British Phosphate Commission

Last updated

The British Phosphate Commissioners (BPC) was a board of Australian, British, and New Zealand representatives who managed extraction of phosphate from Christmas Island, Nauru, and Banaba (Ocean Island) from 1920 until 1981. [1]

Contents

Nauru was a mandate territory governed on behalf of Nauru by Australia, Britain and New Zealand. However, representatives on the Permanent Mandates Commission argued that the activities of the BPC on Nauru were exploitative and not to the benefit of Nauruans. Australia intentionally suppressed information about its activities in Nauru. In 1968, Nauru brought Australia up before the International Court of Justice over the environmental devastation that they had caused on Nauru. [2]

Nauru and the B.P.C.

Nauru Island Agreement

Following its defeat in World War I, Germany was forced to relinquish all of its territorial assets around the world, including the island of Nauru. Nauru then came under joint trusteeship of the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

In 1919, the three trustees signed the Nauru Island Agreement, which entitled them to the phosphate of Nauru through the British Phosphate Commissioners. They bought back all the assets of the Pacific Phosphate Company for more than 3.5 million pounds [2] on 1 July 1920, and started to manage it directly on 1 January 1921, after a six-month transition period of PPC management. Most of PPC's former employees were retained by the BPC. [3]

From 1919 the responsibility for the welfare of the people of Nauru and Banaba, the restoring of land and water resources lost by mining operations and compensation for environmental damage to the islands was under the control of the governments of United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. [4]

B.P.C. Payments to Nauruans

Under a policy established under the German administration, royalty payments were given to landowners. In 1921, the British Phosphate Commissioners (under pressure from the Nauruan people) increased royalty payments from one-half pence to one and one-half pence per ton of phosphate extracted.

In 1927, a new agreement was reached, giving the Nauruans seven and one-half pence per ton.

By 1939, Nauruans were receiving 9% of the phosphate revenues. This amount is still somewhat insignificant because at this time, Nauruan phosphate was selling far below world market prices.

Pricing and Profits

Throughout B.P.C. control, significant profits were made. In 1948, revenues from the island's phosphate reached $745,000. As the B.P.C. was controlled by its partner governments and was a major supplier of phosphate, it had an effective monopoly over the supply of phosphate to the markets in Australia and New Zealand, and could determine the price of phosphate delivered to those markets. [5] The B.P.C. tied the pice for Ocean Island phosphate to the price paid for Nauru phosphate, however, the BPC would vary the price paid for phosphate. For example, around 1970, Nauru phosphate was sold to Japan at $14 and $15 a ton, but sold into the markets in Australia and New Zealand at $12.30. [5]

Transfer of Ownership

In 1967 the Nauruans purchased the assets of the B.P.C. and, in 1970, the newly independent Republic of Nauru established the Nauru Phosphate Corporation.

Banaba and the B.P.C.

Litigation

In 1965, the Banaban islanders, after decades of land disputes, royalty fees, and "exploitation," started legal litigation against the British Phosphate Commissioners in British court. After more than a decade, the case finally came to an end, with the Banabans only being awarded £1 and were still made to pay their own legal fees of more than £300,000.

The Australian government through the B.P.C. offered £780,000 in reparations.

Christmas Island and the B.P.C.

Christmas Island Phosphate Company

The first European to recommend mining of phosphate for commercial exploitation was Sir John Murray, a British naturalist, during the 1872–76 Challenger expedition. His discovery led to annexation of the island by the British Crown on 6 June 1888. [6] [7]

In 1900 the Pacific Islands Company Ltd commenced mining on Ocean Island, with 1550 tons shipped from September to December 1901 and 13,350 tons in the following year. [8] John T. Arundel and Lord Stanmore, directors of PIC, were responsible for financing the new opportunities and negotiating with the German company that controlled the licences to mine in Nauru. [1] In 1902 the interests of PIC were merged with Jaluit Gesellschaft of Hamburg, to form the Pacific Phosphate Company Ltd (PPC), to engage in phosphate mining in Nauru and Ocean Island. [9]

Christmas Island and the B.P.C.

Following the Nauru Agreement of 2 July 1919 the interests of the PPC in the phosphate deposits in Nauru and Ocean Island were acquired by the governments of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, which carried out mining under the direction of the Board of Commissioners, which represented the three governments. [10] [9]

Post B.P.C. Mining

In March 1981, the Phosphate Mining Company of Christmas Island (PMCI), a company established and controlled by the Australian Government, took over mining operations [11] This arrangement lasted until December 1987 when the company was disbanded. The mining operation was then taken over by the Union of Christmas Island Workers.

See also

Nauru

Further reading

Related Research Articles

History of Kiribati Historical development of Kiribati

The islands which now form the Republic of Kiribati have been inhabited for at least seven hundred years, and possibly much longer. The initial Austronesian peoples’ population, which remains the overwhelming majority today, was visited by Polynesian and Melanesian invaders before the first European sailors visited the islands in the 17th century. For much of the subsequent period, the main island chain, the Gilbert Islands, was ruled as part of the British Empire. The country gained its independence in 1979 and has since been known as Kiribati.

Nauru Country in Oceania

Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km (190 mi) to the east. It further lies northwest of Tuvalu, 1,300 km (810 mi) northeast of Solomon Islands, east-northeast of Papua New Guinea, southeast of the Federated States of Micronesia and south of the Marshall Islands. With only a 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) area, Nauru is the third-smallest country in the world behind Vatican City and Monaco, making it the smallest republic as well as the smallest island nation. Its population of about 10,000 is the world's second-smallest, after Vatican City.

History of Nauru Anthropological account of the island, Nauru

The history of human activity in Nauru, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, began roughly 3,000 years ago when clans settled the island.

Banaba Island in the South Pacific Ocean

Banaba is an island of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. A solitary raised coral island west of the Gilbert Island Chain, it is the westernmost point of Kiribati, lying 185 miles (298 km) east of Nauru, which is also its nearest neighbour. It has an area of 6 square kilometres, and the highest point on the island is also the highest point in Kiribati, at 81 metres (266 ft) in height. Along with Nauru and Makatea, it is one of the important elevated phosphate-rich islands of the Pacific.

Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore

Arthur Charles Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore was a British Liberal Party politician and colonial administrator. He had extensive contact with Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone.

Rabi Island Island

Rabi is a volcanic island in northern Fiji. It is an outlier to Taveuni, in the Vanua Levu Group. It covers an area of 66.3 square kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of 463 meters and has a shoreline of 46.2 kilometers. With a population of around 5,000, Rabi is home to the Banabans who are the indigenous landowners of Ocean Island; the indigenous Fijian community that formerly lived on Rabi was moved to Taveuni after the island was purchased by the British government. The original inhabitants still maintain their links to the island, and still use the Rabi name in national competitions.

British Western Pacific Territories Colonial entity

The British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) was the name of a colonial entity, created in 1877, for the administration, under a single representative of the British Crown, styled High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, of a series of Pacific islands in and around Oceania. Except for Fiji and the Solomon Islands, most of these colonial possessions were relatively minor.

Albert Ellis (prospector) Prospector in the Pacific who discovered phosphate deposits on Nauru and Banaba

Sir Albert Fuller Ellis was a prospector in the Pacific. He discovered phosphate deposits on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba in 1900. He was the British Phosphate Commissioner for New Zealand from 1921 to 1951.

Makatea Atoll in French Polynesia

Makatea, or Mangaia-te-vai-tamae, is a raised coral atoll in the northwestern part of the Tuamotus, which is a part of the French overseas collectivity of French Polynesia. It is located 79 kilometres (49 mi) southwest from Rangiroa to the west of the Palliser group, which also is in French Polynesia. Makatea is surrounded by spectacular cliffs, rising to a plateau 80 metres (260 ft) above sea level. This island is 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) long, with a maximum width of 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) in the south. It is 24 square kilometres (9.3 sq mi) in area. Makatea is one of the only four islands of the Tuamotu Archipelago that do not take the form of a typical atoll.

John T. Arundel Guano and copra entrepreneur

John T. Arundel was an English entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of the mining of phosphate rock on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba. Williams & Macdonald (1985) described J.T. Arundel as "a remarkable example of that mid-Victorian phenomenon, the upright, pious and adventurous Christian English businessman."

Australia–Nauru relations Bilateral relations

Foreign relations exist between Australia and Nauru. Australia administered Nauru as a dependent territory from 1914 to 1968 and has remained one of Nauru's foremost economic and aid partners thereafter. Nauru has a High Commission in Canberra and a consulate-general in Brisbane. Australia is one of only two countries to have a High Commission in Nauru. Both countries are members of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Nauruan nationality law

Nauruan nationality law is regulated by the 1968 Constitution of Nauru, as amended; the Naoero Citizenship Act of 2017, and its revisions; custom; and international agreements entered into by the Nauruan government. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Nauru. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Nauruan nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in the Nauru or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth to parents with Nauruan nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalization.

The Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust (NPRT) was a sovereign wealth fund developed by the government of the Republic of Nauru in which the government invested money from the state-owned mining company, Nauru Phosphate Corporation. This money was then re-invested in a real estate portfolio, among other things, to provide the government with a reliable national income following the depletion of minable phosphates on the island. Although at one time successful, mismanagement and corruption later essentially bankrupted the fund, thus virtually bankrupting the entire Republic.

German attacks on Nauru German attacks on nauru during the Second World War

The German attacks on Nauru refers to the two attacks on Nauru in December 1940. Nauru is an island country in Micronesia, a subregion of Oceania, in the Central Pacific. These attacks were conducted by auxiliary cruisers between 6 and 8 December and on 27 December. The raiders sank five Allied merchant ships and inflicted serious damage on Nauru's economically important phosphate-loading facilities. Despite the significance of the island to the Australian and New Zealand economies, Nauru was not defended and the German force did not suffer any losses.

Phosphate mining in Banaba and Nauru

The economy of Nauru and Banaba has been almost wholly dependent on phosphate, which has led to environmental catastrophe on these islands, with 80% of the islands’ surface having been strip-mined. The phosphate deposits were virtually exhausted by 2000 although some small-scale mining is still in progress on Nauru. Mining ended in 1979 on Banaba.

Japanese occupation of Nauru

The Japanese occupation of Nauru was the period of three years during which Nauru, a Pacific island under Australian administration, was occupied by the Japanese military as part of its operations in the Pacific War during World War II. With the onset of the war, the islands that flanked Japan's South Seas possessions became of vital concern to Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and in particular to the Imperial Navy, which was tasked with protecting Japan's outlying Pacific territories.

<i>Tito v Waddell (No 2)</i>

Tito v Waddell [1977] Ch 106 is an English trusts law case, concerning what counts as a trust, and creates fiduciary duties, and when specific performance will be ordered. It is important as an historical case that forced the eviction of the people from the island of Banaba. On the points of specific performance, it has been superseded in the cases of Ruxley Electronics Ltd v Forsyth. It stands as an historical example of an indigenous community exploited and expropriated by the mercantile mining interests of the British Empire.

The 1948 Nauru riots occurred when Chinese labourers employed on the phosphate mines refused to leave the island. At the time, Nauru was administered by Australia as a United Nations trust territory, with New Zealand and the UK as co-trustees.

Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands Period in the history of Kiribati

The Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands was the period in the history of Kiribati between 1941 and 1945 when Imperial Japanese forces occupied the Gilbert Islands during World War II, in the Pacific War theatre.

Cyril George Fox Cartwright was a British Colonial Service administrator. He died during the Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands.

References

  1. 1 2 Maslyn Williams & Barrie Macdonald (1985). The Phosphateers. Melbourne University Press. ISBN   0-522-84302-6.
  2. 1 2 Pedersen, Susan (2015). The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire. Oxford University Press. pp. 75–76. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570485.001.0001/acprof-9780199570485. ISBN   978-0-19-957048-5.
  3. ↑ Ellis, Albert F. (1935). Ocean Island and Nauru; Their Story. Sydney, Australia: Angus and Robertson, limited. OCLC   3444055.
  4. ↑ ICJ Pleadings, Oral Arguments, Documents, Case Concerning Certain Phosphate Lands in Nauru (Nauru v. Australia) Application: Memorial of Nauru (January 2004) ISBN   978-92-1-070936-1 (United Nations, International Court of Justice)
  5. 1 2 "A Temporary Reprieve for the Gilbert and Ellice Islands". 42(2) Pacific Islands Monthly. 1 February 1971. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  6. ↑ "History". Christmas Island Tourism Association. Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Maslyn Williams & Barrie Macdonald (1985). The Phosphateers. Melbourne University Press. pp. 15–21, 23–26, 56. ISBN   0-522-84302-6.
  8. ↑ Ellis, Albert F. (1935). Ocean Island and Nauru; Their Story. Sydney, Australia: Angus and Robertson, limited. p. 106. OCLC   3444055.
  9. 1 2 Maslyn Williams & Barrie Macdonald (1985). The Phosphateers. Melbourne University Press. pp. 10–21, 55–58. ISBN   0-522-84302-6.
  10. ↑ Ellis, Albert F. (1935). Ocean Island and Nauru; Their Story. Sydney, Australia: Angus and Robertson, limited. p. 179. OCLC   3444055.
  11. ↑ Maslyn Williams & Barrie Macdonald (1985). The Phosphateers. Melbourne University Press. p. 553. ISBN   0-522-84302-6.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.