Australia, Security and the Pacific Islands: From Empire to Commonwealth

While Australia did not single-handedly scuttle the prospects of a more tightly knit Commonwealth arrangement in the Pacific Islands, its security ambitions have worked against the development of such ties. This article identifies three key turning points, beginning from 1944, where Australia opted for alliance arrangements that undermined closer Commonwealth ties with and among the Pacific Islands. As the region's hegemonic influence, Australia's decisions have been a significant factor in shaping the contemporary Pacific Islands regional system. Canberra's active commitment and backing would have been essential for closer Commonwealth connections to be developed in this varied and remote region. Yet Australia's search for security in the Southwest Pacific has denied the Commonwealth the benefit of such unqualified support. Commonwealth ties are still a factor within the Pacific Islands region in such areas as contemporary political relationships, including the maintenance of Westminster traditions, but they are probably not what they might have been.