But since the industry ended there in 1980, the palms have been left to grow wild and the coconuts fall to the ground and are collected by locals for personal consumption.He secured a position with the local government as a community development officer, giving him an insight into why the island wasn't growing economically.
It was not until a UN-supervised referendum on April 6, 1984 that the people of the Cocos Islands were handed the same rights as other Australians. While most of the expat population came to the islands to fill public service positions, unemployment among the Cocos Malay community is high , and much of the work they find is part-time.
Mr Lacy's background in food science — he was a viticulturalist in his home state of Victoria — got him thinking about how he could put his skills to use on the islands, where all food and supplies are flown in. "Rather than complaining all the time about what we didn't have, like a sourdough bakery or nice funky cafe or even a farmers' market, I started to say, 'Well, if I am going to survive here in the small town, I have got to start to do things myself'," he recalled.