Ashmore and Cartier Islands

A former bomb site, Cartier Island was declared a protected area in 2000. Ashmore and Cartier reserves have been shut down for Indonesia's conventional fishery and Indonesia groups are questioning Australia's claims to the Ashmore reef. Indonesians are permitted to enter the laguna and freshwater on the West Island of Ashmore Reef.

Entrance to the East and Middle Islands, the most important nesting areas for seabirds, is only possible with permission. A Memorandum of Understanding between Australia and Indonesia in 1974 gives Indonesia's long-standing fishers direct contact with the West Island's lagoons and freshwater supplies. Illicit slaughter of sheltered wild animals by local fishers and fisheries by non-traditional local ships are continuing issues in the area and nearby bodies of aquatic life.

After a rise in illicit fisheries, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australien Fisheries Management Authority carried out education trips to Indonesia to prevent non-traditional missions. At the beginning of May 1996, Indonesians requested Indonesians to have their Indonesians and Australians visit the territory in order to convince them that the territory does indeed comprise 24 miles long isles.

Ashmore and Cartier Territory includes the western, central and eastern Ashmore Reefs, Cartier Island and the 12-mile Territory Ocean produced by these islets. There are no inhabitants on the island, which consists of corals and sandy beaches covered with weed. It is situated on the outskirts of the Indian Ocean mainland base, some 320 km off the northwest Australian coastline and 144 km southwest of the island of Roti in Indonesia.

Jabiru and Challis are bordering the territory. It was taken over by Great Britain in 1933 and administrative responsibilities were delegated from the Northern Territory to the Commonwealth when self-government was introduced in the Northern Territory in 1978. Crude in the area bordering the territory is managed by the Northern Territory Department of Mines and Energy on the authority of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth legislation, the Northern Territory legislation and the regulations of the Governor General form the legal framework that applies in the territory of Ashmore and the Cartier Isles. Since the early 18th c. mainly fishermen from Indonesia have been using the coast of the territory. Predominant Trade Wines and landmarks were used to steer course and cruise between the isles.

It was the first discoveries in Europe on 11 June 1811. Hibernia Commandant Samuel Ashmore was named after the Hibernia's discoveries, and Nash was attributed the discoveries of Cartier Island and the Hibernia Reefs. In the 1850' s, US whaling was deployed in the area, and after the discoveries of phosphorus in the second half of the 19th c., extraction began on Ashmore Island.

The United Kingdom and the United States of America disputed the property of Ashmore Island in the latter part of the 19th and 1878, when Britain took over âformalâ property. Later, the island was proclaimed a sovereign territory and Cartier Island was annexed in 1909. Ashmore and the Cartier Islands became part of the Commonwealth on 23 July 1931.

Only on May 10, 1934, the Acceptance Act of Ashmore and Cartier Island came into force and Australia formally purchased a new outlying area. The area was visited by the Navy several times during the Second World War and used as a bomb and military base for warfare.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in 1974 between Australia and Indonesia, which recognises the Nepalese fishermen's use of the territory's natural resource and grants them the right of underwriting. After the MOU, the West Island is open to indigenous fishermen to fill their freshwater supplies, visiting the tombs of former fishermen and seeking refuge in the West Island lagoon.

The area was designated a protected area in 1983 under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975.