Middle Osborn Island

Middle Osborn

Middle Osborn
Geography
Coordinates	14.31822°S 125.0138918°E / -14.31822; 125.0138918
Total islands	1
Area	2,361 ha (5,830 acres)
Administration
Australia
Demographics
Population	0

Middle Osborn Island is an island off the coast of the Kimberley region in Western Australia.

Located on the western side of Admiralty Gulf and a part of the Bonaparte Archipelago, the island encompasses an area of 2,361 hectares (5,834 acres).[1] It is part of the Osborn Island group, which includes South West Osborn, Borda, Carlia, Steep Head and Kidney Island as well as West, North and Centre Rock.

The island is a volcanic plug.[2]

The traditional owners of the area are the Uunguu peoples of the Wunambal language group, whose name for the island is Ngurraali.[3]

The group was named in 1891 by Phillip Parker King after John Osborn, one of the Lords of the Admiralty.[1]

The air-breathing land snails, Kimberleymelon tealei and Carinotrachia admirale are both endemic to the island.[4]

In 2008 a boat carrying refugees that had travelled via Indonesia arrived at the island. The then immigration minister, Chris Bowen was attacked by the opposition over his "porous border protection policies".[5] Another boat arrived in 2010 with only two passengers and one crew on board.[6]

References

1. "Status Performance Assessment: Biodiversity conservation of Western Australian Islands" (PDF). Government of Western Australia. 1 April 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
2. Gordon Graham (1 August 2001). "North Kimberley 1 - (NK-1) Mitchell Bioregion" (PDF). Department of Environment. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
3. T. Vigilante; et al. (2013). "Biodiversity values on selected Kimberley Islands, Australia" (PDF). Western Australian Museum. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
4. Köhler F. (2010). "Three new species and two new genera of land snails from the Bonaparte Archipelago in the Kimberley, Western Australia (Pulmonata, Camaenidae)." Molluscan Research 30: 1-16. abstract, PDF.
5. "Illegal boat arrivals accelerate under Bowen watch". Liberal Party of Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
6. "Annual boat arrival in Western Australian water in 2010" (PDF). Project SafeCome Inc. 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2014.