This articlehas an unclearcitation style. The reason given is:article uses predominantly full citations but also some short ones. Move the short to full citations. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style ofcitation andfootnoting.(January 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Satellite image of Ashmore reef on 26 August 2021.
TheTerritory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands[2] is an uninhabited Australianexternal territory[3] consisting of four low-lying tropical islands in two separatereefs (Ashmore and Cartier), as well as the 12-nautical-mile (22 km; 14 mi)territorial sea generated by the islands.[4] The territory is located in the Indian Ocean situated on the edge of thecontinental shelf, about 320 km (199 mi) off the northwest coast of Australia and 144 km (89 mi) south of the Indonesian island ofRote.[4]
Ashmore Reef is calledPulau Pasir by Indonesians andNusa Solokaek in theRotenese language. Both names have the meaning "sand island".[5]
The territory comprises Ashmore Reef, which includes West, Middle andEast Islands, in addition to two lagoons, as well as Cartier Reef, which includesCartier 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.[6]
West, Middle and East Islands have a combined land area variously reported as 54 hectares (130 acres),[7] 93 hectares (230 acres)[8] and 112 hectares (280 acres).[9] Cartier Island has a reported land area of 0.4 hectares (0.99 acres).[8]
According to Australian literature,[10] Cartier Island was visited by Captain Nash in 1800, and named after his shipCartier. 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.[11] In December 1905,HMS Cambrian formally took possession of the Ashmore Islands on behalf of the United Kingdom. The ship's commander CaptainErnest Gaunt went ashore accompanied by five officers and around 200 seamen, erecting theUnion Jack on a flagpole and singing "God Save the King", whileCambrian returned a21-gun salute.[12]
After their annexation, the British Government occasionally granted licences on the islands for fishing orguano extraction.[13] In the 1920s, the islands were used as a base for poachers targeting theWestern Australian pearling industry. The lack of effective policing led to Australian lobbying for a transfer of control.[14]
A Britishorder-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 passes legislation to accept them, and formal administration would begin two years later.[15] The Commonwealth's resultingAshmore and Cartier Islands Acceptance Act 1933 came into operation on 10 May 1934, when the islands formally became a part of Australia. The act authorised theGovernor of Western Australia to make ordinances for the territory. In July 1938 the territory was annexed to theNorthern Territory, then also administered by the Commonwealth, whose laws, ordinances and regulations applied to the Northern Territory. Whenself-government was granted to the Northern Territoryon 1 July 1978, administration of Ashmore and Cartier Islands was retained by the Commonwealth.[4][16]
In 1947, interior ministerHerbert 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".[17]
In 1983, the territory was declared a nature reserve under theNational Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975,[4] now replaced by theEnvironment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.[18] Cartier Island, which was a former bombing range, became a marine reserve in 2000.
After the islands became a first point of contact with theAustralian migration zone, in September 2001, the Australian Government excised the Ashmore and Cartier Islands from the Australian migration zone.[4]
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 theMOU Box, contains the Ashmore and Cartier Islands Territory.[19]
Nearby Hibernia Reef, 42 km (26 mi) northeast of Ashmore Reef, is not part of the Territory, but belongs toWestern Australia.[21] It has no permanently dry land area, although large parts of the reef become exposed during low tide.
TheNorthern 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.[22] TheAustralian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recommended in a 1991 report that the Northern Territory annex the islands.[23] In 1998,John Howard'sCoalition debated the issue in the leadup to the1998 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".[24][25] However, these efforts did not lead to any changes.
Cartier Island and surrounding reef (NASA satellite image)
TheAshmore Reef Marine Park andCartier 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.[26]
Cartier Island is an unvegetatedsand island,[8] with access prohibited because of the risk ofunexploded ordnances. There are no ports or harbours, only offshore anchorage. Today, all thewells in the Territory are infected withcholera or otherwise contaminated andundrinkable.[27] TheAustralian Border Force vesselABFC Thaiyak is stationed off the reef for up to 300 days per year.[28] The islands are also visited by seasonal caretakers and occasional scientific researchers.[29]
The area around the Ashmore and Cartier Islands has been a traditional fishing ground of Indonesian fishermen for centuries, and continues to be.[30] In the 1850s, American whalers operated in the region.[4] Outside of fishing, the islands were historically used as sources ofguano,beche-de-mer,trochus andtortoiseshell.[13] Mining of phosphate deposits took place on Ashmore Island in the latter half of the 19th century.[4]
Petroleum extraction activities take place at theJabiru andChallis 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.[4]
As Ashmore Reef is the closest point of Australian territory to Indonesia, it was a popular target forpeople smugglers transportingasylum seekers en route to Australia.[31] 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 measures were taken to discourage the use of the territory for this purpose, such as attempting to have the people smugglers arrested in Indonesia; the so-calledPacific 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 theAustralian migration zone.[32]
In October 2001, theRoyal Australian Navy detained two Indonesian boats carrying asylum seekers for seven days in the Ashmore Island lagoon. These boats were later returned to Indonesian waters through the use of force and deception.[33]
^abcdefghi"Ashmore and Cartier Islands".Territories of Australia. Department of the Infrastructure and Regional Development, Australian Government. 29 January 2014. Retrieved14 April 2014.
^Australia, Geoscience (15 May 2014)."Ashmore and Cariter Islands".Australian Government Geoscience Australia. Australian Government. Retrieved21 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. Retrieved7 February 2008.
^"States of Australia". p. Administrative Divisions of Countries. Retrieved23 June 2011.
.svg)
.svg)
.jpg)
