Ashmore and Cartier Islands

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Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands
Ashmore Reef2.png
NASA satellite image of Ashmore Reef
Ashmore and Cartier Islands on the globe (Southeast Asia centered) (small islands magnified).svg
Geography
Location Indian Ocean
Administration
Demographics
Population 0 (as of 1 January 2011)
Ashmore and Cartier Islands

The Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands[1] is an uninhabited external territory[2] of Australia consisting of four low-lying tropical islands in two separate reefs, and the 12 nautical mile territorial sea generated by the islands.[3] 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. The Jabiru and Challis oil fields are adjacent to the Territory.[3]

Ashmore Reef is called Pulau Pasir by Indonesians and it is called Nusa Solokaek in the Rote Island language. Both names have the meaning "sand island".[4]

Geography[edit]

The Territory comprises Ashmore Reef, which includes West, Middle, and East Islands, and two lagoons, and Cartier Reef, which includes Cartier Island. Ashmore Reef covers approximately 150 km2 (57.9 sq mi) and Cartier Reef 9 km2 (3 sq mi), both to the limits of the reefs.[5][citation needed] They have a total of 74.1 km (46 mi) of shoreline, measured along the outer edge of the reef.[clarification needed] Australia also claims a 12 nautical mile territorial sea generated by the islands.[3]

West, Middle, and East Islands have a combined land area variously reported as 54 ha, 93 ha, and 112 ha (1 hectare is 0.01 km2, or about 2.5 acres).[6][7][8] Cartier Island has a reported land area of 0.4 ha.[7]

History[edit]

The first recorded European visit to the islands was on 11 June 1811 by Captain Samuel Ashmore, commander of the Hibernia, who is credited with the discovery of Ashmore Island, and Captain Nash was credited with the discovery of Cartier Island and the nearby Hibernia Reef.[3]

In the 1850s, American whalers operated in the region, and upon the discovery of phosphate deposits in the latter half of the 19th century mining began on Ashmore Island.

In the late 19th century Britain and the United States of America contested the ownership of Ashmore Island, with Britain assuming "formal" possession in 1878. Britain later declared sovereignty over the island, with the annexation of Cartier Island taking place on 17 May 1909 with an official British proclamation.

By a British Order-in-council dated 23 July 1931, Ashmore and Cartier Islands were placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia, but Australia officially accepted the Territory on 10 May 1934 when the Ashmore and Cartier Islands Acceptance Act 1933 came into operation. 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 Territory. When self-government was granted to the Northern Territory on 1 July 1978, administration of the Territory was retained by the Commonwealth.[3][5]

During World War II the Territory received various naval visits and was used as a bombing and air weapons range for defence purposes. Throughout the 1950s and 60s unmanned navigational lights and meteorological stations and signs were constructed, with naval visits and aircraft surveillance continuing.[3]

Due to its proximity to Indonesia, and the area being traditional fishing grounds of Indonesian fishermen for centuries, some Indonesian groups claim Ashmore Reef to be part of Rote Ndao Regency of East Nusa Tenggara province. However, the Indonesian government does not appear to actively contest Australia's sovereignty of the Territory. Australia's sovereignty is backed up by the fact that the Territory was not administered by the Netherlands (Indonesia's former colonial power), but by the British before it was transferred to Australia. In 1974 Australia and Indonesia entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recognising the traditional use by Indonesian fisherman of the territory's resources, and granting the rights of access to Australian waters. Under the MOU traditional Indonesian fisherman are permitted to land on West Island to replenish their stores of fresh water, visit the graves of past fishers and to take shelter in the West Island Lagoon.[3] Today, these Indonesian fishermen are regarded as holding special purpose visas and are exempt from Australia's formal visa arrangements.[9] The MOU was reviewed in 1989.[10]

In 1983 the Territory was declared a nature reserve under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975,[3] now replaced by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.[11]

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.[3]

Governance[edit]

Today, the Territory is administered from Canberra by the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, which is also responsible for the administration of the territories of Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Jervis Bay Territory and Norfolk Island.[12]

The Attorney-General's Department had been responsible for the administration of Australian territories until the 2010 federal election. In that year the responsibility for Australian territories was transferred to the then Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport,[3] and from 18 September 2013 the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development has administered Australian territories.

Commonwealth laws, laws of the Northern Territory and Ordinances made by the Governor-General make up the body of law applicable in the Territory.[3]

Defence of Ashmore and Cartier Islands is the responsibility of Australia, with periodic visits by the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force and Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.

Nearby Hibernia Reef, 42 km (26 mi) northeast of Ashmore Reef, is not part of the Territory, but belongs to Western Australia.[13] It has no permanently dry land area, although large parts of the reef become exposed during low tide.

Ecology and environment[edit]

See also: Birds of Ashmore Reef
Main article: Flora of Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve[edit]

Cartier Island and surrounding reef (NASA satellite image)

The Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve (formerly Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve), established in August 1983,[14] comprises an area of approximately 583 km2 (225 sq mi).[15] It is of significant biodiversity value as it is in the flow of the Indonesian Throughflow ocean current from the Pacific Ocean through Maritime Southeast Asia to the Indian Ocean.[citation needed] It is also in a surface current west from the Arafura Sea and Timor Sea.

The Reserve comprises several marine habitats, including seagrass meadows, intertidal sand flats, coral reef flats, and lagoons, and supports an important and diverse range of species, including 14 species of sea snakes, a population of dugong that may be genetically distinct, a diverse marine invertebrate fauna, and many endemic species, especially of sea snakes and molluscs. There are feeding and nesting sites for loggerhead, hawksbill and green turtles. It is classified as an Important Bird Area and has 50,000 breeding pairs of various kinds of seabirds. A high abundance and diversity of sea cucumbers, over-exploited on other reefs in the region, is present, with 45 species recorded.[16]

In 2003 the nature reserve was recognised as a wetland of international importance due to the importance of its islands providing a resting place for migratory shorebirds and supporting large seabird breeding colonies.[14] It was designated Ramsar Site 1220 under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.[16]

Cartier Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve[edit]

The Cartier Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve (formerly Cartier Island Marine Reserve) was established in June 2000, and comprises an area of approximately 172 km2 (66 sq mi), within a 4 nautical mile radius from the center of Cartier Island, and extends to a depth of 1 km (0.6 mi) below the sea floor.[17] It includes the reef around Cartier island, a small submerged pinnacle called Wave Governor Bank, and two shallow pools to the island's northeast. The Reserve is part of the North-west Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network.[18]

Economy[edit]

There is no economic activity in the Territory, Ashmore and Cartier Islands being uninhabited. Cartier Island is an unvegetated sand island.[7] Access to Cartier Island is prohibited because of the risk of unexploded ordnances. There are no ports or harbours, only offshore anchorage. The customs vessel ACV Ashmore Guardian is stationed off the reef for up to 330 days per year.[19] The islands are also visited by seasonal caretakers and occasional scientific researchers.

The area has been a traditional fishing ground of Indonesian fishermen for centuries, and continues. In the 1850s, American whalers operated in the region. Mining of phosphate deposits took place on Ashmore Island in the latter half of the 19th century.[3] Today, all the wells in the Territory are infected with cholera or contaminated and undrinkable.[20]

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 Department of Mines and Energy on behalf of the Commonwealth.[3]

Migration[edit]

As Ashmore Reef is the closest point of Australian territory to Indonesia, it was a popular target for people smugglers transporting asylum seekers enroute to Australia.[21] 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.

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.

See also[edit]

Portal icon Geography portal
Portal icon Islands portal
Portal icon Australia portal

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The Central Intelligence Agency (2010). The World Factbook. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-59797-541-4. 
  2. ^ "10: External territories". Legal Risk in International Transactions (ALRC Report 80). Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC), Australian Government. 2006. ISBN 0642254877. Retrieved 2014-04-14. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Ashmore and Cartier Islands". Territories of Australia. Department of the Infrastructure and Regional Development, Australian Government. 2014-01-29. Retrieved 2014-04-14. 
  4. ^ "A STUDY OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES FACING TRADITIONAL INDONESIAN FISHERS WHO ACCESS THE MOU BOX" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-27. 
  5. ^ a b Year Book Australia, 1981, p.2
  6. ^ 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). ISSN 1448-0107. 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... 
  7. ^ a b c Taylor & Francis Group (2004). The Europa World Year Book 2004 (45th ed.). Europa Publications, Taylor & Francis Group. p. 611. ISBN 978-1-85743-254-1. 
  8. ^ "Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve and Cartier Island Marine Reserve". Marine Protected Areas. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Australian Government. Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. 
  9. ^ Indonesia - Australia Fisheries Cooperation
  10. ^ Beech, Graeme (2001). "Balancing the cultural and natural heritage values of the Ashmore region" (PDF). Understanding the Cultural and Natural Heritage Values and Management Challenges of the Ashmore Region (Department of the Environment, Australian Government): 7. 
  11. ^ Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
  12. ^ 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. 
  13. ^ States of Australia Retrieved 2011-06-23
  14. ^ a b Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve
  15. ^ "Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve". Commonwealth Marine Reserves. Department of the Environment, Australian Government. 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2014-04-14. 
  16. ^ a b "The Annotated Ramsar List: Australia". The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. 4 January 2000. Retrieved 10 April 2010. 
  17. ^ "Cartier Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve". Commonwealth Marine Reserves. Department of the Environment, Australian Government. 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2014-04-14. 
  18. ^ "North-west Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network". Parks Australia, Department of the Environment. Retrieved 18 March 2015. 
  19. ^ "Australian Customs Vessel Ashmore Guardian" (PDF). Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. 
  20. ^ Bizarre Happenings at Reef, Royal Australian Navy News, 28 June 1999, accessed 29 July 2010
  21. ^ Anita Roberts "Don't let them drown" Inside Indonesia Apr–Jun 2001, vol. 64

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ashmore and Cartier Islands.

Coordinates: 12°15′30″S 123°02′30″E / 12.25833°S 123.04167°E / -12.25833; 123.04167

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