The Navy Vol_37_Part1 (Feb-Mar-Apr, May-June-July 1975)

Best Wishes to All Members from theSOUTHERN DRUGCO LTD180 STURT STREETADELAIDE, SATelephone: 51 5452THE WOMBAT HOTEL(Pat and Kan McNab)Always a Warm Welcome and a Cold Beer on Tap19 TAYLOR ST, KADINA, SATelephone: Kadlna 211108Counter Lunches and TeasMonday to SaturdayCURRAMULKA HOTEL(Host Phil and Joan Guthridge)Accommodation AvailableCounter Meals Saturday NightsMAIN ST, CURRAMULKA, SATelephone: Curramulka 8SOUTHEBY'SCARS OF DISTINCTIONAgents for Fiat, also Late Model Quality VehiclesFull Workshop Facilities On Site75 MAIN SOUTH ROADREYNELLA, SATelephone: 3811165, 3811866BP Wakefield Roadhouse|(K. k M. JONtS, Props)]Restaurant — Take-away Foods — Fishing TackleBait — Porta Gas Refilling — Fast. EfficientDriveway ServiceHIGHWAY 1, PORT WAKEFIELD, SATelephone: 088 67 1143Best Wishes to All Members from . ..GLADSTONE HOTELDrop in for a Cold. Refreshing Glass with MineHost Henry BoxBONDOWIE STREETGLADSTONE, SATelephone: Gladstone 62 2015Best Wishes to All Ex-Servicemen from ..KINGOONYA ROADHOUSEKINGOONYA, SAMobil Petrol and Oils — Tyres. Tubes andBatteries — Diner. Take-away Foods — Serviceand Civility from Terry and Pop ChadwickTelephone: Kingoonya 7Tigeriine Esso RoadhouseEYRE HIGHWAY, KIMBA, SAe 8 Unit Motel • Caravan Park e Snack Bare Licensed Dining Room • All Motor Accessoriese Fast. Efficient ServiceSituated Western Side of KlmbaTelephone: Klmba 40The fundamental rationale underlyingthe national policy of the LaborGovernment has been that Australiahas been served increasinglypoorly in recent years by adherenceto cold war postures. The WhitlamGovernment, therefore, has placedmajor emphasis on terminatingactivities which appeared to beintensifying confrontation andintervention rather than bringingabout stable order and co-operativerelations in the Asian/Pacific region.There has been an unmistakabledischantment with its alliances, butthe Labor Government has not beenprepared to make radical changes,although it is very clear that thecountry would b" thrown back on itsown resources more than at anytime in the past. Mr Lance Barnard,the Labor Minister of Defence, oncesaid: "Most certainly, military andtechnical aid must be extended andexpanded to our friends in Asia, inassociation with a greatly expandedcivil aid programme, but we insistthat Australia's defence and itscommitments are best assured bythe concentration of the bulk of itsdefence forces on the Australianmainland."Isolationism remains an uiiderstreamin Australian politics. Thereare Australians, including some inhigh places, who would like to pullback to "Fortress Australia",abandon aid to Asia, build a nucleardeterrent, and put up "Keep Out"signboards around its shores.However, most Austra'ians stillaccept that their country cannotcontract out its Asian environment,and that the security of Australiawould be best ensured by thedevelopment of political stabilityand economic prosperity in its neighbourhood.SEATOand ANZUSSEATO has been a target of theLabor Party's criticism for a longtime. It is viewed principally as amilitary organisation and wasdescribed as "moribund" andirrelevant" by Mr Whitlam duringhis election campaign. However, theLabor Government has not yetmoved to withdraw Australia fromthe organisation because it could bedone only at the cost of considerabledispleasure in Washington..What seems more likely that it willstress the social and economicaspects of the treaty and graduallydecrease its participation of militaryactivities.Australia's two principal formalalliances are SEATO and ANZUS. AsSEATO's life expectancy is clearlylimited, what about the future ofANZUS? Although it was createdoriginally to assuage Australian andNew Zealand fears of a resurgentJapan. ANZUS has established amuch broader, and seemingly moresecure, assurance of 'Americanassistance against aggression. Theimportance of ANZUS is growingmarkedly as the British phase outtheir forces in Malaysia-Singapore,and as Australia's destiny becomesmore dependent on American policyin the Western Pacific. A withdrawalof American power from South-eastAsia, while it would be deeplyregretted, would not be catastrophic.Australia could accept adecline in its SEATO relationshipwith the United States because it hasANZUS to fall back onHowever, recent developmentshave demonstrated two importantfacts: (1) Until recently, the AustralianGovernment and publicopinion have placed unrealisticallyhigh expectations on the Americanalliance, as if the alliance were a substitutefor the effort of formulatingtheir own foreign policy. (2) Sincethe announcement of the NixonDoctrine, it has been obvious thatthe United States is going to be lessready to enter into military involvementabroad than in the past 20years.Nevertheless. ANZUS is still theprimary alliance in Australian eyes.The Labor Government has statedthat it seeks "close and continuousco-operation with the people of theUnited States and New Zealand tomake the ANZUS treaty an instrumentfor justice, peace and political,social and economic advancementin the Pacific area." This indicatesthat the Whitlam Government haschosen to retain the alliance with theUnited States through the ANZUSPact as the basis of Australiansecurity. Certainly this alliancecontinues to come under attackfrom the left and doubts are alsocast on its value from the right. However.there is such broad consensusof Australian public opinion infavour of maintaining the ANZUSalliance that any abrogation on Australia'spart seems most unlikely.This Is not to say that neither thenature of Australian-Americanrelations nor the value of the treatywill change in the foreseeablefuture. There is inevitablyuncertainty in any assessment ofAmerican intentions a considerableperiod ahead. On the other hand,some changes in Australianattitudes regarding internationalaffairs have not found favour inWashington, but unless someradically new departures from existingforeign policy are made, theprospects are that Australia willcontinue to enjoy close and friendlyrelations with the United States.Future ThreatsThere is no apparent prospect thatany country would launch aninvasion toward the Australian mainlandtor many years to come. Fewcountries would have an incentive todo so. and probably only two ofthem, the United States and theSoviet Union, would have thecapability. Australia is a long wayfrom the major powers in the world,and a good deal of water has to becrossed to get there. This is why MrBarnard has every reason to say: "Inthe foreseeable future it is impossibleto conceive of any significantexternal threat to Australia."However, the relations with fourcountries could give cause for Australianconcern during the next 10 or20 years. They are Japan, Indonesia.Communist China and the SovietUnion. Although it is widely agreedthat there is no immediate threat toAustralia's security, the situationon the remote future remains unpredictable.To Australians. Japan is always agreat enigma as well as a potentialthreat. Despite Japans crushingdefeat in 1945. the nation hasrebounded to a position of economicpre-eminence in the Asia-Pacificregion, and third only to Americaand Russia in the world. Japan alsohas become Australia's leadingtrade customer, chiefly in rawmaterials for its massive secondaryindustry.Japan's potential military powershould not be underestimated. Italready has the eighth largestdefence budget in the world. It isonce again becoming a naval powerol some consequence. Moreover, itcould become an operationalnuclear power in a relatively shortPife Forty-four THCNAVY May/June/ July,May/June/July, 1979 THE NAVY ^Ht Fwtjrfkn