THERE are three great recurring themes in Australian defence policy. One is the fear of a threat from Asia. Another is a fear of change. The third is expressed in the belief that “it’s better to fight them up there than down here.” All three have come together with renewed vigour in the Rudd government’s defence white paper outlining a massive arms build-up.

In the 1950s and 60s, many Australians feared that decolonisation would remove the constraints on impoverished Asian masses pouring down into Australia’s “empty spaces.” This fear was epitomised in the late 1940s by the influential foreign correspondent, Denis Warner, who wrote, “A new chaos has spread through the Jap-pillaged lands of East Asia; the lust for independence has quickened.” These concerns were subsequently reinforced by repeated claims that the “downward thrust of communism” would produce the same result in an even more frightening form...

Photo: Anthony Seebaran/ iStockphoto