Rebellion in the ‘Near North’ The response of the Australian Government to the Indonesian Outer-Island Rebellion, 1956-1959.

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the response of the Australian government to the outbreak of the Indonesian Outer-Island rebellion and the American intervention-through the CIA- to support the rebels against the Central Government in Jakarta. The Australia-Indonesia bilateral relationship is considered one of Australia’s most crucial diplomatic relationships. This thesis will situate the Australian response to the rebellion within the historical context of Australia’s post-1945 engagement with Asia, the Cold War, and the process of decolonisation in Southeast Asia. Drawing on a variety of Australia and American primary sources, including diplomatic cables, government memoranda, private letters, press releases, reports, oral histories, and newspapers, the thesis will analysis how Australian politicians, diplomats and military officials dealt with a major foreign policy crisis in what Prime Minister Menzies called the “near north”.