sunnySA:
For at least the last 30 years the boundary between Australia and New Zealand (and for that matter Nandi) was 163deg East...
You are correct the FIR boundary between the Auckland and Australian FIRs has always been (well certainly since '75 anyway), and still is, at 163 deg East.
I can't remember whether Sydney Ops (old B60 at KSA) exercised operational control over Norfolk?
My recollection is that Ops had the power to close any Australian non controlled airport due weather (including Australian territorial airports), but the NF FSU had the responsibility for providing a directed FIS to all aircraft (IFR and VFR) intending to operate at NF.
With respect to the issue of determining who holds FIS delivery responsibility for NF, if I was the ATSB investigator on this accident, I would have investigated the following scenarios and, if required, presented a SR to the relevant aviation agency(ies) concerned:
1. On the assumption the NZ AIP is correct in implying that FIS delivery responsibility still lies with Australia, where is the associated MoU/LoA between Airservices and Airways NZ that CaptainMidnight has correctly stated should be in place and, if such an MoU/LoA exists, why is it that Airservices is not complying with its provisions?
2. On the assumption that Airservices is correct that FIS delivery responsibility lies with Airways NZ because there is no longer an Australian ATS presence at NF and the airport is located within the Auckland Oceanic FIR , why hasn't the NZ AIP been updated accordingly and why didn't Auckland ATC direct the amended TAF to the Pel-Air aircraft?
There is no doubt in my mind that a level of confusion may exist between Airservices and Airways as to which agency actually holds responsibility for FIS delivery at NF, and that such confusion may have been a contributing factor to the Pel Air accident. Furthermore if confusion exists then this has resulted due to a failure in process and coordination between the Australian and NZ aviation agencies.
In my view, the issue of FIS delivery responsibility for NF needs to be assessed as a priority and, if necessary, clarified between the Australian and NZ agencies for future safety considerations.
Hopefully, somebody in either the ATSB, CASA, Airservices, Airways NZ or the CAA of NZ is reading this and acting accordingly.