{"id":65627,"date":"2021-07-09T06:00:59","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T20:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=65627"},"modified":"2021-07-08T20:56:31","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T10:56:31","slug":"robert-menzies-australia-and-the-antarctic-treaty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/robert-menzies-australia-and-the-antarctic-treaty\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Menzies, Australia and the Antarctic Treaty"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sixty years ago this month, the first Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting was held in Canberra. It ran from 10 to 24 July 1961 and was attended by representatives from the 12 Antarctic claimant states: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the United States.<\/p>\n

The opening speech was given by the Australian prime minister, Robert Menzies. It marked a significant milestone in Australian foreign policy and in international affairs more broadly. It also marked the beginning of longstanding Australian political bipartisanship on major Antarctic issues\u2014the Antarctic Treaty enabling legislation was passed unanimously by both Houses of parliament.<\/p>\n

Australia, at first a cautious participant in the negotiations that led to the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in Washington in 1959, was influential in shaping the final text. Australia\u2019s minister for external affairs, R.G. Casey, played a key part in convincing the USSR to accept that the treaty protected the Soviets\u2019 interests as much as it did those of the Antarctic claimant states. The treaty entered into force in 1961 and its membership has since expanded beyond the original 12 parties to include 54 nations.<\/p>\n

Menzies referred specifically to Casey\u2019s role in the treaty negotiations\u2014\u2018Lord Casey \u2026 played a most active part in the negotiation of this Treaty\u2019\u2014and noted that Casey was at the time \u2018in the Soviet Union having a look at the Polar Institute at Leningrad\u2019.<\/p>\n

The treaty made Antarctica a non-militarised zone, banned military manoeuvres and prohibited nuclear-weapons testing. It declared that the Antarctic treaty area (all the globe below 60 degrees south) was to be used for peaceful purposes only.<\/p>\n

Menzies\u2019 speech reflected not only the core tenets of the treaty, but also Australia\u2019s strategic Antarctic interests.<\/p>\n

Outlining Australia\u2019s historical connections and proximity to the Antarctic, Menzies said:<\/p>\n

We, of course, are a country very close to the Antarctic. We have, over a number of years, had great interests in it. We have had the pleasure of being associated with some notable work of exploration in that part of the world \u2026<\/p>\n

So, we have not only a sense of neighbourhood about the Antarctic; we also have, over many years, a deep and practical interest in it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Menzies then went on to speak of the geopolitical importance of the treaty and the current meeting:<\/p>\n

To-day there are twelve nations represented here\u2014four of them \u2026 \u2018nuclear powers\u2019. This, I think, is tremendously significant, because the Treaty itself\u2014and the whole spirit in which it was conceived\u2014have concentrated round three major principles which we would do well to bear in mind. The first of these is that the region is not to be regarded as a region in which preparations for war or conflict can be engaged in. It would not, perhaps, be grammatically accurate to say that it is demilitarized, because it has never been militarized; but it is to be non-militarized \u2026<\/p>\n

The second thing about it is the emphasis that it places upon co-operation \u2026 [H]ere in the Antarctic, we are going to have, more and more as a result of this association between us, co-operation in scientific research \u2026 for the benefit of mankind all over the world.<\/p>\n

The third thing is that under the Treaty we have agreed to set aside the argument about territorial claims. Nobody abandons his own. We have made territorial claims in the Antarctic\u2014quite expansive ones. I dare say that there are nations represented here to-day who would not agree with some of our claims \u2026 [W]hen this Treaty was being negotiated it was agreed not to abandon claims but to put on one side the argument about them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addressing these three issues, in the language of his day, Menzies articulated the foundations of Australia\u2019s enduring Antarctic strategic interests:<\/p>\n