor for this great initiative.
The work of the Conservation team, the Fisheries Department and Janine as our Atlantic Guardian, is crucial in keeping the fisheries healthy and profitable.
One area where we have been able to achieve a better deal for islanders, with the help of Lorraine and the Finance Team, is a substantial increase to the weekly pension to £45! Thank you Lorraine.
As the population of Tristan ages, the pensioners are an increasingly large part of the community and the economy. Many pensioners are still very active, working in roles in the factory and across Government.
When Chief Finance Officer Paul returns to the island in February, I will be working with him to improve salaries to ensure that those who work hard are well rewarded. It is important to me that everyone’s hard work is recognised.
Talking of hard work, the staff at the hospital have had a tough year. The excellent doctors and nurses see people when they are at their most vulnerable. They do their best to heal those who can be healed, and support those when they need it most. The quality of our hospital and healthcare is also recognised by passing vessels, as we saw recently. To the doctors and nurses, I say thank you!
This year Neil retired after many successful years heading up the Agriculture Department. Nat, Luke and Anne arrived in September from Yorkshire and have already started implementing new ideas and bringing in expertise. We also welcomed the arrival of six new rams from South Africa. We hope that these rams will give us good results in the coming months as we introduce them to Tristan’s ewe population. Thank you to Neil for all your service, and welcome Nat, Luke and Anne. I look forward to seeing your many ideas develop over the coming year. Thanks too to Luke for cutting the grass ahead of tonight’s event.
This year has seen big changes in Telecommunications too. Andy retired and was replaced by Starlink! The result has been a game changer for the island.
But joking aside, we are now able to have uninterrupted video calls, access to better education resources at the school and telehealth opportunities at the hospital. Not to mention Netflix, YouTube and gaming! This was an amazing effort by Simon and his team. Thanks to everyone for making it happen, and helping me achieve my target of getting better internet on Tristan. Thanks too to Andy for your years of service. I am very pleased that he has agreed to stay on to man Tristan Radio.
The school has benefitted enormously from the improved connectivity with the outside world. The internet is now beamed through projectors into each classroom, where lessons can be streamed from educational sources which complement the teaching from the excellent teachers, and is proving to be a big hit with students. This also opens up lessons on subjects which have not been available until now, such as languages. Thank you to the teachers for embracing the new technology and everything you do for our young islanders.
Whilst I was off island earlier this year, PWD finished my garage – thank you Jonathan – and Joanne moved into her new stores, Tristan’s answer to DIY Depot. Congratulations Joanne.
So What Next?
PWD together with E&P and Mechanical are keeping the wheels of the island turning, the lights on and the toilets flushing, but a lot of the infrastructure needs upgrading, so I will be working with the UK Government to find solutions, and money. First of all, in January, a team will be arriving from South Africa to upgrade the electrical infrastructure, rewire some critical buildings and begin to install solar panels.
This will begin to provide the island with enough electricity to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. We will still need some gas and diesel, but if we can reduce the amount we ship onto the island it will save money, make us more self-reliant and be environmentally friendly.
The coming year is election year on Tristan with elections for the Council and Chief Islander in March. Both the current Council and the new one will be busy in the coming months, negotiating the new Concession agreement for the lobster fishery, helping me to take forward new projects and representing the views of each and every Islander.
2024 was a good year for Tristan and I expect 2025 to be even better, thanks to everyone’s hard work.
Thank you once again for coming, and thanks to Seven Seas and others for this amazing spread of food. And now, enjoy the rest of the party, and may Louise and I wish you all a healthy, happy and peaceful 2025!
The celebrations then moved to Prince Philip Hall, where Chief Islander James Glass and his wife, Felicity, hosted a second reception. Chief James Glass delivered a moving and uplifting speech, which resonated with the community and set a positive tone for the year ahead.
© 2025, Tristan da Cunha Government & Tristan da Cunha Association (webmaster@tristandc.com). Reviewed: 2025-01-08
