Australia's Northern Shield?: Papua New Guinea and the Defence of Australia Since 1880

by Bruce Hunt

This book is the first to draw extensively on the recently released highly classified notes of the cabinet room discussions of successive Australian Governments, from 1950 to the mid-1970s. It details the changing attitude of the nation's leaders towards the place of Papua New Guinea in Australia's defense and security outlook. The Cabinet Notebooks provide an uncensored and unprecedented insight into the opinion of Australia's leaders towards Indonesia under Sukarno, Southeast Asia and Indo-China in general; the changing nature of relations with Britain and the United States; and towards Papua New Guinea. The cabinet room discussions reveal attitudes towards Asia and Australia's place in the region which are more nuanced, varied, and sensitive than previously known. They also illustrate the dominant influence of Prime Minister Robert Menzies and Deputy Prime Minister John McEwen in shaping Australia's response to the critical events of the time. Australia's Northern Shield? shows how, since colonial times, Australia has assessed the importance of Papua New Guinea by examining the ambitions of and threats from external sources, principally Imperial Germany, Japan, and Indonesia. It examines the significant change in Australia's attitude as this region approached independence in 1975, amid concerns as to the new nation's future stability and unity. The terms of Australia's long-term defense undertaking are examined in detail, and an examination is offered of the most recent attempts to define the strategic importance of Papua New Guinea to Australia. ( Investigating Power) [ Politics, History, Southeast Asian Studies]

408 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2017

Reviews

[Andrew Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

For all the recent talk of Australian's 'discovering' Asia and their place in the world, there is an enduring continuity in how the geography of Australia's region has been viewed. Well before Federation debates began about the risk of hostile countries coming through or via the Pacific islands to Australia's north and east. These fears were realised in World War Two and they continue to this day (see the controversy about a Chinese base in Vanuatu).

This book tells the story of PNG's role in this view. Only the book isn't really about PNG, but rather Australian thoughts towards it (especially while it was a colonial possession) and the potential for Indonesian hostility towards it (during the 1950s and 1960s as the Dutch left and Konfrontasi raged).

This is a valuable historical contribution. It will take you some time to chew through, and probably more one for the scholars than general public. While the book tells the story of 1880-2016, the vast bulk concentrates on the 1950-1976 period, giving a slightly uneven balance to the narrative. But given so little of Australia's defence history or thought has been told, making this an important addition.