Hammer DeRoburt

Campaign for independence

In 1962, DeRoburt and his fellow NLGC members Raymond Gadabu and Joseph Detsimea Audoa attended a meeting of the Trusteeship Council and formally called for a transition to independence, stating that "the sovereignty of the Nauruan people lies in the Nauruan race and our government should be answerable to that power [...] we desire the Nauruan nation to be sovereign and free to govern itself".

In response, the Trusteeship Council developed a plan for Nauruans to be resettled in Australia and given self-government. The Australian government's Department of Territories offered that Nauruans be resettled on Queensland's Curtis Island and given full Australian citizenship. DeRoburt and the NLGC resolved to only accept this proposal if Nauruans were given full sovereignty over Curtis Island, which the Australian government rejected. They consequently "resolved to reject resettlement altogether, and push for sovereign independence on Nauru – including rehabilitation of the island's central plateau at the expense of the tripartite governments". This was subsequently accepted by the Trusteeship Council, which in 1965 resolved to support Nauruans' aspirations for independence.

DeRoburt subsequently became a key figure in the independence negotiations known as the Nauru Talks, which took place between 1965 and 1967. His lobbying of the Trusteeship Council and UN General Assembly was key in securing virtually all desired concessions from the Australian government, which was ambivalent towards independence. In June 1967, DeRoburt signed the Nauru Island Phosphate Industry Agreement on behalf of the NLGC, which provided for a transition to Nauruan ownership of phosphate reserves and removed one of the last stumbling blocks in the independence negotiations. The Nauru Independence Act 1967 gave Nauru independence with effect from 31 January 1968.

Presidency of post-independence Nauru

Electoral and political record

On 31 January 1968, Nauru's Independence Day, DeRoburt was elected by the Legislative Assembly as one of the five members of the Council of State, an interim body tasked with exercising executive power pending the adoption of a final constitution. He was elected chairman of the Council of State, serving until 17 May 1968 when the legislature unanimously elected him as the country's inaugural president upon the adoption of the new constitution. Austin Bernicke and Buraro Detudamo received nominations but declined to stand for election.

In addition to the presidency, DeRoburt assumed the cabinet portfolios of external affairs, internal affairs, and island development and industry. He was re-elected as president unopposed in January 1971 after the 1971 Nauruan parliamentary election. In his second term, DeRoburt faced opposition from a ginger group of young MPs, who felt he had mismanaged the economy, was governing without consultation, and had failed to renew his cabinet. His opponents formed the Nauru Party, the first formal political party on the island. In July 1976, parliament failed to pass financial legislation introduced by DeRoburt. He treated the defeat as a motion of no confidence and resigned as president, but renominated himself in the ensuing election and was re-elected unopposed.

On 22 December 1976, following the 1976 Nauruan parliamentary election, DeRoburt was unexpectedly defeated in his bid for re-election to the presidency, with 30-year-old Bernard Dowiyogo defeating him by nine votes to seven and appointing a Nauru Party cabinet. Dowiyogo had reportedly not expected to win the ballot and offered to resign in DeRoburt's favour if he agreed to make concessions on cabinet choices, but DeRoburt refused to do so. He subsequently pressured Dowiyogo to resign and moved a motion attempting to declare Dowiyogo's election as unconstitutional, on the grounds that the constitution had not allowed for party politics.

DeRoburt remained an influential figure in Nauruan politics following his ouster and with his supporters managed to force Dowiyogo to an early election in November 1977. Dowiyogo was re-elected as president, but remained in office only until April 1978 when he resigned following a defeat on a phosphate royalties bill. His successor Lagumot Harris was ousted only a month later on a vote on an appropriations bill, with DeRoburt returning as president.

DeRoburt's second term in office lasted until his resignation on 19 September 1986 and replacement by Kennan Adeang. Adeang's government collapsed only two weeks, with DeRoburt returning as president on 1 October 1986.

Domestic affairs

In his first years in office, DeRoburt's government established the Nauru Phosphate Corporation to continue phosphate mining, under the terms agreed prior to independence. Profits from phosphate mining were used to establish Air Nauru, the first national carrier, and Nauru Pacific Shipping Lines.

Foreign affairs

In his final term, DeRoburt's government filed a case against Australia in the International Court of Justice for not rehabilitating mined-out areas of the island. His last public appearance was in the ICJ hearing in November 1991.

Personal life

DeRoburt married Lukale Rowena Harris in 1950, with whom he had one daughter. He was predeceased by his wife and died on 15 July 1992 while in Melbourne for medical treatment. He was accorded a state funeral, before being buried in Boe cemetery, Nauru.

He was given an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982.

DeRoburt is credited with popularising Australian rules football to Nauru, which became the national sport.