The Nauru Building is a 52-storey building in Melbourne that was completed in 1977. Although located in Australia, the building was built with the investment of Nauru and was originally owned by the Government of Nauru. But in 2004, the ownership of the building changed from the Nauru government to Australia, so what happened?
Nauru is an island nation located in Oceania with an area of about 22 square kilometers, making it the third smallest country in the world, only larger than Monaco and the Vatican In Europe. The island is about 6 km long and 4 km wide, and the circumnavigation of the island is about 19 km. Now Nauru has a ring road, which is very suitable for sports, but the people who like to move around the island are basically foreign tourists, and Nauruans are quite disgusted by sports, which leads to 90% of Nauruans being overweight.
Nauruans don't like sports for three main reasons. One is that the locals think fat is beautiful, and Nauru holds beauty pageants, which are more popular the higher the tonnage. The second is that Nauru is located in the tropics and has a hot climate, which causes the locals to be very lazy and dislike sports. The third is that Nauru had a carefree time that made the locals get into a lazy habit.
This carefree time in Nauru lasted for more than three decades, beginning with independence in 1968 and continuing into the early 2000s. Discovered by the British in the 18th century and reduced to a German colony in the 19th century, Nauru was occupied by Australia after the outbreak of World War I until independence in 1968. During the Period of Australian Rule, Nauru's phosphate deposits were exported to all over the world, but in exchange for funds that australia owned, Nauruans could only get small benefits, until after Nauru independence, the benefits of phosphate mines began to fully belong to Nauruans, and Nauruans also ushered in a very good period.
Nauru, a small island in the Pacific Ocean, was originally home to seabirds, and a large amount of guano has accumulated over the years to form a rich phosphate deposit. Due to its abundant resources, Nauru became a land that Australia was reluctant to give up, but after resistance from the Nauruans and pressure from other countries, Australia finally agreed to Nauru's independence in 1968. Since then, Nauru's phosphate mines have come to their own disposal.
With the massive mining of phosphate mines, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world, and all kinds of jobs in the country were handed over to foreign workers, such as the Nauru Hospital at that time, which was a well-paid Australian medical expert, and the mining workers were also from many countries in the world, while Nauruans were only responsible for enjoying. But Nauruans who enjoy life also have a concern, that is, Nauru is a Pacific island, facing the threat of earthquake volcanoes and rising seawater. In order to enjoy life without worries, Nauru invested in a 52-storey building in Melbourne, Australia, so that when Nauru could not live, the whole country would migrate to Australia.
Named Nauru House, the tower was completed in 1977 and was the tallest building in all of Melbourne. After the completion of the building, Nauruans no longer had any worries and began to spend as much as they wanted, and many Nauruans at that time were keen on luxury goods, and each family had at least two luxury sports cars. Underpinning all this was unscrupulous and disorderly mining, and by the end of the 20th century, Nauru's phosphate mines were on the verge of depletion.
Losing its mineral resources, Nauru had no source of funds, but was accustomed to a luxurious life, and the nauruans began to borrow money to survive, and mortgaged all the luxury cars to Australia and New Zealand, including the Nauru Building in Melbourne. At that time, Australia and Nauru agreed that before 2003, Nauru had the right to redeem the Nauru Building, but the money from the Nauru mortgage continued to be used for luxury consumption, and there was no money to redeem the building, so in 2004, the Nauru Building was fully owned by Australia. After the various properties were sold out, Nauru sold out many of its benefits to Australia in exchange for Australian loans, so that many Australians jokingly referred to Nauru as a vassal state.