The 1987 Defence White Paper, titled The Defence of Australia, was a

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...

published by the

Australian Department of Defence The Department of Defence, also known simply as Defence, is a department of the Australian Government that is responsible for administering the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and its related entities, and is charged with the defence of Austra ...

during the

Hawke government The Hawke government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1991. The government followed the Liberal-National Coalition Fraser government and was su ...

introduced by Minister for Defence

Kim Beazley Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. Since 2022 he has served as chairman of the Australian War Memorial. Previously, he was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the ...

Background

The first Defence White Paper was published in 1976 under the

Whitlam government The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...

. The 1987 Defence White Paper expanded the emphasis on self-reliance that was established in the 1976 Defence White Paper, no longer focusing defence policy primarily on attracting the attention of powerful allies. These white papers formalized the Defence of Australia policy. The 1987 White Paper was released following the Dibb Review of Australia's Defence Capabilities and the Cooksey Review of Australia's Defence Exports and Defence Industry.

Synopsis

The paper affirmed that Australia faced no military threat, barring the remote threat of global war. It asserted that no country had the capacity or motivation, to sustain high level military operations against Australia, though Australia would still be vulnerable to harassment across its coastline and sea approaches. The paper re-affirmed self-reliance and adopted the strategy of

defence in depth Defence in depth (also known as deep defence or elastic defence) is a military strategy that seeks to delay rather than prevent the advance of an attacker, buying time and causing additional casualties by yielding space. Rather than defeating a ...

, as opposed to the publicly unpopular forward defence strategy which saw Australia intervene in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. The paper restated the importance of Australia's alliance with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and declared Australia's area of military interest to include much of Oceania and South East Asia. The paper did not announce any new capability projects or any detailed expenditure proposal. However, it did emphasise the need to acquire modern technology such as satellite communications and airborne early warning aircraft.

References

External links

The Defence of Australia, full original document
Australian defence policies {{Australia-mil-stub Defence White Papers (Australia)