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Goes to Washington 75 Years of Australian Representation in the United States, 1940–2015

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Goes to Washington 75 Years of Australian Representation in the United States, 1940–2015 AUSTRALIA GOES TO WASHINGTON 75 YEARS OF AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1940–2015 AUSTRALIA GOES TO WASHINGTON 75 YEARS OF AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1940–2015 EDITED BY DAVID LOWE, DAVID LEE AND CARL BRIDGE Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at press.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: Australia goes to Washington : 75 years of Australian representation in the United States, 1940-2015 / David Lowe (editor); Carl Bridge (editor); David Lee (editor). ISBN: 9781760460785 (paperback) 9781760460792 (ebook) Subjects: Diplomatic and consular service, Australian--United States. Ambassadors--Australia--History. Diplomacy--History. Australia--Foreign relations--United States. United States--Foreign relations--Australia. Other Creators/Contributors: Lowe, David, 1964- editor. Bridge, Carl, 1950- editor. Lee, David, 1965- editor. Dewey Number: 327.94073 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU Press. Cover photograph: US President Richard Nixon (left) with Australian Ambassador to the United States, Keith Waller, in the White House, Washington, 3 March 1970. Source: White House, US Government. This edition © 2016 ANU Press Contents Acknowledgements . vii Acronyms . ix 1 . The Australian embassy in Washington . 1 David Lowe, David Lee and Carl Bridge 2 . Allies of a kind: Three wartime Australian ministers to the United States, 1940–46 . 23 Carl Bridge 3 . Norman Makin and postwar diplomacy, 1946–51 . 39 Frank Bongiorno 4 . Percy Spender and Club America in the 1950s . 57 David Lowe 5 . ‘Mr Necessity’: Sir Howard Beale, 1958–64 . 79 Matthew Jordan 6 . Official influence in the making of foreign policy: The Washington Study Group on the South Pacific, 1962 . 105 Christopher Waters 7 . The Ambassador during the Vietnam War: Keith Waller, 1964–70 . 123 Peter Edwards 8 . ‘A precious vase’: Sir James Plimsoll . 137 Jeremy Hearder 9 . The career diplomats: Sir Patrick Shaw, Alan Renouf and Sir Nicholas Parkinson, 1974–82 . 161 David Lee 10 . Australia’s ambassadors in Washington, 1982–89 . 183 David Lee 11 . Diplomacy in the 1990s: Issues for the Washington embassy . 209 James Cotton 12 . Reflections: From 1940 to the post-9/11 world . 233 Kim Beazley Conclusion . 255 David Lowe and David Lee Select bibliography . 261 Contributors . 279 Index . 283 Acknowledgements The conference and witness seminar facilitating the production of this book enjoyed support from the Contemporary Histories Research Group at Deakin University and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Gina Dow in the department provided support in relation to photographs. In addition, Kings College London and the Australian embassy in Washington provided assistance for which we are grateful; and a special thanks to former DFAT and embassy officer Tanya Smith, whose advice in relation to a number of matters was invaluable. Several doctoral students at Deakin University also played important roles. In particular, for his assistance in relation to the conference and witness seminar, we thank Chris Speldewinde, and for her help towards the production of this volume, we thank Celeste Thorn. Mathew Turner has provided assistance in generating transcripts of the witness seminar that partners this volume (blogs.deakin.edu.au/contemporary-history- studies/witness-seminars/). vii Acronyms ALP Australian Labor Party AMS Agreement on Maintaining Security ANSF Afghan National Security Forces ANU The Australian National University ANZUS Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation AusMin Australia–United States Ministerial Consultations AWB Australian Wheat Board DEIP Dairy Export Incentive Program DFAT Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade EAS East Asia Summit EASI East Asia Strategy Initiative EEC European Economic Community EEP US Export Enhancement Program FEC Far Eastern Commission F TA Free Trade Agreement GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GDP gross domestic product IMF International Monetary Fund INTERFET International Force for East Timor MFN Most Favoured Nation MX Missile-eXperimental ix AUSTRALIA GOES TO WASHINGTON NAA National Archives of Australia NAF TA North American Free Trade Agreement NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NLA National Library of Australia NSC National Security Council ONA Office of National Assessments PACOM Pacific Command PRG Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam SEATO Southeast Asia Treaty Organization SPNFZ South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone TPP Trans-Pacific Partnership UN United Nations WNG West New Guinea WTO World Trade Organization x 1 The Australian embassy in Washington David Lowe, David Lee and Carl Bridge The year 2015 marked the 75th anniversary of Australian diplomatic representation in Washington. It also marked the end of one era and the start of a new one for the current embassy building on Massachusetts Avenue on Scott Circle, which is being demolished and rebuilt in order to meet expanded needs. The current embassy building has served Australians since 1969. While the milestone of 75 years of Australian representation in Washington passed quietly, the rich history of prominent Australians, including some of our best-known ambassadors, working at the coalface of Australia–US relations warrants more investigation than there has been to date. This study aims to address this omission. Without overburdening the construction metaphor, the theme of substantial rebuilding while strengthening Australia’s presence and range of diplomatic endeavours sets an appropriate tone for the trajectory of this book. From humble beginnings when RG Casey arrived to found the legation in 1940 (in a large house on Cleveland Avenue) with a modest staff of five, to today, when the embassy boasts more than 250 personnel, marks a spectacular rise in the Australian presence. Yet neither the increased numbers nor an implied sense of steady growth in people-to-people contact between Australians and influential Americans will do by way of telling the full and complex story of Australia’s representation. 1 AUSTRALIA GOES TO WASHINGTON The legation set up in 1940 laid the foundations for one of Australia’s longest functioning posts. Having established an Australian High Commission in London and appointed the first high commissioner (Sir George Reid) at the beginning of 1910, Australian governments waited 30 years before establishing any other overseas posts. Washington was one of three set up in 1940, the others being Ottawa and Tokyo. The period 1940 to 2015 saw extraordinary changes in the modes of communication between nations, the types of personnel who contribute to diplomacy, and the volumes of politicians, visitors and others drawing on embassy resources and time. One of the tasks of this book is to assess the significance of such changes as they played out in relation to particular Australian ambassadors in Washington and particular diplomatic episodes of note. Similarly, the expectations and performances of different ambassadors over time is a constant thread. Ambassadors work to expectations different from those attached to the leaders of governments. The best- known early ‘diplomatic’ encounter between Australia and the US, the testy negotiations between Australian Prime Minister William Morris Hughes (best remembered as ‘Billy’ Hughes) and US President Woodrow Wilson in Paris at the end of World War I, is therefore unhelpful even if it makes for compelling reading. Hughes clashed noisily with Wilson, whose attempts to undermine European control over colonies and inform the peacemaking with liberal internationalist principles met resistance from others in addition to Hughes; but, given Hughes’s penchant for colourful metaphor and cutting riposte, it is not surprising that he attracted attention for his behaviour. In the eyes of some observers, Hughes brought something of the Anzac legend to the conduct of Australian diplomacy in 1919, punching above his weight, heedless of recognised forms of authority, and informed by a strident, self-interested brand of nationalism. To others, including members of the Australian delegation, he was more noisy than compelling, and he hardly set a diplomatic standard for US–Australia relations.1 If there is such a thing as an ‘ideal’ Australian Ambassador to the United States, what are the characteristics most needed? Such a question invites consideration of both generic attributes – those that make for an ideal 1 See Carl Bridge, William Hughes: Australia, Haus Histories, London, 2011. 2 1 . THE AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON ambassador abroad – and particular attributes that lend themselves to service in the US. Among the generic qualities listed by Joan Beaumont in her analysis of Australian diplomats serving overseas up to 1969 were: integrity, intelligence, negotiating skills. The ability to win the trust of foreign governments and leaders in the wider community, sociability, cultural sensitivity, a willingness to acquire an understanding of the political and historical background of other countries,
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