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. A white pape ...
published by the
Australian Department of Defence
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Au ...
during the
Hawke Government introduced by
Minister for Defence Kim Beazley
Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, having previously been a cabinet ...
.
Background
The first Defence White Paper was published in 1976 under the
Whitlam government. The 1987 Defence White Paper expanded the emphasis on self-reliance that was established in the
1976 Defence White Paper, no longer focussing defence policy primarily on attracting the attention of powerful allies. These white papers formalised 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 ...
, as opposed to the publicly unpopular forward defence strategy which saw Australia intervene in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. The paper restated the importance of Australia's alliance with the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
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
Defence reviews and defence white papers
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