Australian History/Politics/International Relations
Book Details

Ministers, Mandarins and Diplomats

Australian Foreign Policy Making, 1941–1969

Joan Beaumont, Christopher Waters, David Lowe with Garry Woodard

The story of the people, the events and the ideas that shaped Australian foreign policy and gave Australia its identity in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Opinion

a ‘useful book’ (New Zealand International Review)

‘They [the authors] have included a good deal of fresh research, while also crystallising views that have been outlined or implied in earlier publications. Unusually for a multi-authored book, they have coordinated their contributions remarkably smoothly.’ (Australian Book Review, May 2003)

About this Title

In the three decades from the beginning of World War II Australia emerged on the world stage as an independent actor in foreign affairs. The key institution overseeing the development of Australia's international status and foreign policy during that period was the Department of External Affairs.

This stimulating collection of essays explores the history of this government department as it grew from being a small amateur bureaucratic player to become a professional global network.

This book sheds new light on the major figures in Australian international history—H. V. 'Doc' Evatt, Percy Spender, Richard Casey, Garfield Barwick and Paul Hasluck—and their relationships with their senior bureaucratic advisers. The experiences of Australian diplomats, as they joined the Department of External Affairs as junior recruits and worked overseas, are also examined.

Ministers, Mandarins and Diplomats tells the story of the people, the events and the ideas that shaped Australian foreign policy and gave Australia its identity in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
Ministers and Secretaries
Abbreviations

1 Making Australian Foreign Policy, 1941–69 (Joan Beaumont)
2 Creating an Elite? The Diplomatic Cadet Scheme, 1943–56 (Joan Beaumont)
3 The Great Debates: H. V. Evatt and the Department of External Affairs, 1941–49 (Christopher Waters)
4 Percy Spender, Minister and Ambassador (David Lowe)
5 Cold War Liberals: Richard Casey and the Department of External Affairs, 1951–60 (Christopher Waters)
6 ‘A Radical Tory’: Sir Garfield Barwick, 1961–64 (Garry Woodard)
7 Paul Hasluck: The Diplomat as Minister (Joan Beaumont)
8 The Champagne Trail? Australian Diplomats and the Overseas Mission (Joan Beaumont)

Notes
Sources
Index

About the Author

Joan Beaumont is Dean of Arts and Professor of History at Deakin University in Victoria. David Lowe is Senior Lecturer in History, and Christopher Waters a Lecturer in History, at Deakin University. Garry Woodard is a former Australian ambassador to China.

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978-0-522-85047-5