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Nationalist Rhetoric in Australia and New Zealand in the Twentieth Century: the Limits of Divergence

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Nationalist Rhetoric in Australia and New Zealand in the Twentieth Century: the Limits of Divergence Nationalist Rhetoric in Australia and New Zealand in the Twentieth Century: The limits of divergence Jack Alexander Henry Doig Bachelor of Arts Post-Graduate Diploma History Graduate Diploma Education Masters in International Studies A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2013 History, Philosophy, Religious Studies and Classics i Abstract This thesis analyses the nationalist rhetoric of successive Australian and New Zealand governments over the twentieth century. It uses political rhetoric to analyse the way that ideas about race, Empire and geopolitical identities were invoked, transformed and discarded in Australia and New Zealand. Each chapter in this thesis is a case study of an event that caused the two governments to articulate visions of Australia and New Zealand and their place in the world. It draws upon transnational and comparative historiography dealing with Australia and New Zealand, as well as scholarship seeking to understand nationalism and geopolitics. It uses these theoretical frameworks to explain the resilience and then rapid decline of British settler nationalism in Australia and New Zealand and analyse the post-British nationalisms that took its place. This thesis begins at a time when Britishness pervaded most aspects of nationalist rhetoric in Australia and New Zealand, and it ends in 1990 where governments adopted explicitly post- British post-racial national identities. It explains this transformation by analysing a series of case studies through the twentieth century that illustrate the decline of the British Empire and the attempts by governments in Australia and New Zealand to define a new place for themselves within the world. This project places that process in comparative perspective by comparing their response to this challenge. This comparative and transnational approach provides an explanation for the divergence in nationalist rhetoric in Australia and New Zealand. By considering: Federation in 1901, World War One, World War II, Britain’s decline in the 1960s, new Labo(u)r governments in the 1970s, the ANZUS crisis in 1984-5 and national celebrations in 1988 and 1990, this thesis tracks the decline of the British Empire in the settler colonies. This caused the differences between Australia and New Zealand — apparent in 1901 and influential on the two governments’ responses to a range of issues — to become even more pronounced. At the same time, an analysis of political rhetoric in the two countries points to important ongoing similarities that ii reflect the fact that governments on both sides of the Tasman were affected by similar processes and concerned with similar issues. They were both coming to terms with Britain’s decline and developing post-British national identities that addressed the myriad challenges the two countries faced. iii Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the General Award Rules of The University of Queensland, immediately made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. iv Publications during candidature Doig, Jack. “New Nationalism in Australia and New Zealand: The Construction of National Identities by Two Labo(u)r Governments in the Early 1970s" Australian Journal of Politics and History, 59, 4 (2013). (publication pending) Doig, Jack. “The Australian and New Zealand governments’ responses to Britain’s decline in the 1960s: Identity, geopolitics and the end of empire” Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies, 1, 1 (2013). Publications included in this thesis No publications included. v Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others. Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None. vi Acknowledgements Thanks must go to my supervisors Martin Crotty, Sarah Pinto and Clive Moore. For helping me turn my exploration of an idea into a focussed and defined thesis. I am deeply grateful for the quality supervision I have received. Thanks to my fellow post-grads at UQ for your moral support and feedback. I am indebted to my family and friends for being so incredibly supportive over the last four years. Mum, Dad, Granny, Mandy and Amelia all were a tremendous help, particularly Granny who read over my early drafts. A special thanks to my dear brother Tom for taking time out to read over the whole manuscript and helping me get through to the end. I am grateful to my Australian friends for offering so much support and encouragement; in particular David Ireland, for offering endlessly good advice and guidance. Also to Lenore for being there. Thanks to my New Zealand friends for keeping me connected to New Zealand and giving me a couch to sleep on whenever I was doing research in New Zealand. Finally, I am grateful for the support, both official and unofficial, from my colleagues at the Office of Treaty Settlements. vii Keywords Nationalism, identity, Britishness, Empire, Australia, New Zealand, transnationalism, geopolitics, race. Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC) ANZSRC code: 210311 New Zealand History, 40% ANZSRC code: 210303 Australian History (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History), 40% ANZSRC code: 210305 British History, 20% Fields of Research (FoR) Classification FoR code: 2103 Historical Studies, 100% viii Table of Contents Page Numbers Abstract ii Figures x Introduction 1 Chapter 1 — Federation in 1901: Defining the nation 22 Chapter 2 — World War I: Transnational-nationalism 48 Chapter 3 — World War II: Challenges to the status quo 77 Chapter 4 — The decline of Great Britain: Threats to British settler nationalism 110 in the 1960s Chapter 5 — New Nationalism in Australia and New Zealand in the early 1970s 145 Chapter 6 — The ANZUS crisis 176 Chapter 7 — Celebrating the nation 1988 and 1990 194 Conclusion 217 Bibliography 226 ix Figures: 1 – A propaganda poster produced by the Australian government during World War One. Chapter 2, page 62 x Introduction At the beginning of the twentieth century, Australia and New Zealand were remarkably similar colonial societies, obsessed with developing the land, dismissive of Indigenous land rights, fervently pro-British, and afraid of an invasion from the north. Yet while the six Australian colonies federated in 1901, New Zealand chose to maintain its independence from Australia. By the end of the twentieth century the national identity of the two nations had diverged. The New Zealand government promoted a policy of biculturalism while in Australia Indigenous issues remained comparatively peripheral. Australia maintained close relations with the United States (US) while New Zealand had been excluded from ANZUS. Australia was increasingly considering its position as an asian nation while New Zealand saw itself as a South Pacific nation. Yet bilateral relations between Australia and New Zealand had never been closer and the New Zealand government saw Australia as New Zealand’s most important international partner. A significant number of New Zealanders lived in Australia making the most of rights that no other Commonwealth citizen enjoyed, and many foreigners could still be forgiven for not being able to tell the difference between Australians and New Zealanders. This thesis sheds light upon some of the forces that created this divergence and convergence between Australia and New Zealand. It analyses the nationalist rhetoric used by Australian and New Zealand governments throughout the twentieth century, and compares how the two governments framed and located their nations, defined their national identities and invoked their nation’s national characters in order to pursue their political objectives and respond to changes in the world. Each chapter considers a major turning point in the two nations’ histories, comparing and contrasting the ways nationalist rhetoric in each country changed over time, and the similarities and differences between the nationalist rhetoric within each country. Through this process, this thesis considers the extent to which the nationalist rhetoric in each country has diverged and analyses the degree to which the nationalist rhetoric within each nation changed over the twentieth century, with particular emphasis on a shift from
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