Jonathan Milne

They believe that they can make the community there sustainable.

And I want to believe them.

I absolutely 100% want to believe them because it's a beautiful and special place.

And the...

So much love and sweat and blood has been put into sustaining that community that they deserve to be able to keep it running.

But I also understand that the government can look at it and say, well, there's only so much money that the government should keep on putting into it.

Well, there's one very commercial value to the Chathams, and this sounds a bit cynical, but its location, 800 kilometres offshore, creates an almost entire additional chunk of exclusive economic zone for New Zealand where we can control the fisheries.

So that's, as the islanders see it, that's their gift to New Zealand, a whole of extra fisheries revenue.

And they would argue that they should be entitled to a bigger chunk of that fisheries revenue, which they kind of lost back in the 80s when the new quota system was brought in.

Because, you know, if the Chatham Islands weren't there, weren't part of New Zealand, New Zealand's EEZ and its fisheries zone would be significantly smaller.