<P> Isolated acts of sabotage and the torpedoing of the Nissei Maru at the wharf on 17 November 1942 meant that only small amounts of phosphate were exported to Japan during the occupation . In November 1943, over 60% of the island's population was evacuated to Surabayan prison camps, leaving a total population of just under 500 Chinese and Malays and 15 Japanese to survive as best they could . In October 1945, HMS Rother re-occupied Christmas Island . </P> <P> After the war, seven mutineers were traced and prosecuted by the Military Court in Singapore . In 1947, five of them were sentenced to death . However, following representations made by the newly independent government of India, their sentences were reduced to penal servitude for life . </P> <P> At Australia's request, the United Kingdom transferred sovereignty to Australia, with a M $20 million payment from the Australian government to Singapore as compensation for the loss of earnings from the phosphate revenue . The United Kingdom's Christmas Island Act was given royal assent on 14 May 1958, enabling Britain to transfer authority over Christmas Island from Singapore to Australia by an order - in - council . Australia's Christmas Island Act was passed in September 1958 and the island was officially placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 October 1958 . </P> <P> Under Commonwealth Cabinet Decision 1573 of 9 September 1958, D. E. Nickels was appointed the first official representative of the new territory . In a media statement on 5 August 1960, the 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 ." </P>

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