Government House is a heritage-listed

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

at Qantas Close,

West Island The West Island (, ) is the unofficial name given to the city, towns and boroughs at the western end of the Island of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada. It is generally considered to consist of the Lakeshore municipalities of Lachine (specific ...

Cocos (Keeling) Islands The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (), officially the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (; ), are an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and rel ...

, Australia. It was added to the

Australian Commonwealth Heritage List The Commonwealth Heritage List is a heritage register established in 2003, which lists places under the control of the Australian government, on land or in waters directly owned by the Crown (in Australia, the Crown in right of the Commonwealth ...

on 22 June 2004.

History

Government House was constructed in 1953 as part of the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

representation on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Although part of the West Island Housing Precinct, Government House is significantly different from the other Australian Government houses on the island.

Description

Government House is located on the ocean front at the southern end of the West Island housing precinct. It is set in an attractive garden landscape setting with open grasslands, palm trees and other specimen plantings of tropical vegetation. Government House is a large single-storey asbestos elevated building clad with asbestos sheeting. There is a separate garage and a brick guest house originally an asbestos clad structure. There is a formal driveway with white painted edges, a flag pole, fencing and the house it set up for formal entertaining. The site is enclosed with a white timber fence and has a formal entry with large trees planted at the entrance. In 2000 the condition of the house was assessed as good, although it is not currently used as a permanent residence. The garden and fence require some attention.

Heritage listing

Government House, constructed in , is an important symbol of Australian Government representation on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Government House is significant as an early house constructed for the Australian Government representative on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The presence of the Australian Government assisted the self determination of the

Cocos Malay Cocos Malay is a post-creolized variety of Malay, spoken by the Cocos Malays who predominantly inhabit the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island region which is a part/territory of Australia. Apart from Australia, this language is also ...

people. The house is significant as the catalyst for the development of the West Island settlement which grew after Government House was located on West Island. After 1953 other government, administrative and hospital quarters were constructed. Government House is a significant variant on other early Australian Government houses on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. It features a similar design, suited to local climatic conditions and includes a formal driveway with white painted edges, fencing, a flag pole and area for entertaining. It is sited with ocean frontage.

References

Bibliography

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Attribution

{{AHD-CC, name=Government House, fileNo=9/04/001/0017, id=105360, year=2019, accessdate=15 May 2019 Commonwealth Heritage List places in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands Official residences in Australia Houses in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Articles incorporating text from the Australian Heritage Database 1953 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1953