CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LINE ISLANDS

The five Central and Southern Line Islands do not form part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. They consist of Flint, Caroline, Vostock, Malden and Starbuck, and are administered direct by the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, formerly under Article 6 of the Pacific Order in Council 1893 and more recently in accordance with instructions issued by the Secretary of State in 1903, under Article 4 of the Order in Council.

Flint Island (latitude 11° 26' S., longitude 151° 48′ W.) was discovered in 1801. Since 1872 it has been worked intermittently for guano and copra by various British companies under licence issued by the High Commissioner.

Caroline Island (10° S., 150° 14′ W.) was discovered in 1795 by Captain W. R. Broughton of H.M. Sloop Providence and it has been worked by various British companies since 1846.

Vostock Island (10° 06′ S., 152° 23′ W.) was discovered by Captain Bellingshausen in 1820 and has been worked sporadically by British companies for guano and copra since 1873. It is now unoccupied and unworked.

Malden Island (4° S., 155° W.) was discovered by Lord Byron, Captain of H.M.S. Blonde, in 1825. Its guano deposits were worked by an Australian company from approximately 1860 to 1927. It is now unoccupied and unworked. Starbuck Island (5° 35′ S., 155° 52′ W.) was discovered in 1823 by Captain Starbuck, of the whaler L'Aigle. It was first worked for guano by a British company during the 1860's. Attempts to plant coconuts on the island failed and since 1920 it has been unoccupied and unworked.

AUSTRALIAN EXTERNAL TERRITORIES

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NORFOLK ISLAND

ORFOLK Island, discovered by Captain Cook in 1774, is situated in latitude 29° 3" 30"" S. and longitude 167° 57′′ 05"' E. Its total area is 8,528 acres, the island being approximately 5 miles long and 3 miles wide. The coast line is 20 miles long and its form that of an irregular ellipse. Norfolk Island is of volcanic origin and its average elevation is in the vicinity of 350 feet with two peaks rising to slightly over 1,000 feet.

The island was first occupied in 1788 by the establishment of a small penal station as a branch settlement of that at Port Jackson, Australia. This existed with one short break until 1855. The descendants of the Bounty mutineers, having become too numerous to subsist on Pitcairn Island, were removed thence to Norfolk Island in 1856. The new community numbered 94 males and 100 females and were the descendants of the Bounty sailors and Tahitian women. There is no indigenous or native population on Norfolk Island and the inhabitants consist of the descendants of the Pitcairn islanders and settlers from Australia and New Zealand. At 30th June 1967 the estimated population was 1,509.

In 1856 Norfolk Island was created a distinct and separate settlement under the jurisdiction of the State of New South Wales, and in 1896 it was made a dependency of that State. Under the Norfolk Island Act, 1913, it became a Territory of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is administered on behalf of the

Commonwealth Government by an Administrator appointed by the GovernorGeneral of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Governor-General may make ordinances for the peace, order and good government of Norfolk Island. The Norfolk Island Act 1957-1966 provides for the establishment of a Norfolk Island Council which has the function of advising the Administrator on any matter affecting the peace, order and good government of the Territory. The powers of the Council are now provided by the Act. Under the Norfolk Island Council Ordinance 1960-67 the Council is formed of the Administrator as chairman and eight councillors who are elected for terms of two years. The first elections for the Council, reconstituted in 1964, were held on 1st July 1964. Subsequent elections have been held at two-yearly intervals.

Administrator: R. Marsh

THE AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC TERRITORY

By Order in Council of the 7th February 1933 that part of His Majesty's dominions in the Antarctic Seas which comprised all the islands and territories other than Adélie Terre (which is a French possession occupying an area between 142° and 136° of E. longitude) which are situated south of the 60th parallel of S. latitude and lying between the 160th and 45th meridians of E. longitude was placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia. An Act was passed in June 1933 by the Commonwealth Parliament declaring acceptance of the territory, by the name of the Australian Antarctic Territory, as a territory under the authority of the Commonwealth Government, and the Order in Council was brought into operation on the 24th August 1936, by a Proclamation issued by the Governor-General on that date. The Department of Supply administers the Territory on behalf of the Commonwealth Government and the law operating there is that of the Australian Capital Territory.

The part of Antarctica comprised within the Australian Antarctic Territory is, like the rest of the continent, without permanent inhabitants. Its area is estimated at 2,333,624 square miles of land and 29,251 square miles of ice shelf.

In February 1954 a base, name Mawson, was set up in Mac.Robertson Land for the conduct of meteorological and other research. A second Antarctic base, named Davis, was established in the Vestfold Hills area, some 400 miles east of Mawson in January 1957. Early in 1959 Australia assumed custody of the U.S. base at Wilkes on Budd Coast. A new Australian station is being constructed near Wilkes to replace that built in 1959.

Australia is a party to the Antarctic Treaty which was signed in Washington on 1st December 1959 and entered into force on 23rd June 1961.

HEARD ISLAND AND MCDONALD ISLANDS

The Heard Island and McDonald Islands Act 1953-1967 provides for the government of these islands as a Territory of the Commonwealth of Australia. The islands comprise all the islands and rocks lying within the area bounded by the parallels 52° 30′ and 53° South latitude and the meridians 72° and 74° 30' East longitude. They have been administered by the Commonwealth of Australia since December 1947 when an Australian station was set up on Heard Island. The station has not been manned since March 1955 but Australian expeditions have visited the Territory from time to time since then.

COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands, two separate groups of atolls comprising some 27 small coral islands with a total area of about 5 square miles, are situated in the Indian Ocean in latitude 12° 5' South and longitude 96° 53′ East. They lie some 1,720 miles north-west of Perth and 2,290 miles almost due west of Darwin, whilst Johannesburg is some 3,800 miles distant to the south-west, and Colombo is 1,400 miles to the north-west of the group. The population of the Territory at 30th June 1968 was 622 comprising 140 Europeans and 482 Cocos Islanders.

The main islands of the Territory are West Island (the largest, about 6 miles from north to south) on which is the aerodrome and most of the European community, Home Island, the headquarters of the Clunies Ross Estate and on which the Cocos Islanders reside, Direction Island on which is situated the Cable Station and also the Department of Civil Aviation Marine Base, and Horsburgh Island. North Keeling Island, which forms part of the Territory, lies about 15 miles to the north of the main group and has no inhabitants.

The main group of atolls is low-lying, flat and thickly covered by coconut palms, and surrounds a lagoon which has a harbour in the northern part but which is extremely difficult for navigation.

The climate is equable and pleasant, being usually under the influence of the south-east trade winds for about three-quarters of the year. However, the winds vary at times and meteorological reports from the Territory are particularly valuable to those engaged in forecasting for the eastern Indian Ocean. The temperature varies between 21° and 32°C (70° and 90°F), the rainfall is moderate and there are occasional violent storms.

Qantas Airways and South African Airways operated a regular service between Australia and Johannesburg, via Cocos and Mauritius, until April 1967 when with the introduction of jet aircraft by both airlines on this service flights are now made direct between Perth and Mauritius overflying Cocos. There is a regular charter service once every three weeks by TAA and Ansett ANA aircraft between Perth and Cocos.

The telegraph cable station administered by Overseas Communications Commission (Australia) on Direction Island was closed down in August 1966 since which date communications between Cocos and Australia have been operated by the Administration.

HISTORY

The islands were discovered in 1609 by Captain William Keeling of the East India Company. The islands were uninhabited and remained so until 1826 when the first settlement was established on the main atoll by an Englishman, Alexander Hare, who quitted the islands in about 1831. In the meantime a second settlement was formed on the main atoll by John Clunies Ross, a Scottish seaman and adventurer, who landed with several boat-loads of Malay seamen. In 1857 the islands were annexed to the Crown and formally declared part of the British dominions, and in 1878 responsibility for their supervision was transferred from the Colonial Office to the Government of Ceylon and then, in 1886, to the Government of the Straits Settlements. By indenture in 1886 Queen Victoria granted the land comprised in the islands to John Clunies Ross in perpetuity. The head of the family had semi-official status as resident magistrate and representative of the Government. However, in 1946 when the islands became a dependency of the Colony of

Singapore a Resident Administrator, responsible to the Governor of Singapore, was appointed.

TRANSFER TO THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

On 23rd November 1955 the Cocos Islands ceased to form part of the Colony of Singapore and were placed under the authority of the Commonwealth. The transfer was effected by an Order in Council made by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second under the Cocos Islands Act, 1955, of Britain, and by the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955 of the Commonwealth, whereby the islands were declared to be accepted by the Commonwealth as a Territory under the authority of the Commonwealth, to be known as the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

ADMINISTRATION

Responsibility for the administration of the Territory rests with the Minister for External Territories. The first Official Representative was appointed on 23rd November 1955 to take charge of the local administration of the Territory. Under the Official Representative Ordinance 1955-1961 of the Territory, the Official Representative is given such powers and functions in relation to the Territory as are delegated to him by the Minister under the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955-1966, or are otherwise conferred on him under that Act or by or under any other law of the Territory. The laws of the Colony of Singapore which were in force in the islands immediately before the date of transfer were, with certain exceptions, continued in force by virtue of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Acts 1955-1966; they may be amended or repealed by ordinances made under the provisions of that Act which empower the Governor-General to make ordinances for the peace, order and good government of the Territory.

Official Representation: P. L. Ryan

CHRISTMAS ISLAND

Christmas Island is an isolated bank in the Indian Ocean, with water 1,000 fathoms deep within three miles of the coast on all sides. It lies in latitude 10° 25′ 22′′ S., longitude 105° 39′ 59′′ E. and is approximately 224 miles south from Java Head, at the south entrance to Sunda Straits, 815 miles from Singapore and 1,630 miles from Fremantle. Christmas Island covers an area of about 52 square miles and consists of a central plateau at 600 to 800 feet, with several prominent rises up to 1,170 feet. The plateau descends to the sea in a series of steep slopes alternating with terraces, the last dropping in a cliff of 200 to 300 feet to a shore terrace, terminating in a sea-cliff of 10 to 150 feet. It is continuous round the island except in a few places, the chief of which is Flying Fish Cove where the shore is formed of coral shingles. The estimated population of Christmas Island at 30th June 1968 was 3,524 consisting of 342 Europeans, 2,056 Chinese, 1,027 Malays and 99 others.

The principal settlement is at Flying Fish Cove which is also the only known anchorage. The main installations of the phospate industry are located here, together with the European married quarters, and the Chinese and Malay settlements.

The climate is healthy and pleasant. The average yearly rainfall is about 60 inches with a marked summer incidence. The average mean temperature is about 27°C. (80°F.) and does not vary greatly throughout the year.

The only commercial activity carried out is the mining of phosphate. The British Phosphate Commissioners act as managing agents for the Christmas Island Phosphate Commission.

There are three principal phosphate deposits on the island, the largest being that at present worked at South Point. This field is situated on the central plateau and is approximately 12 miles from the drying and shipping plant at Flying Fish Cove. The present output is up to approximately 1 million tons per year.

The Governments of New Zealand and Australia approved proposals by the Commission to develop the Phosphate deposits to an output capacity of 1.6 million tons per year by 1968 and to examine the possibility of still further increasing this output to more than 2.5 million tons per year.

There is little prospect of any economic developments outside the phosphate industry.

Transport connection with the island is maintained by ships operated by the Phosphate Commission or ships under charter by the Commission. These ships are mainly bulk cargo vessels but there is generally also some passenger accommodation. A passenger vessel under charter to the B.P.C. also runs between Singapore and Christmas Island.

HISTORY

The first mention of Christmas Island appears in a map published in Holland in 1666, in which it is called Moni Island although it is believed that Captain William Mynors of the East India Company had sighted the island on Christmas Day in 1643 and had named it accordingly.

In June 1888 it was annexed by Captain H. W. May of the H.M.S. Imperieuse as part of the British dominions and placed, for administrative purposes, under the supervision of the Government of the Straits Settlements and, following upon this, a small settlement was established at Flying Fish Cove by Mr G. Clunies Ross of Cocos (Keeling) Islands, 530 miles to the west-south-west. In February 1891 Sir John Murray and Mr G. Clunies Ross of Cocos were granted a 99-year lease of the island which was transferred to the Christmas Island Phosphate Co. Ltd. in 1897, following the discovery of large deposits of phosphate of lime on the island. In 1900 Christmas Island was incorporated for administrative purposes with the Settlement of Singapore and the laws of Singapore were generally applied to the island.

TRANSFER TO THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

On the dissolution of the Straits Settlements, Christmas Island was, until 31st December 1957, administered as part of the Colony of Singapore. From that date, by the Christmas Island Order in Council 1957, made by the Queen under the Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act, 1964, and the British Settlement Acts, 1887 and 1945, it was administered as a separate British Crown Colony until 1st October 1958, when it became a Territory of the Commonwealth of Australia. This change in status was initiated by the Christmas Island (Request and Consent) Act 1957 by which the Australian Parliament requested and consented to the enactment by the British Parliament of an Act enabling the Queen to place Christmas Island under the authority of Australia. By the terms of Christmas Island (Transfer to Australia) Order in Council 1958, made under the Christmas Island Act, 1958, of Britain, Christmas Island was placed under the authority