Economic Factors have been of dominant concern in Australian Foreign Policy decisions over the past 25 years

In this essay I will be talking about the impact of the fall of Singapore on Australia’s immediate security, and also be giving a brief background of important events during that time.

Australia’s response to the threat of communism after WW2 was extraordinary. Australia and its politicians immediately recognised what could happen of a result of the domino theory. With the Soviet Union influencing so many countries and causing China, Vietnam, and North Korea to turn Communist it was only matter of time until it reached Australia, and all in all this was when Australia took action.

Although Australia remains geographically isolated from the world, international trade still remains a main factor that allows Australia’s economy to prosper. Australia’s long history of trade has created tight links and connections with other nations. Being a member of many worldwide organisations, Australia has produced many free trade agreements with countries around the world. However, recently Australia has seen a change in the composition and direction of its trade and has developed a strong trade link with the Asia-Pacific Region.

Australia’s presence in the ANZUS and SEATO alliances has been very important in our past. The ANZUS agreement which involved Australia, New Zealand and The United States said that they would “*come to one another’s aid in the event of an attack*” (Retro Active 2 p166 paragraph 1). This was formed in 1951. The SEATO alliance (South-East Asia Collective Defense Treaty), which was the one our involvement in Vietnam was based around involved Australia, Britain, United States, France and New Zealand. They all agreed that they would help protect Laos, Cambodia,

Australia’s first anti-terror laws were enacted in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11 (Prof Andrew Lynch 2010). In recent years, increasing Australian involvement in international conflict has seen these laws shift to accommodate alarming trends in home grown terrorism (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 2014). Sydney’s 2014 terror raids prompted the most significant changes to Australia’s counter terrorism legislation in the last decade (Commonwealth of Australia Department of Defence 2015). Amendments granted law enforcement and intelligence agencies new and somewhat controversial powers, in the name of national security.

In the twentieth century after World War 2 the world was threatened by the takeover of communist that had begun to consume the globe. The Australian government identified that the fear ideology communism will take over the country if no actions were taken to stand against and stop it. The Australian government provided support and participated in several military conflicts during the Cold War to reduce the threat of communist around the world. However, the longest of Australia’s military engagement was the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975. Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War was mainly centred on its fear of the ‘Domino Theory’, and its relations with the U.S through the Foreign policy which involved the ‘Forward Defence’ policy. The

In 1945, after World War II had finished, Australia finally felt at peace – that was until Communism began to have an effect on the entire world. Australia had a lot to fear, with the threat likely to infiltrate the country both domestically (an established Communist Party) and internationally (a geographical location close to countries that had already fallen victim to communism, such as China and Korea). Australia responded to both of these threats in a way that caused a lot of political controversy and has created bonds with other parts of the world that are still activated today.

Australia is considered among important allies of United States. In the Vietnam war Australia sent a force of 50 000. Being situated in Southern Hemisphere of Southeast Asia, Australia has to face exceptional defense challenges much more than neighboring partner. Historically Australia seems to be willing to accept the major role in military interventions in the surrounding area as can be seen in East Timor.

In conclusion, policies were put into place both nationally and internationally in order to fight communism within Australia and without. Internationally, Australia sought to form closer ties with her strong allies and so formed treaties to bring them together. Doing this helped the Menzies government in their bid to contain communism and stop the Domino Theory. To contain communism the Menzies government needed to introduce Forward Defence and “defend” Australia from the potential threat of communism. Australia entered the Korean War, Vietnam War and Malayan Emergency to do this. Within Australia, the use of propaganda also helped fight the threat. By attempting to ban the Communist Party of Australia and claiming that a Soviet spy ring worked in Australia, the government spread the fear of communism; people thought that communism had to be dangerous if the government got involved with it. With the use of those policies and

This essay will be arguing that Australia’s historical fear of invasion does continue to influence Australia’s foreign policy today. This essay believes that the fear of invasion in Australia has evolves and changes over time from a traditional realist perspective that focused on states, to one focused on individuals and non-state actors. Firstly, this essay will briefly discuss the previous fears of invasion, from the introduction of the White Australia Policy to the War on Terror, and how events in Australia’s past shaped foreign policy. Secondly, this essay will discuss the current, evolved fear of invasion Australia experiences. How it has evolved away from the threat of invasion of another state or foreign political system to the invasion of individual people and conflicting ideologies. Lastly, this essay will briefly discuss foreign policy and the relation it has to the new fear of invasion. The policy that will be discussed is immigration restrictions and the treatment of people who have attempted to enter Australia informally.

In 2010, the Australian Federal Government released its Counter-Terrorism White Paper. It stipulates that Australia’s counter-terrorism strategy has four fundamental key points: (The Counter-Terrorism White Paper, 2010, p iii) Analysis - focussed on prevention through intelligence, protection - focussed on border management and increased airport security, Response - cooperative relationships between Intelligence, security and Law enforcement agencies nationally and Resilience - Unified rejection

During the Cold War Australia’s culture had been renewed by the many American troops that came to Australia. This factor influenced and strengthened Australia’s bond with the US. Similarly, during the Cold War Australia and New Zealand were geographically isolated meaning both countries were in need of support, at the same time the US needed help with the financial burden of the war. This meant both nations would benefit each other during this certain period. Also Australia as a whole wanted to guarantee the Americans support in the future. The Prime Minister at the time thought that by supporting the Americans, Australia would have stronger ties with the US, on the economic, political and military fronts. This played a vital role in impacting Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam

The Fraser government continued this policy direction with China, which was strengthened even further during the Hawke and Keating years (1983-96). The Howard government has continued this policy and has chosen to place economic and trade considerations above ideology. Pursuit of a strong bilateral relationship with China by Australian Labor governments might have been predicted on political grounds but, increasingly, as the world moves to embrace a global village profile governments of all political persuasion’s are shaping the foreign policies on the basis of national economic self interest.

The U.S. and Australian alliance share an interest in maintaining the peace and stability in the Asian- Pacific

Australia imports generously a larger number of merchandise and administrations from the USA than it fares to it. As shown in source B1, exports to the US are 15,533 million AUD, compared to the 39,181 million AUD that is imported from America. Australia’s exchange deficiency with the USA has enhanced marginally since 1998, from a top of $14.2b in that year, to $12.5b in 2003. It was at its most minimal in 2011 at $10.7b, when the $A conversion standard was least against the $US. Somewhere around 2010 and 2012 Australia 's fares to the USA were worth over $16.2b every year, except they tumbled to $14.2b in 2013. The USA got 10% of Australia 's aggregate fares in 2013, down from 12% in 2010. The USA 's relative significance to Australia as a