Editing Christmas Island (section)

==Economy==
Phosphate mining had been the only significant economic activity, but in December 1987 the Australian government closed the mine. In 1991, the mine was reopened by Phosphate Resources Limited, a consortium that included many of the former mine workers as shareholders and is the largest contributor to the Christmas Island economy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cirp.com.au/about-us/social-economic-impact/|title=Social & Economic Impact|access-date=15 April 2021|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415053329/https://cirp.com.au/about-us/social-economic-impact/|url-status=live}}</ref>

With the support of the government, the $34&nbsp;million [[Christmas Island Resort|Christmas Island Casino and Resort]] opened in 1993 but was closed in 1998. {{As of|2011}}, the resort has re-opened without the casino.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cowie|first=Tom|date=5 October 2018|title=With chips down, Christmas Island wants to gamble on casino revival|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/with-chips-down-christmas-island-wants-to-gamble-on-casino-revival-20181005-p5081d.html|access-date=2 February 2021|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|archive-date=23 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223084523/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/with-chips-down-christmas-island-wants-to-gamble-on-casino-revival-20181005-p5081d.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Australian government in 2001 agreed to support the creation of a commercial [[spaceport]] on the island; however, this has not yet been constructed and appears that it will not proceed. The Howard government built a temporary immigration detention centre on the island in 2001 and planned to replace it with a larger, modern facility at North West Point until Howard's defeat in the [[2007 Australian federal election|2007 elections]].