asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the deficit in the budget of the Gilbert Islands colony, and previously in that of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony, which was met by revenue derived from phosphates from Banaba (Ocean Island) in each year from 1946 to 1978.
Figures for all the 32 years in question are not readily available. Since 1965, phosphate revenue has been used to meet the nominal budgetary deficit—total ordinary recurrent expenditure less total ordinary recurrent revenue excluding phosphate revenue—in the following amounts:
| A$ million | |||
| 1965 | … | … | 0·4 |
| 1966 | … | … | 0·6 |
| 1967 | … | … | 0·6 |
| 1968 | … | … | 0·7 |
| 1969 | … | … | 0·9 |
| 1970 | … | … | 1·7 |
| 1971 | … | … | 1·6 |
| 1972 | … | … | 1·7 |
| 1973 | … | … | 1·9 |
| 1974 | … | … | 1·1 |
| 1975 | … | … | 7·3 |
| 1976 | … | … | 4·4 |
| 1977 | … | … | 7·7 |
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what sums have accrued to the Gilbert Islands revenue equalisation reserve fund in each year from 1946 to 1978; and what proportion of them derived from revenue from Banaban phosphates.
The fund was instituted in 1956 by an initial allocation of A£ 77,790 from war assets and A£ 200,000 from general revenue balances. Later contributions were:
| 1957 | … | … | … | … | A£25,000 |
| 1958 | … | … | … | … | 25,000 |
| 1959 | … | … | … | … | 25,000 |
| 1960 | … | … | … | … | 75,000 |
| 1961 | … | … | … | … | 75,000 |
| 1962 | … | … | … | … | — |
| 1963 | … | … | … | … | — |
| 1964 | … | … | … | … | — |
| 1965 | … | … | … | … | — |
| 1966 | … | … | … | … | — |
| 1967 | … | … | … | … | — |
| 1968 | … | … | … | … | A$700,000 |
| 1969 | … | … | … | … | 1,510,255 |
| 1970 | … | … | … | … | 1,049,773 |
| 1971 | … | … | … | … | 1,778,590 |
| 1972 | … | … | … | … | 995,389 |
| 1973 | … | … | … | … | 1,039,254 |
| 1974 | … | … | … | … | 6,888,761 |
| 1975 | … | … | … | … | 19,525,850 |
| 1976 | … | … | … | … | 2,705,263 |
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his estimate of the sum likely to be in the Gilbert Islands revenue equalisation reserve fund when the winning of phosphates from Banaban ceases, were the fund and payments into it from phosphate revenue to continue on the present pattern.
Approximately A$65 million.