The collapse of Australian cold war policy: John Gorton’s management of the American-Australian alliance in a time of crisis

Abstract

Between 1968 and 1971 the Australian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister John Gorton, began to rethink its foreign and defence policy: from one that had as its central tenet a strong relationship with ‘great and powerful friends’ and fighting communism in Asia, to one that saw Australia withdraw from overseas military action in Vietnam and take on a greater degree of self-reliance. This rethink was thrust on Gorton by British and American announcements to play a lesser role in Southeast Asian affairs, announcements that meant, in effect, the collapse of Australia’s Cold War policy. Such changes in relation to British and American intentions to remain engaged in the region prompted a wave of unprecedented national soul-searching in Australia, a key part of which was the task of re-setting the coordinates of Australian defence policy towards a more self-reliant posture. This thesis examines the way in which Prime Minister Gorton went about re-setting those coordinates. It does this by placing his management of the alliance in the broader context of Australian Cold War policy and foreign relations, and assessing his management of a series of crises that shook the foundations of Australian foreign policy almost immediately after he became prime minister. It is argued that the political and diplomatic situation Gorton inherited in 1968 – and the emphasis that had been placed on the importance of maintaining a strong relationship with America in particular - severely limited his ability to manage the alliance with certainty and clarity in a time of crisis. By analysing Gorton’s management of foreign relations and defence policy more closely than has previously been done, the thesis sheds light on Australian foreign and defence policy in the Cold War, and also on the contribution Gorton made to taking the first steps towards the development of a more self-reliant Australian foreign policy.