HISTORY
The islands became an Australian
Territory from 23 November 1955 with the proclamation of the Cocos
(Keeling) Island Act 1955. Prior to this time they had been administered
as a British possession by the Colony of Singapore, and had from
the middle of the nineteenth century been administered by British
Governors in Ceylon or Singapore (the Straits Settlements).
Commercial activity on the
islands commenced with a settlement formed in 1827 by Captain
John Clunies-Ross who brought with him several boatloads of Malays
to establish coconut plantations. Prior to this time the islands
had been uninhabited. In 1886 Queen Victoria granted all land
on the islands to George Clunies-Ross (a descendant of Captain
Clunies-Ross) and his heirs in perpetuity.
The islands were strategically
important to Australia in both world wars, as a communications
and transport link across the Indian Ocean. In World War I the
cable station on Direction Island was attacked by a party from
the German cruiser Emden, which was subsequently sunk by HMAS
Sydney off North Keeling Island. Similar installations were attacked
by the Japanese during World War II. The Allied forces occupied
the islands for most of the War, constructing an airstrip in 1944.
From 1944 to 1946 the islands came under military administration.
From 1955 Australian administration
of the territory was the responsibility of an Official Representative
of the Australian Government. This arrangement was altered in
1977 with the appointment of an Administrator reporting to the
Minister for Territories. A Cocos-Malay Local Government Council
was created in 1979 and in 1984 the Islanders voted for full integration
with Australia.
In 1978 the Australian Government
purchased from Mr John Clunies-Ross the remainder of his property
on the islands with the exception of his house on Home Island.
