§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what communications have been received from the House of Assembly of the Gilbert Islands and the Government of Fiji concerning the future of Ocean Island.
§ Miss Joan Lestor:We have received no communications from the House of Assembly of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Government nor from the Government of Fiji concerning the future of Ocean Island.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the estimated revenue to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands dependency in 1973 and 1974 from royalties or profits on sales of phosphates mined from Ocean Island.
§ Miss Joan Lestor:The revenue received by the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony from taxation on the Ocean Island phosphate industry was Australian $2,909,944 in 1973. The estimated revenue for 1974 is Australian $10,000,000.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's present policy on the resettlement by the Banaban people on their ancestral home on Ocean Island.
§ Miss Joan Lestor:Her Majesty's Government's policy remains in accordance with the Statement of the Intentions of Government which was approved by a majority of the Banaban community in a secret ballot in May 1947. I am arranging to have a copy of the Statement of the Intentions of Government placed in the Library of the House.