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The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a 1951 non-binding
collective security Collective security can be understood as a security arrangement, political, regional, or global, in which each state in the system accepts that the security of one is the concern of all, and therefore commits to a collective response to threats t ...
agreement between Australia and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...
and, separately, Australia and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, to co-operate on military matters in the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
region, although today the treaty is taken to relate to conflicts worldwide. It provides that an armed attack on any of the three parties would be dangerous to the others, and that each should act to meet the common threat. It set up a committee of foreign ministers that can meet for consultation. The treaty was one of
the series ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
that the United States formed in the 1949–1955 era as part of its collective response to the threat of
communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
during the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
. New Zealand was suspended from ANZUS in 1986 as it initiated a
nuclear-free zone A nuclear-free zone is an area in which nuclear weapons (see nuclear-weapon-free zone) and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question. Nuclear-free zones usually neither address nor pro ...
in its territorial waters; in late 2012, New Zealand lifted a ban on visits by United States warships leading to a thawing in tensions. New Zealand maintains a nuclear-free zone as part of its foreign policy and is partially suspended from ANZUS, as the United States maintains an ambiguous policy whether or not the warships carry nuclear weapons and operates numerous nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines; however New Zealand resumed key areas of the ANZUS treaty in 2007. ANZUS was overshadowed in late 2021 by
AUKUS AUKUS (, ) is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, announced on 15 September 2021 for the Indo-Pacific region. Under the pact, the US and the UK will help Australia to acquire nuclear-powe ...
, a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It involves cooperation in nuclear submarines that New Zealand will not support. Australia and New Zealand, "are poles apart in terms of the way they see the world....I think this alliance underlines that they’re going in very different directions,” said Geoffrey Miller, an international analyst at the Democracy Project in New Zealand.


Treaty structure

The treaty was previously a full three-way defence pact, but following a dispute between
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
in 1984 over visiting rights for ships and submarines capable of carrying nuclear arms or nuclear-powered ships of the US Navy to New Zealand ports, the treaty became between Australia and New Zealand and between Australia and the United States, i.e. the treaty has lapsed between the United States and New Zealand, although it remains separately in force between both of those states and Australia. In 2000, the United States opened its ports to the
Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...
once again, and under the
presidency of Bill Clinton Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over ...
in the US and the government of Helen Clark in New Zealand, the countries have since reestablished bilateral cooperation on defence and security for world peace. While ANZUS is commonly recognised to have split in 1984, the Australia–US alliance remains in full force. Heads of defence of one or both states often have joined the annual ministerial meetings, which are supplemented by consultations between the US Combatant Commander Pacific and the Australian Chief of Defence Force. There are also regular civilian and military consultations between the two governments at lower levels. Annual meetings to discuss ANZUS defence matters take place between the United States Secretaries of Defense and State and the Australian Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs are known by the acronym
AUSMIN AUSMIN, the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultation, is the main annual forum for consultations between Australia and the United States. It has been held most years since 1985, with the meetings alternating between locations in the Austra ...
. The AUSMIN meeting for 2011 took place in San Francisco in September. The 2012 AUSMIN meeting was in Perth, Western Australia in November. Unlike the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two Nor ...
(NATO), ANZUS has no integrated defence structure or dedicated forces. Nevertheless, Australia and the United States conduct a variety of joint activities. These include military exercises ranging from naval and landing exercises at the task-group level to battalion-level special forces training, assigning officers to each other's armed services, and standardising equipment and operational doctrine. The two countries also operate several joint-defence facilities in Australia, mainly ground stations for
spy satellite A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. ...
, and
signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of '' signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ...
espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
in
Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and
East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Kore ...
as part of the
ECHELON ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program (signals intelligence/SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated by the five signatory states to the UKUSA Agreement, UKUSA Security Agreement:Given the 5 d ...
network. During the 2010s, New Zealand and the US resumed a close relationship, although it is unclear whether the revived partnership falls under the aegis of the 1951 trilateral treaty. The Wellington Declaration of 2010 defined a "strategic partnership" between New Zealand and the US, and New Zealand joined the biennial Rim of the Pacific military exercise off
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
in 2012, for the first time since 1984. The US prohibition on New Zealand ships making port at US bases was lifted after the 2012 exercise.


History


Origins

In the years following the Second World War, Australia and New Zealand began pressing the United States for a formal security guarantee. The two governments felt threatened by the possibility of a resurgent Japan and the spread of communism to their North. Additionally, the
fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...
in 1942 had demonstrated that their traditional protector, the United Kingdom, no longer had power in the region. This added to their sense of vulnerability. The United States was initially reluctant, offering instead an informal guarantee of protection. But the need to strengthen the West against communism grew with the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and the 1950-1953
Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...
. Additionally, the United States wanted to gain Australian and New Zealand approval for a 'soft peace' with Japan. The treaty allayed antipodean fears that such a peace would allow Japan to threaten them again. The resulting treaty was concluded at San Francisco on 1 September 1951, and entered into force on 29 April 1952. The treaty bound the signatories to recognise that an armed attack in the Pacific area on any of them would endanger the peace and safety of the others. It stated 'The Parties will consult together whenever in the opinion of any of them the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened in the Pacific'. The three governments also pledged to maintain and develop individual and collective capabilities to resist attack.


Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam, and the War on Terror

The treaty itself was not a source of debate for 30 years, though in this period New Zealand and Australia committed forces to the
Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...
and subsequently the ANZUS states fought together in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietna ...
. As part of the United Nations deployment, New Zealand and Australia had earlier fought alongside the United States in the Korean War. New Zealand sent transport aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft, and frigates to the Persian Gulf, as well as a very small number of soldiers, SAS soldiers, medical and assorted and peace-keeping forces, to Afghanistan in 2001. Despite Prime Minister
Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She w ...
being openly critical of American justifications for the 2003 Iraq war, New Zealand did send engineer troops to Iraq following the 2003 invasion. These troops were however officially engaged in reconstruction under UN Security Council Resolution 1483 and were non-combatant.


Australian reservations about the MX missile

In 1983, the Reagan Administration approached Australia with proposals for testing the new generation of American
intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons ...
s, the
MX missile The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was a MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the United States from 1985 to 2005. The missile could carry up to twelve Mark ...
. American test ranges in the Pacific were insufficient for testing the new long-range missiles and the United States military wished to use the
Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer ...
as a target area. Australian
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...
of the Liberal Party had agreed to provide monitoring sites near
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountai ...
for this purpose. However, in 1985, the newly elected Prime Minister
Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (AL ...
, of the Labor Party, withdrew Australia from the testing programme, sparking criticism from the Reagan Administration. Hawke had been pressured into doing so by the left-wing faction of the Labor Party, which opposed the proposed MX missile test in the Tasman Sea. The Labor left-wing faction also strongly sympathized with the
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...
Fourth Labour Government's anti-nuclear policy and supported a South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. To preserve its joint Australian-US military communications facilities, the Reagan Administration also had to assure the Hawke Government that those installations would not be used in the
Strategic Defense Initiative The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derisively nicknamed the "''Star Wars'' program", was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic ...
project, which the Australian Labor Party strongly opposed. Despite these disagreements, the Hawke Labor Government still remained supportive of the ANZUS security treaty. It also did not support its New Zealand counterpart's ban on nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered ships. Following the ANZUS Split in February 1985, the Australian government also endorsed the Reagan Administration's plans to cancel trilateral military exercises and to postpone the ANZUS foreign ministers conference. However, it still continued to maintain bilateral military ties and continued to share intelligence information with New Zealand. Unlike New Zealand, Australia continued to allow US warships to visit its ports and to participate in joint military exercises with the United States.


New Zealand bans nuclear material

In 1985, the nature of the ANZUS alliance changed significantly. Due to a current of
anti-nuclear The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nation ...
sentiment within New Zealand, tension had long been present between ANZUS members as the United States is a declared nuclear power. France, a naval power and a declared nuclear power, had been conducting
nuclear tests Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...
on South Pacific Islands. Following the victory of the
New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers desc ...
in election in 1984, Prime Minister
David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...
barred
nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Reasons given were the dangers of
nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
, continued
French nuclear testing ''Gerboise Bleue'' (; ) was the codename of the first French nuclear test. It was conducted by the Nuclear Experiments Operational Group (GOEN), a unit of the Joint Special Weapons Command on 13 February 1960, at the Saharan Military Experimen ...
in the South Pacific, and opposition to US President Ronald Reagan's policy of aggressively confronting the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. Given that the United States Navy had a policy of deliberate ambiguity during the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
and refused to confirm or deny the presence of nuclear weapons aboard its warships and support ships, these laws essentially refused access to New Zealand ports for all United States Navy vessels. In February 1985, a port-visit request by the United States for the guided-missile destroyer USS ''Buchanan'' was refused by New Zealand, as the ''Buchanan'' was capable of launching RUR-5 ASROC nuclear depth bombs. As this occurred after the government unofficially invited the United States to send a ship, the refusal of access was interpreted by the United States as a deliberate slight. According to opinion polls taken before the 1984 election, only 30 percent of New Zealanders supported visits by US warships with a clear majority of 58 percent opposed, and over 66 percent of the population lived in locally declared
nuclear-free zone A nuclear-free zone is an area in which nuclear weapons (see nuclear-weapon-free zone) and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question. Nuclear-free zones usually neither address nor pro ...
s. An opinion poll commissioned by the 1986 Defence Committee of Enquiry confirmed that 92 per cent now opposed nuclear weapons in New Zealand and 69 per cent opposed warship visits; 92 per cent wanted New Zealand to promote
nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics * Nuclear power * Nuclear reactor * Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine * Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nucl ...
through the UN, while 88 per cent supported the promotion of nuclear-free zones. However other polls indicated that the majority of the population would support visits by American warships which might be nuclear armed or powered, if the alternative was that New Zealand would have to withdraw from ANZUS.


United States suspends obligations to New Zealand

After consultations with Australia and after negotiations with New Zealand broke down, the United States announced that it was suspending its treaty obligations to New Zealand until United States Navy ships were re-admitted to New Zealand ports, citing that New Zealand was "a friend, but not an ally". The crisis made front-page headlines for weeks in many American newspapers. David Lange did not withdraw New Zealand from ANZUS, although his government's policy led to the US's decision to suspend its treaty obligations to New Zealand. An opinion poll in New Zealand in 1991, showed 54% of those sampled preferred to let the treaty lapse rather than accept visits again by nuclear-armed or nuclear-powered vessels. The policy did not become law until 8 June 1987 with the passing of the
New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987 In 1987, the Fourth Labour Government passed the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act. The Act essentially declared New Zealand as a nuclear free zone. The purpose of the Act was ambitious and wide-ranging: “to e ...
, more than two years after the ''Buchanan'' was refused entry after the US refused to declare the presence or absence of nuclear weapons, and a year after the US suspended its treaty obligations to New Zealand. This law effectively made the entire country a
nuclear-free zone A nuclear-free zone is an area in which nuclear weapons (see nuclear-weapon-free zone) and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question. Nuclear-free zones usually neither address nor pro ...
. Despite the ANZUS split, Secretary of State George P. Shultz maintained that the ANZUS structure was still in place, should NZ decide in the future to reverse its anti-nuclear policy and return to a fully operational defence relationship with the US. President Reagan also maintained in ''NSDD 193'' ( National Security Decision Directive) that New Zealand still remained a "friend, but not an ally". On 10 July 1985, agents of the French
Directorate-General for External Security The General Directorate for External Security (french: link=no, Direction générale de la Sécurité extérieure, DGSE) is France's foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA, established on 2 April 1982. ...
bombed the
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth ...
protest vessel '' Rainbow Warrior'' in
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
, causing one death. The lack of condemnation by Western leaders to this violation of a friendly state's sovereignty caused a great deal of change in New Zealand's foreign and defence policy, and strengthened domestic opposition to the military application of nuclear technology in any form. New Zealand distanced itself from its traditional ally, the United States, and built relationships with small South Pacific countries, while retaining its good relations with Australia, and, to a lesser extent, the United Kingdom. The suspension of New Zealand in ANZUS has had significant effect on New Zealand–United States relations and on New Zealand domestic policy. The anti-nuclear policy has been a part of New Zealand political culture for years now. However, that has not stopped United States politicians from trying to change the policy.


Afghanistan

Australia and New Zealand both provided military units, including special forces and naval ships, in support of the US-led "
Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...
" for support for anti-
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
forces in response to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. Providing 1,550 troops, Australia remains the largest non-
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
contributor of military personnel in Afghanistan. New Zealand committed 191 troops.


East Timor

Between 1999 and 2003, the armed forces of Australia and New Zealand deployed together in a large scale operation in
East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-wes ...
, to prevent pro-Indonesian militia from overturning a vote for independence on the region. The United States provided only limited logistical support but the provided air defence for the initial entry operation. The operation was taken over by the United Nations.


Taiwan

One topic that became prominent in the 2000s was the implications in the case of a hypothetical attack by the People's Republic of China against
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a Country, country in East Asia, at the junction of the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) to the n ...
, who would likely receive American support. While Australia has strong cultural and economic ties with the United States, it also has an increasingly important trade relationship with mainland China. In August 2004, Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...
implied in Beijing that the treaty would likely not apply to that situation, but he was quickly corrected by Prime Minister
John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...
. In March 2005, after an official of the People's Republic of China stated that it may be necessary for Australia to reassess the treaty and after China passed an
Anti-Secession Law The Anti-Secession Law () is a law of the People's Republic of China, passed by the 3rd Session of the 10th National People's Congress. It was ratified on March 14, 2005, and went into effect immediately. President Hu Jintao promulgated th ...
regarding Taiwan, Downer stated that in case of Chinese aggression on Taiwan, the treaty would come into force, but that the treaty would require only consultations with the United States and not necessarily commit Australia to war.


1985 to present

Annual bilateral meetings between the US Secretary of State and the Australian Foreign Minister replaced annual meetings of the ANZUS Council of Foreign Ministers. The first bilateral meeting was held in
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
in 1985. At the second meeting, in San Francisco in 1986, the United States announced that it was suspending its treaty security obligations to New Zealand pending the restoration of port access. Subsequent bilateral Australia–US Ministerial (AUSMIN) meetings have alternated between Australia and the United States. The alliance engenders some political controversy in Australia. Particularly after Australian involvement in the 2003 Iraq war, some quarters of Australian society have called for a re-evaluation of the relationship between the two nations. Nonetheless, the alliance enjoyed broad support during the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
and continues to enjoy broad support in Australia. One commentator in Australia has argued that the treaty should be re-negotiated in the context of terrorism, the modern role of the United Nations and as a purely US–Australian alliance. Australia is also a contributor to the National Missile Defense system. In May 2006, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, Pacific Affairs and Northern Atlantinc Ocean Christopher Hill, described the New Zealand anti-nuclear issue as "a bit of a relic", and signalled that the US wanted a closer defence relationship with New Zealand. He also praised New Zealand's involvement in Afghanistan and reconstruction in Iraq. "Rather than trying to change each other's minds on the nuclear issue, which is a bit of a relic, I think we should focus on things we can make work" he told an Australian newspaper. While there have been signs of the nuclear dispute between the US and NZ thawing out, pressure from the United States increased in 2006 with US trade officials linking the repeal of the ban of American nuclear ships from New Zealand's ports to a potential
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold eco ...
agreement between the two countries. On 4 February 2008, US Trade Representative
Susan Schwab Susan Carol Schwab (born March 23, 1955) is an American politician, who served under President George W. Bush as United States Trade Representative from June, 2006 to January, 2009. She is not related to Charles R. Schwab Sr., founder of the Cha ...
announced that the United States will join negotiations with four Asia–
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
countries:
Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by th ...
,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...
and Singapore to be known as the "P-4". These countries already have a FTA called the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership and the United States will be looking to become involved in the "vitally important emerging Asia-Pacific region". A number of US-based organisations support the negotiations including, but not limited to: the
United States Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging ...
,
National Association of Manufacturers The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is an advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C., with additional offices across the United States. It is the nation's largest manufacturing industrial trade association, representing 14,000 s ...
,
National Foreign Trade Council Founded in 1914, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) is an American trade association advocating an open, rules-based international trade system. It serves its hundreds of member companies in activities encompassing international trade policy ...
, Emergency Committee for American Trade and Coalition of Service Industries. In 2010, the United States and New Zealand signed the Wellington Declaration in
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, New Zealand, during a three-day visit by US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...
. The signing of the declaration ended the ANZUS dispute of the past 25 years, and it was later revealed the US and New Zealand had resumed military co-operation in eight areas in 2007. On 16 November 2011, US President Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard met in Canberra, Australia to announce plans for a sustained new American presence on Australian soil. 2,500 American troops are to be deployed to Darwin, Australia. New Zealand and the United States signed the Washington Declaration on 19 June 2012 "to promote and strengthen closer bilateral defense and security cooperation". On 20 September 2012, while on a visit to New Zealand, US Secretary of Defense
Leon Panetta Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American Democratic Party politician who has served in several different public office positions, including Secretary of Defense, CIA Director, White House Chief of Staff, Director of the Office o ...
announced that the United States was lifting the 26-year-old ban on visits by New Zealand warships to US Department of Defense and US Coast Guard bases around the world; US Marines had trained in New Zealand and New Zealand's navy took part in the RIMPAC maritime exercises alongside the US earlier that year. The
Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...
(RNZN) invited the United States Navy to send a vessel to participate in the RNZN's 75th Birthday Celebrations in Auckland over the weekend of 19–21 November 2016. The guided-missile destroyer became the first US warship to visit New Zealand in 33 years. New Zealand Prime Minister
John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from b ...
granted approval for the ship's visit under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, which requires that the Prime Minister has to be satisfied that any visiting ship is not nuclear armed or powered. Following the 7.8 magnitude Kaikōura earthquake on 14 November 2016 the ''Sampson'' and other naval ships from Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore were diverted to proceed directly to Kaikōura to provide humanitarian assistance.


See also

*
Anglosphere The Anglosphere is a group of English-speaking nations that share historical and cultural ties with England, and which today maintain close political, diplomatic and military co-operation. While the nations included in different sources vary, t ...
*
ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military ...
*
AUSCANNZUKUS AUSCANNZUKUS is an abbreviation for the naval Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4) interoperability organization involving the Anglosphere nations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It i ...
*
Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...
*
AUKUS AUKUS (, ) is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, announced on 15 September 2021 for the Indo-Pacific region. Under the pact, the US and the UK will help Australia to acquire nuclear-powe ...
– 2021 Australia, United Kingdom, United States Security Treaty * Contents of the United States diplomatic cables leak (New Zealand) *
Five Eyes The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries are parties to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in ...
*
Five Power Defence Arrangements The Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) are a series of bilateral defence relationships established by a series of multi-lateral agreements between Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, all of which are Commonwe ...
(FPDA) – Defence cooperation among Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and UK *
New Zealand Defence Force The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; mi, Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, "Line of Defence of New Zealand") are the armed forces of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, promot ...
*
Pine Gap Pine Gap is a satellite surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in the center of Australia. It is jointly operated by Australia and the United States, and since ...
*
Quadrilateral Security Dialogue The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), commonly known as the Quad, is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the United States that is maintained by talks between member countries. The dialogue was initiated i ...
(QUAD) – Strategic dialogue among Australia, India, Japan and US * Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) – 1954–1977 international collective defense organization *
United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six Military branch, service branches: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States N ...


References


Further reading

* Brands Jr., Henry W. "From ANZUS to SEATO: United States Strategic Policy towards Australia and New Zealand, 1952-1954" ''International History Review'' 9#2 (1987), pp. 250–27
online
* Capie, David. "Nuclear-free New Zealand: Contingency, contestation and consensus in public policymaking." in ''Successful Public Policy'' ed by Joannah Luetjens, (2019): 379-39
online
* Catalinac, Amy L. "Why New Zealand Took Itself out of ANZUS: Observing 'Opposition for Autonomy' in Asymmetric Alliances," ''Foreign Policy Analysis'' 6#3 (2010), pp. 317–338. * Dorling, Philip. ''The Origins of the Anzus Treaty: A Reconsideration'' (Flinders UP, 1989) * Green, Michael J., et al. ''The ANZUS alliance in an ascending Asia'' (ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, 2015
online
* Jennings, Peter. "The 2016 Defence White Paper and the ANZUS Alliance." ''Security Challenges ''12.1 (2016): 53-6
online
. * Kelly, Andrew. ''ANZUS and the early cold war: strategy and diplomacy between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, 1945-1956'' (2018
online free
* McIntyre, William David, '' Background to the Anzus Pact: Policy-Making, Strategy and Diplomacy, 1945-55'' (1994) * McLean, David. "Anzus Origins: A Reassessment," ''Australian Historical Studies'' 24#94 (1990), pp. 64–82 * Miller, Charles. "Public Support for ANZUS: Evidence of a Generational Shift?" ''Australian Journal of Political Science,'' 50#1 (2015), pp. 1–20. * Robb, Thomas K., and David James Gill. "The ANZUS Treaty during the Cold War: a reinterpretation of US diplomacy in the Southwest Pacific." ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 17.4 (2015): 109–157
online
* Siracusa, Joseph M and Glen St John Barclay. "Australia, the United States, and the Cold War, 1945–51: From V-J Day to ANZUS", ''Diplomatic History'' 5#1 (1981) pp 39–52 * Siracusa, Joseph M., and Glen St J. Barclay. "The historical influence of the United States on Australian strategic thinking." ''Australian Journal of International Affairs'' 38.3 (1984): 153–158. * Tow, William, and Henry Albinski. "ANZUS—Alive and well after fifty years." ''Australian Journal of Politics & History'' 48.2 (2002): 153–173. * Tow, William. "ANZUS and alliance politics in Southeast Asia." (2019
online


External links


ANZUS classroom activities (NZHistory.net.nz)

''Disarmament and Security Centre, New Zealand Peace Foundation''





ADST oral histories on Breakdown of ANZUS Treaty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anzus Cold War treaties Cold War alliances and military strategy Cold War history of Australia Military alliances involving the United States Military alliances involving Australia Military alliances involving New Zealand Treaties concluded in 1951 Treaties entered into force in 1952 Australia–New Zealand military relations New Zealand–United States military relations Australia–United States military relations 20th-century military alliances 21st-century military alliances Anglosphere