Editing Ashmore and Cartier Islands (section)

==History==
According to Australian literature,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sajjacob.blogspot.com/2015/02/pulau-pasir-ashmore-reef-belongs-to.html |title=Pulau Pasir (Ashmore Reef) belongs to Indonesia |access-date=2019-08-13}}</ref> Cartier Island was visited by Captain Nash in 1800, and named after his ship ''Cartier''. 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.<ref name="lus19">{{cite web|url=https://passengers.history.sa.gov.au/node/927739
| title=Hibernia | date=21 January 2016 }}</ref> In December 1905, {{HMS|Cambrian|1893|6}} formally took possession of the Ashmore Islands on behalf of the United Kingdom. The ship's commander Captain [[Ernest Gaunt]] went ashore accompanied by five officers and around 200 seamen, erecting the [[Union Jack]] on a flagpole and singing "[[God Save the King]]", while ''Cambrian'' returned a [[21-gun salute]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/237703644|title=Hoisting the British Flag|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=Sydney|date=25 December 1905}}</ref>

After their annexation, the British Government occasionally granted licences on the islands for fishing or [[guano]] extraction.<ref name=sun>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/230201237|title=Our charge: history of new islands|newspaper=The Sun|location=Sydney|date=30 November 1933}}</ref> In the 1920s, the islands were used as a base for poachers targeting the [[Pearling in Western Australia|Western Australian pearling industry]]. The lack of effective policing led to Australian lobbying for a transfer of control.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223207423|title=Our new islands|newspaper=The Weekly Times|date=9 December 1933}}</ref>

A British [[order-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.<ref>{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Ashmore and Cartier Islands|access-date=2021-03-29|year=2021}}</ref> The Commonwealth's resulting ''Ashmore 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 the [[Governor of Western Australia]] to make ordinances for the territory. In July 1938 the territory was annexed to the [[Northern Territory]], then also administered by the Commonwealth, whose laws, ordinances and regulations applied to the Northern Territory. When [[self-government]] was granted to the Northern Territory [[Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978|on 1 July 1978]], administration of Ashmore and Cartier Islands was retained by the Commonwealth.<ref name=DIRD/><ref name=YrBk1981>{{cite book | last=Statistics | first=A.B. | title=Year Book Australia No. 67, 1983 | publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics | year=1997 | isbn=978-99946-0-289-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MVc4-noHRpIC&pg=PA2 | page=2}}</ref>

In 1947, interior minister [[Herbert Johnson (Australian politician)|Herbert 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".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206045360|title=Islands are Worthless: Minister Tells of Visit|newspaper=The Age|date=15 August 1947}}</ref>

In 1983, the territory was declared a nature reserve under the ''National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975'',<ref name=DIRD/> now replaced by the ''[[Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999]]''.<ref>''[http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/epabca1999588/ Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999]''</ref> Cartier Island, which was a former bombing range, became a marine reserve in 2000.

After the islands became a first point of contact with the [[Australian migration zone]], in September 2001, the Australian Government excised the Ashmore and Cartier Islands from the Australian migration zone.<ref name=DIRD/>

===Indonesian heritage and memorandum===
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 the [[MOU Box]], contains the Ashmore and Cartier Islands Territory.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/69f1fee5-5dfb-4da8-93ac-99f2eb9ea65c/files/visitors-information-brochureashmore-cartier.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/69f1fee5-5dfb-4da8-93ac-99f2eb9ea65c/files/visitors-information-brochureashmore-cartier.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island Commonwealth Marine Reserves: Information for visitors |access-date=17 August 2018 |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia 2014}}</ref>