When: Friday, 8 November, 2–3pm
Where: 407 Babel Building, The University of Melbourne Parkville Campus
Dr Alexis Bergantz, RMIT University
“Whose Pacific ? France and Australia at the South Pacific Commission, 1947-1990s”
In 1947, at Australia’s initiative, the South Pacific Commission (SPC) was established as an inter-governmental agency aimed at promoting cooperation among six colonial powers in the region, with a focus on the economic and social welfare of ‘the peoples of the non-self-governing territories of the South Pacific.’ Based in Noumea and renamed the Pacific Community in 1997, the SPC has since become the leading scientific and technical development organisation in the region, firmly embedded in and serving ‘the people of the Blue Pacific.’
This project examines how competition and cooperation between colonial powers, particularly Australia and France, shaped the creation, mission, and operations of the SPC from the post-war period to the 1990s, as it adapted to the challenges of decolonization and the Cold War. It explores how the SPC, through its Research Council, work programs, and the South Pacific Conference (the first regional forum to include Pacific Islander delegates), laid the foundation for different contemporary understandings of the Pacific space for state actors, individuals, and Indigenous communities.
This paper focuses on the early years of the SPC, revealing how its inception was shaped by the competing regional strategies of France and Australia in terms of security and colonial sovereignty. While Australia sought to position the organisation as a replacement for the diminishing influence of the British Commonwealth, France viewed the emergence of an ‘Anglo-Saxon’ bloc between Australia, the US, and Britain as a geopolitical threat to its presence in the region. Drawing on French diplomatic archives, this paper reveals the conflicting colonial and regional ideologies that underpinned the creation of the SPC and defined its modus operandi for years to come. Although initially dismissed by France, the South Pacific Conference itself became a key forum for voicing Indigenous grievances, which in turn helped shape the evolving identity of the Pacific Community.
Presenter
Alexis Bergantz is a Senior Lecturer in Global & Language Studies at RMIT University. His research explores Australia’s entanglements with France and the French Pacific. His first book, French Connection: Australia’s Cosmopolitan Ambitions (NewSouth, 2021), won the 2022 NSW Premier’s Australian History Award. In 2023, he co-edited a special issue of the Australian Journal of French Studies titled Australia and New Caledonia: Connectivity, Cooperation, and Competition. Alexis also co-chairs the Research Committee of the Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations (ISFAR), where he is currently leading the development of a walking tour app of French Sydney.