| New Guinea Act 1920 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parliament of Australia | |
| |
| Citation | New Guinea Act 1920 (Cth) No. 25 of 1920 |
| Assented to | 30 September 1920 |
| Commenced | 19 May 1921 |
| Repealed by | |
| Papua and New Guinea Act 1949 | |
| Status:Repealed | |
TheNew Guinea Act 1920 was an act passed by theParliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, which saw the transfer of the territory ofGerman New Guinea fromGermany toAustralia under terms of theTreaty of Versailles.[1]
The act formally established theTerritory of New Guinea as aLeague of Nations Mandated Territory that was to be administered byAustralia.[2] The act remained in effect until New Guinea's merger with theTerritory of Papua following the passage of thePapua and New Guinea Act 1949.[2]
New Guinea was originally anImperial German colony at the start of the 20th century. In 1914, following the outbreak of theFirst World War,German New Guinea was occupied by theAustralian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force andremained under Australian military control until 1920.[3] Following the British Empire's victory over Germany, the subsequent Treaty of Versailles, thePrime Minister of AustraliaBilly Hughes pushed for New Guinea to be annexed to Australia. This was despite British intent to make it one of theTrust Territories of the Pacific with a view to New Guinea's gradual independence. A compromise was made in the treaty to allow Australia to run it as a League of Nations mandate but retain control over immigration.[1]
TheNew Guinea Act 1920 was passed by the Parliament of Australia to enable theGovernor-General of Australia to accept the mandate for Australia and establish Australian rule.[4] The act required that the Governor-General appoint anAdministrator for the territory and that the Governor-General had to report on New Guinea to the League of Nations annually. The act also affirmed the abolition of slavery in New Guinea.[2] The act was repealed by thePapua and New Guinea Act 1949, which established local rule under Australian administration and formally merged theTerritory of Papua with New Guinea to create theTerritory of Papua and New Guinea.[2]