ISSUE 61 : Nov/Dec - 1986 - Australian Defence Force Journal

S8 DEFENCE FORCE JOURNAL No. 61 November/December 86
ernment rhetoric during the Fraser years does
not conceal these trends which both worked
against plans to replace Melbourne and hastened
the RAN's transformation from an
oceanic navy able to influence events at a distance
from the continent into a navy tied to
shore bases.
The Hawke Government's final blow to Australian
naval aviation in 1983 was in keeping
with the dominant trend of Australian defence
policy in the late 1970s and 1980s. In exactly
the same way as the formation of the RAN
Fleet Air Arm had been a response to Government
perception that Australia needed a maritime
sea control capability the ending of aircraft
carrier operations by Australia resulted from
Government perceptions that this capability was
no longer relevant.
II
NOTES
1. J. J. Dedman, Minister for Defence, 4 June 1947,
Commonwealth Parliamentarv Debates (CPD) Vol 102,
pp 3335-3346.
2. A. R. Pedder, 'Aircraft Carriers and Their Aircraft',
Aircraft, October 1951, pp 20-21, 62.
3. Robert O'Neill, Australia In The Korean War 1950-53.
Volume II: Combat Operations (Canberra, 1985), p
466.
4. O'Neill, Australia in Korea Vol II p 467.
5. Robert Jackson, Air War over Korea (London, 1973),
Ch 11.
6. O'Neill, Australia in Korea, Vol II, p 464.
7. Jackson, Air War, Ch 12.
8. Robert O'Neill, Australia In The Korean War 1950-53
Volume I: Strategy and Diplomacy (Canberra, 1981),
p 251. O'Neill, Australia In Korea Vol II, p 466.
9. Pedder, 'Aircraft Carriers'.
10. Stansfield Turner, 'Designing a Modern Navy', Power
at Sea, Adelphi Paper No 123, pp 25-32.
11. Norman Polmar, Aircraft Carriers (London, 1969), pp
573-575.
12. Menzies made radio broadcasts on 20, 22 and 25 September
1950 to warn Australians of the imminent peril
— Current Notes on International Affairs, Vol 21, pp
658-659.
13. Australia in Facts and Figures, Australian News and
Information Bureau, Canberra, March 1952, p 28.
14. P. A. McBride, Minister for Defence, 21 February 1952,
CPD Vol 216, p 184.
15. Thomas Durell-Young, 'Australia Bites Off More Than
the RAN Can Chew', Pacific Defence Reporter, March
1986, pp 15-16.
16. O'Neill, Australia in Korea Vol I. pp 213, 227-232,
235.
17. R. G. Menzies, Prime Minister, 5 March 1952, CPD
Vol 216, p 280.
18. Menzies, 7 March 1951, CPD Vol 212, p 78.
19. Australia in Facts and Figures, September 1952, p 33.
20. McBride, 28 September 1954, CPD HofR Vol 5, p
1629.
21. Menzies, 5 August 1954, CPD HofR Vol 4, p 68.
22. McBride, 28 September 1954, CPD HofR Vol 5, pp
1630-1631.
23. T. B. Millar, Australia in Peace and War (Canberra,
1978), p 240.
24. Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia, Commonwealth
Bureau of Census and Statistics, 1955, No
41, pp 990-993 and 1959, No 45, p 1059.
25. Australia in Facts and Figures, September 1954, p 35.
26. A. G. Townley, Minister for Defence, 26 November
1959, CPD HofR Vol 25, p 3184.
27. Townley, 29 March 1960, CPD HofR Vol 26, pp 648-
649.
28. Menzies, 22 May 63, CPD HofR Vol 38, p 1671.
29. Ibid, p 1670.
30. Menzies, 10 November 1964, CPD HofR Vol 44, p
2720.
31. F. C. Chaney, Minister for the Navy, 26 October 1965,
CPD HofR Vol 48, p 2167.
32. Ibid.
33. J. M. Fraser, Minister for Defence, 10 Mar 1970, CPD
HofR Vol 66, pp 236, 242.
34. Defence Report 1972, p 10.
35. Defence Report 1971, p 22.
36. Current Affairs Bulletin November 1969, Vol 44, pp
203-205.
37. D. E. Fairbairn, Minister for Defence, 28 March 1972,
CPD HofR Vol 77, pp 1247-1256.
38. Fairbairn, 16 August 1972, CPD HofR Vol 79, pp 205,
207.
39. D. P. O'Connell, The Influence Of Law On Sea Power
(Maryland, 1975), pp 86-87.
40. L. H. Barnard, Minister for Defence, 30 May 1973,
CPD HofR Vol 84, p 2868.
41. Ibid., p 2871.
42. Barnard, 22 August 1973, CPD HofR Vol 85, p 240.
43. Ibid.
44. W. L. Morrison, Minister for Defence, 28 August 1975,
CPD HofR Vol 94, p 715.
45. Australian Defence, Australian Government Publishing
Service, November 1976 (1976 White Paper), page 6,
paragraph 24.
46. 1976 White Paper, page 20, paragraph 48.
47. D. J. Killen, Minister for Defence, 24 October 1978,
CPD HofR Vol 111, p 2193.
48. Killen, 9 September 1980, CPD HofR Vol 119, p 996.
49. Killen, 29 April 1982, CPD HofR Vol 127, p 2062.
50. Ibid., p 2069.
51. Ibid.
52. Editorial comment, Pacific Defence Reporter, August
1982, p 7.
53. Navy News, 11 February 1983, p 3.
Ray Jones served in a variety of postings, most of them aviation related, after joining the
RAN in 1963. Service as an observer in anti-submarine helicopters and all-weather fighters in
HMAS Melbourne and NAS Nowra was followed by (among other postings) exchange with
the Royal Navy, a year with the US Army in South Vietnam and several years as Senior Naval
Officer at the RAAF School of Air Navigation. On leaving the navy he began tertiary studies
at the University of Tasmania and will complete a BA at the end of 1986.