House of Representatives Committees

| Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories

Note: This page contains links to PDF files. For more information, see the web page on Accessing files.

Inquiry into the changing economic environment in the Indian Ocean Territories

1 April 2010

View the report as a single document - (PDF 1091KB)

View the report as separate downloadable parts:


Preliminary Pages	(PDF 92KB)
Chair’s foreword Membership of the committee Committee secretariat Terms of reference List of abbreviations List of recommendations

Chapter 1 Introduction	(PDF 184KB)
Background to the inquiry Committee objectives, scope and key principles Conduct of the inquiry Role of the committee Findings of the 2006 inquiry Reader guide and structure of the report

Chapter 2 Legislative and governance structures in Australia’s Indian Ocean Territories	(PDF 101KB)
A brief history Cocos (Keeling) Islands Law reform and the legal framework applied in the Indian Ocean Territories Governance framework and service delivery Role of the shire councils

Chapter 3 The economic environment of the Indian Ocean Territories	(PDF 233KB)
Introduction A snapshot of the IOTs economies Cocos (Keeling) Islands Phosphate mining on Christmas Island Economic, social and environmental impact of phosphate mining Phosphate mining life span and future options Conclusions Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre Conclusions Fostering economic development Conclusions Role of the Government Role of the Shire Councils Conclusions Effectiveness of managing tenders and handling administrative complaints Administrative complaints mechanisms Conclusions

Chapter 4 Emerging industries	(PDF 380KB)
Introduction Impact of the changing demographic Potential new growth industries Identifying niche markets Tourism (including ecotourism) Developing the tourism industry Destination promotion and marketing and the price of airfares Tourism infrastructure requirements Conclusions Education partnerships and research centres Conclusions Agriculture and aquaculture Conclusions Renewable energy Conclusions Housing issues and options Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Land use and heritage considerations Crown Land Management Plan Land release and development Conclusions The impact of climate change Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Conclusions

Chapter 5 Information communication technology	(PDF 126KB)
Introduction Internet services Standard of internet service delivery Current cost of internet service delivery Options for improving quality of internet service delivery Conclusions Mobile telephony services Conclusions Radio services Conclusions Digital television services Conclusions

Chapter 6 Transportation	(PDF 125KB)
Introduction Sea freight and shipping services Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Conclusions Air freight and passenger travel Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Conclusions Removal of cabotage restrictions Infrastructure requirements Conclusions

Appendix A - Submissions	(PDF 40KB)

Appendix B – Exhibits	(PDF 51KB)

Appendix C – Hearings and witnesses	(PDF 50KB)