White Paper Then and Now:
Returning to Self-Reliance as a Labor Leit-Motif
Author: Kim Beazley
Volume 5, Number 4 (Summer 2009), pp. 59-74.
Abstract
The 2009 Defence White Paper Force 2030 reprises ideas that were central to 1987 White Paper Defence of Australia. While there are important differences between both papers, important parallels exist in Labor’s approach to strategic policy in 1987 and 2009. This article examines Labor’s debate on defence policy in the context of the 1987 White Paper, when the author was Minister for Defence, and traces the influence of the ideas and settlements of that time to the present 2009 White Paper. Core elements of these ideas relate to Labor’s approach to self-reliance, and to the US alliance.
About the Author
Professor Kim Beazley is Professorial Fellow in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Western Australia, and former Defence Minister of Australia 1984-1990. kbeazley@cyllene.uwa.edu.au.
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