Nauru became self-governing in January 1966, and following a two-year constitutional convention it became independent in 1968 under founding president Hammer DeRoburt. In 1967, the people of Nauru purchased the assets of the British Phosphate Commissioners, and in June 1970 control passed to the locally owned Nauru Phosphate Corporation. In come from the mines gave Nauruans one of the highest standards of living in the Pacific. In 1989, Nauru took legal action against Australia, in particular Australia's failure to remedy the environmental damage caused by phosphate mining.