Editing Christmas Island (section)

===Transfer to Australia===
The United Kingdom transferred sovereignty of Christmas Island to Australia at the latter's request, with a $20&nbsp;million payment from the Australian government to [[Colony of Singapore|Singapore]] as compensation for the loss of earnings from the phosphate revenue.<ref>{{cite AV media |department=Department of External Affairs in Australia |date=16 May 1957 |title=Report from the Australian High Commission in Singapore to the Department of External Affairs in Australia |place=Singapore |publisher=National Archives of Singapore |medium=microfilm |id=NAB 447}}</ref> The United Kingdom's Christmas Island Act was given royal assent on 14&nbsp;May 1958 by Queen Elizabeth II, enabling Britain to transfer authority over Christmas Island from Singapore to Australia by an order-in-council.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19580516.2.20.2.aspx |title=All set for transfer. |date=16 May 1958 |newspaper=The Straits Times |page=2 |access-date=8 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906024518/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19580516.2.20.2.aspx |archive-date=6 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Australia's Christmas Island Act was passed in September&nbsp;1958, and the island was officially placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1&nbsp;October 1958.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13849897 |author=Kerr, A. |year=2009 |title=A federation in these seas: An account of the acquisition by Australia of its external territories, with selected documents |publisher=Attorney General's Dept. (A.C.T. Barton) |page=329 |id=call no.: R 325.394 KER |access-date=8 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903213829/http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13849897 |archive-date=3 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> This transfer did not see any process involving the local population, who could remain Singaporean citizens or obtain Australian citizenship. Links between Singapore and Christmas Island have occasionally reemerged in Singaporean politics and in [[Australia–Singapore relations]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/diego-garcia-unnerving-neighbours-raising-ghosts |title=Diego Garcia: Unnerving neighbours and raising ghosts |author=Ashton Robinson |work=The Interpreter |date=18 December 2019 |access-date=4 October 2024}}</ref><ref name="Chan2022">{{cite journal |author1=Ying-kit Chan |title=Who, or What, is Lost: Singapore's Impressions of Christmas Island, c. 1960–1990 |journal=MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities |volume=25 |pages=1–16 |year=2022 |url=http://www.manusya.journals.chula.ac.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/MNYA_025_01_innerwork-22-37.pdf |doi=10.1163/26659077-24030009}}</ref>

Under Commonwealth Cabinet Decision 1573 of 9&nbsp;September 1958, D.E. Nickels was appointed the first official representative of the new territory.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1200578 |title=Mr.&nbsp;D.E. Nickels and Mrs.&nbsp;Nickels interviewed by Jan Adams in the Christmas Island life story oral history project|journal=Christmas Island Life Story Oral History Project |year=1986 |publisher=National Library of Australia |access-date=13 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317123411/http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1200578 |archive-date=17 March 2014 |url-status=live|last1=Nickels |first1=D. E. |last2=Neale |first2=Margo |last3=Adams |first3=Jan }}</ref> In a media statement on 5&nbsp;August 1960, the [[Australian Federal Minister for Territories|minister for territories]], [[Paul Hasluck]], said, among other things, that, "His extensive knowledge of the Malay language and the customs of the Asian people ... has proved invaluable in the inauguration of Australian administration ... During his two years on the island he had faced unavoidable difficulties ... and constantly sought to advance the island's interests."

[[John William Stokes]] succeeded Nickels and served from 1 October 1960, to 12 June 1966. On his departure, he was lauded by all sectors of the island community. In 1968, the official secretary was retitled an administrator and, since 1997, Christmas Island and the [[Cocos (Keeling) Islands]] together are called the [[Australian Indian Ocean Territories]] and share a single administrator resident on Christmas Island.

The village of [[Silver City, Christmas Island|Silver City]] was built in the 1970s, with aluminium-clad houses that were supposed to be [[cyclone]]-proof.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/nature/island/ep2/about4.htm |title=Island Life – Christmas Island – About |website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=26 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020208135014/http://www.abc.net.au/nature/island/ep2/about4.htm |archive-date=8 February 2002 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami]], centred off the western shore of [[Sumatra]] in Indonesia, resulted in no reported casualties, but some swimmers were swept some {{convert|150|m|ft}} out to sea for a time before being swept back in.<ref>Main article: [[Countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake]]</ref>