Australian Empire: A brief history of the 'Pacific Family'

As imperialist rivalry between the US and China intensifies, Australia’s ruling class are re-arming for war while presenting Australia as the defender of democracy for its “Pacific family”. This myth of a benevolent and caring Australia not only sanitises its drive to war, but hides a much more sordid history of colonialism and conquest in the Pacific. From the Blackbirding slave trade of the 1860s, to capitalist profiteering in Fiji, to the administration of Papua New Guinea as an Australian colony, to the invasions of the Solomon Islands and East Timor: this session will uncover the motivations and history of Australian imperialism in the Pacific.