‘We would be deaf and blind without Pine Gap.’ — Kim Beazley Now in its sixth decade of operation, the Pine Gap facility, outside Alice Springs, is a remarkable element of Australia’s alliance with the United …
For political tragics, there’s not much than can surprise about John Howard. His consistency reaches towards the rigid. But here’s a statement to puzzle tragics: J.W. Howard—when in power—was a good, pragmatic multilateralist. During nearly …
The annual release of hitherto secret cabinet papers now takes us back to the last great Oz outbreak of Francophobia—rage and fear about the French in the South Pacific. The 1994 and 1995 cabinet records …
Come back with me to a wonderful time when the Cold War had been won and Australia was cashing in the peace dividend. Spend money on the military? Naaah! Squeeze ’em. The release by the …
In Jakarta’s presidential palace in December 1995, Australia’s Prime Minister Paul Keating stood with Indonesia’s President Suharto as their two foreign ministers signed a security treaty. Keating was ebullient. Here was Australia as a regional …