In 2022, we marked the 80th anniversary of several significant events that led to the formation of the Australian-American alliance
In July 2022, Griffith University joined with the MacArthur Museum, the Fulbright Commission and the UN Association of Australia to host a one-day conference on ‘Australian Autonomy and the American Alliance.
The Executive Summaries of the proceedings were launched at the MacArthur Museum on 15 March, 2023.
The Australian Autonomy and the Americal Alliance: Executive summaries of key conference papers as well as longer versions of the following papers are available by clicking the link below:
The challenges for Australian defence in a changing strategic landscape by Lt Gen (ret) John Sanderson
The United Nations between power and principles by Professor Ramesh Thakur
ANZUS, AUKUS and the international rule of law by Professor Charles Sampford
Event details
Australian Autonomy and the American Alliance Conference
- Date: Friday 22 July 2022
- Time: 8.30 am – 5 pm
- Location: Ian Hanger Recital Hall,
Queensland Conservatorium,
140 Grey Street, South Bank
Registrations are now closed.
Image supplied by Hennepin County Library.
1942: A momentous year for modern Australia
The year 1942 marked the beginnings of the Australian-American alliance with Curtin’s appeal to Roosevelt, Macarthur’s arrival in Australia and transfer to Brisbane. It also marked the complete independence of Australia in Foreign Affairs and Defence when Australia adopted the ‘Statute of Westminster’ through an Act of Parliament which received Royal assent on 9 October 1942. Even before that the ‘Declaration by United Nations’ was signed by the US and UK on 1 January and by Australia and others on 2 January 1942. Four of those nations formed a short lived and doomed joint command called ABDA (American, British, Dutch, Australian) which tried to defend what is now the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. This proved impossible as Japan controlled the South China Sea and sank most of the ships we sent there.
Later in 1942, desperate battles were fought by Australians and Americans in New Guinea and the Solomons by MacArthur’s Southwest Pacific Command and Admiral Nimitz’s Pacific Command who thwarted Japanese attempts to control the island chain from New Britain to Fiji and cut Australia off from the US. Among the many Americans who fought in those battles were a future American President, John F Kennedy, whose daughter is the next US Ambassador to Australia.
Australia emerged from that year a fully independent nation, a member of the nascent United Nations and allied to the US.
This year finds us with strategic concerns about the South China Sea, the island chain, a variety of ‘alliances’ of varying strength (ANZUS, AUKUS, the QUAD), a shifting balance of power and challenges to the rules-based international order centred on the United Nations and its institutions.
Professor Charles Sampford, DPhil (Oxon) Conference Convenor, Foundation Dean of Law and Research Professor in Ethics, Griffith University and Board member, MacArthur Museum
Schedule
| Program |
|---|
Conference open and Acknowledgement of CountryProfessor Charles Sampford |
Opening remarksJohn Wright, Managing Director, MacArthur Museum |
Opening keynote and Q&A
|
Morning Tea |
First sessionHistorical and strategic context
Chair: Claire Moore, Queensland President, UNAA, former Queensland Senator |
Lunch |
Second sessionThe UN, ANZUS and the ‘rules based international order’
Chair: The Hon. Colin Forrest SC |
Afternoon tea |
Third sessionChinese, Indian and Kiwi perspectives
Chair: Professor Mary Keyes, Director, Law Futures Centre |
Conference closes |
Annual General Douglas MacArthur Dinner
In addition to the conference event, our partners at the MacArthur Museum are hosting the Annual General Douglas MacArthur Dinner. You’re invited to attend the dinner as well as the conference. Please note, you will be required to purchase separate tickets for the two events.
At the dinner, you will join the Board of the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation Brisbane Memorial Foundation to mark the 80th Anniversary of General MacArthur's arrival to command the Southwest Pacific Area from the centre of Brisbane.
- Keynote Speaker: The Hon Peter Dutton MP
- Attire: Formal - Dinner Suit / Lounge Suit / Military Miniatures
- Date: Friday, 22 July 2022
- Time: 6.30 pm - 10 pm
Registrations are now closed.
Speakers
Professor Charles Sampford
Foundation Dean of Law and Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law
John Wright
Executive Officer and Managing Director, MacArthur Museum
Professor the Hon Bob Carr
Former NSW Premier, Senator and Foreign Minister, Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS
Lt Gen (ret) John Sanderson, AC
Former head of UN forces in Cambodia, Chief of Army, WA Governor
Professor Ramesh Thakur
Emeritus Professor, ANU. Former UN Assistant secretary and Senior Vice Rector, United Nations University
Professor Peter Dean
Director, UWA Defence and Security Program and author of MacArthur's Coalition
Professor Zhiqun Zhu
Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bucknell University. Current Fulbright Scholar
Doctor Danielle Chubb
Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Deakin University
Sonia Arakkal
Policy Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre
From the Vice Chancellor
Griffith University is delighted to partner with Brisbane’s MacArthur Museum to celebrate and reflect on three 80th anniversaries of significant moments in Australian independence, the American Alliance and the United Nations.
These multiple 80th anniversaries provide an opportunity to reflect on the challenges our two countries met in those days, the changes they wrought and the challenges we may face. The events of that year provided the basis for much that has happened since – greater Australian independence, the American alliance and the role of the United Nations
Griffith will participate through the Law Futures Centre (LFC), the Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law (IEGL), Griffith Law School (GLS) and the Griffith Asia Institute (GAI). It will host the Conference at the Conservatorium of Music on Griffith’s South Bank Campus. In addition to the MacArthur Museum, we welcome the participation of UNAA , AIIA and the Fulbright Commission. As former Senior Fulbrighters, Professor Sampford and I are particularly pleased to see Fulbright involvement and the participation of four other current and past Fulbrighters (Professor the Hon Bob Carr, Professor Ramesh Thakur, Professor Peter Dean and Professor Zhiqun Zhu). It is a reminder of the vision of Senator Fulbright to invest the proceeds of American war surplus to funding the most extensive system of scholarships and fellowships ever – turning ‘swords’ into intellectual ploughshares.
I wish all the partners and participants the very best for their important discussions as we reflect on the past to help us prepare for the future.
Professor Carolyn Evans, Vice Chancellor and President, Griffith University
This program is proudly supported by the following partners:
