In today's world, Ashmore and Cartier Islands is a topic that has captured the attention of many people in various areas of interest. From politics to science, through entertainment and technology, Ashmore and Cartier Islands has positioned itself as a point of discussion and debate in society. With an impact on people's daily lives, this topic has sparked growing interest in understanding its long-term implications and consequences. In this article, we will explore different aspects related to Ashmore and Cartier Islands, from its origin to its influence on popular culture, in order to provide a comprehensive overview of this fascinating topic.
External territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean
The Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands is an uninhabited Australianexternal territory consisting of four low-lying tropical islands in two separate reefs (Ashmore and Cartier), as well as the 12-nautical-mile (22 km; 14 mi) territorial sea generated by the islands. The territory is located in the Indian Ocean situated on the edge of the continental shelf, about 320 km (199 mi) off the northwest coast of Australia and 144 km (89 mi) south of the Indonesian island of Rote.
Ashmore Reef is called Pulau Pasir by Indonesians and Nusa Solokaek in the Rotenese language. Both names have the meaning "sand island".
Geography
The territory comprises Ashmore Reef, which includes West, Middle and East Islands, in addition to two lagoons, as well as Cartier Reef, which includes Cartier Island. Ashmore Reef covers approximately 583 km2 (225.1 sq mi) and Cartier Reef 167 km2 (64 sq mi), both measurements extending to the limits of the reefs.
West, Middle and East Islands have a combined land area variously reported as 54 hectares (130 acres), 93 hectares (230 acres) and 112 hectares (280 acres). Cartier Island has a reported land area of 0.4 hectares (0.99 acres).
History
According to Australian literature, Cartier Island was visited by Captain Nash in 1800, and named after his ship Cartier. Ashmore Island was seen by Captain Samuel Ashmore in 1811 from his ship Hibernia and named after him. Ashmore Island was annexed by the United Kingdom in 1878, as was Cartier Island in 1909. In December 1905, HMS Cambrian formally took possession of the Ashmore Islands on behalf of the United Kingdom. The ship's commander Captain Ernest Gaunt went ashore accompanied by five officers and around 200 seamen, erecting the Union Jack and singing "God Save the King", while Cambrian returned a 21-gun salute.
After their annexation, the British Government occasionally granted licences on the islands for fishing or guano extraction. In the 1920s, the islands were used as a base for poachers targeting the Western Australian pearling industry. The lack of effective policing led to Australian lobbying for a transfer of control.
A British order-in-council dated 23 July 1931 stated that Ashmore and Cartier Islands would be placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia when Australia passed legislation to accept them, and formal administration began two years later. The Commonwealth's resulting Ashmore and Cartier Islands Acceptance Act 1933 came into operation on 10 May 1934, when the islands formally became a territory. The act authorised the Governor of Western Australia to make ordinances for the territory. In July 1938 the territory was annexed to the Northern Territory, then also administered by the Commonwealth, whose laws, ordinances and regulations applied to the Northern Territory. When self-government was granted to the Northern Territory on 1 July 1978, administration of Ashmore and Cartier Islands was retained by the Commonwealth.
In 1947, interior minister Herbert Johnson became the first Australian government minister to visit the territory. The Age reported that Johnson had been unable to land due to rough seas and regarded the islands as "almost valueless".
In 1983, the territory was declared a nature reserve under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975, now replaced by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Cartier Island, which was a former bombing range, became a marine reserve in 2000.
After the islands became a first point of contact with the Australian migration zone, in September 2001, the Australian Government excised the Ashmore and Cartier Islands from the Australian migration zone.
Indonesian heritage and memorandum
Ashmore has been regularly visited and fished by Indonesian fishermen since the early eighteenth century. A 1974 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Australia and Indonesia sets out arrangements by which traditional fishers can access resources in Australia's territorial sea in the region. This allows traditional Indonesian fishermen to access parts of Ashmore for shelter, freshwater and to visit grave sites. The area, known as the MOU Box, contains the Ashmore and Cartier Islands Territory.
Nearby Hibernia Reef, 42 km (26 mi) northeast of Ashmore Reef, is not part of the Territory, but belongs to Western Australia. It has no permanently dry land area, although large parts of the reef become exposed during low tide.
Proposed Northern Territory annexation
The Northern Territory government has claimed on multiple occasions (1989, 1996) that the Ashmore and Cartier Islands should be returned to their jurisdiction, instead of remaining a separate territory. The Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recommended in a 1991 report that the Northern Territory annex the islands. In 1998, John Howard'sCoalition debated the issue in the leadup to the 1998 Northern Territory statehood referendum, and stated in a campaign release that it would "pursue incorporation of the Ashmore & Cartier Islands into the Northern Territory before or at the time of Statehood". However, these efforts did not lead to any changes.
The Ashmore Reef Marine Park and Cartier Island Marine Park are both classed as strict nature reserves (IUCN Ia) and protect biodiverse areas of significant and international importance, as well as cultural heritage.
Cartier Island is an unvegetated sand island, with access prohibited because of the risk of unexploded ordnances. There are no ports or harbours, only offshore anchorage. Today, all the wells in the Territory are infected with cholera or contaminated and undrinkable. The Australian Border Force vessel ABFC Thaiyak is stationed off the reef for up to 300 days per year. The islands are also visited by seasonal caretakers and occasional scientific researchers.[citation needed]
Economy
The area around the Ashmore and Cartier Islands has been a traditional fishing ground of Indonesian fishermen for centuries, and continues. In the 1850s, American whalers operated in the region. Outside of fishing, the islands were historically used as sources of guano, beche-de-mer, trochus and tortoiseshell. Mining of phosphate deposits took place on Ashmore Island in the latter half of the 19th century.
Petroleum extraction activities take place at the Jabiru and Challis oil fields, which are adjacent to the Territory, and which are administered by the Northern Territory's Department of Mines and Energy on behalf of the Commonwealth.
Migration
As Ashmore Reef is the closest point of Australian territory to Indonesia, it was a popular target for people smugglers transporting asylum seekers en route to Australia. Once they had landed on Ashmore Island, asylum seekers could claim to have entered Australian migration zone and request to be processed as refugees. The use of Ashmore Island for this purpose created great notoriety during late 2001, when refugee arrivals became a major political issue in Australia. The Australian Government argued that as Australia was not the country of first asylum for these "boat people", Australia did not have a responsibility to accept them.[citation needed]
A number of things were done to discourage the use of the Territory for this purpose, such as attempting to have the people smugglers arrested in Indonesia; the so-called Pacific Solution of processing them in third countries; the boarding and forced turnaround of the boats by Australian military forces; and finally excising the Territory and many other small islands from the Australian migration zone.
Two boatloads of asylum seekers were each detained for several days in the lagoon at Ashmore Island after failed attempts by the Royal Australian Navy to turn them back to Indonesia in October 2001.[citation needed]
^ abcdefghi"Ashmore and Cartier Islands". Territories of Australia. Department of the Infrastructure and Regional Development, Australian Government. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
^Australia, Geoscience (15 May 2014). "Ashmore and Cariter Islands". Australian Government Geoscience Australia. Australian Government. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
^Carter, Mike; Clarke, Rohan; Pierce, Frank; Dooley, Sean; Swann, George; Grant, Murray (2010). "Lesser Coucal 'Centropus bengalensis' on Ashmore Reef: First Record for Australia". Australian Field Ornithology. 27 (3). ISSN1448-0107. Within the reef are three small islands: West, Middle and east Islands (total land area 54 ha). The largest and most heavily vegetated is West Island...
^Assistant Director, Territories and Disaster Reconstruction Division (16 June 2012). "Territories of Australia". Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport. Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
^"States of Australia". p. Administrative Divisions of Countries. Retrieved 23 June 2011.