In the 1950s, British and Australian government officials contemplated transferring sovereignty of the Solomon Islands from the United Kingdom to Australia. The Solomon Islands had close ties to Australia; it used the Australian pound, relied on Australian air and shipping services, employed many Australians as civil servants, and its businesses were dependent upon Australian capital. Some Australian officials argued that the British had shown little interest in the development of the islands, while British officials believed Australia did not have sufficient trained staff to take over the administration. Unlike Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and the New Hebrides, Australia made no formal request for a transfer of sovereignty. However, there were informal discussions between officials in the Colonial Office and the Australian Department of Territories. In 1956, Territories Minister Paul Hasluck proposed to cabinet that Australia take over the Solomons, with the support of External Affairs Minister Richard Casey. It was proposed that Australia would effectively double the annual development funds that the UK had allocated to the Solomons, from £1,073,533 to about £2 million. However, the Treasury Department was unenthused about the additional expenditure, and the Defence Department stated there was "no defence advantage in assuming responsibility" with the islands in British hands. Cabinet rejected the proposal. The first national election was held in 1964 for the seat of Honiara, and by 1967 the first general election was held for all but one of the 15 representative seats on the Legislative Council (the one exception was the Eastern Outer Islands constituency, which was again appointed by electoral college). Elections were held again in 1970 and a new constitution was introduced. The 1970 constitution replaced the Legislative and Executive Councils with a single Governing Council. It also established a 'committee system of government' where all members of the Council sat on one or more of five committees. The aims of this system were to reduce divisions between elected representatives and the colonial bureaucracy and to provide opportunities for training new representatives in managing the responsibilities of government. It was also claimed that this system was more consistent with the Melanesian style of government, however, this was quickly undermined by opposition to the 1970 constitution and the committee system by elected members of the council. As a result, a new constitution was introduced in 1974 which established a standard Westminster form of government and gave the Islanders both Chief Ministerial and Cabinet responsibilities. Solomon Mamaloni became the country's first Chief Minister in July 1974 and the Governing Council was transformed into the Legislative Assembly. The protectorate that existed over Solomon Islands was ended under the terms of the Solomon Islands Act 1978 which annexed the territories comprising the protectorate as part of Her Majesty’s dominions.