This research essay examines the emergence and development of the
Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and
its attempts to influence foreign policy. Established as the Joint
Committee on Foreign Affairs in 1952, it was the first committee to
have a specific portfolio alignment. The purpose of the committee was
to ensure that a considerable number of parliamentarians could become
informed about foreign affairs issues.
The establishment of a committee for such a purpose was surprising in
that proponents of parliamentary reform at that tune were strongly
advocating that a comprehensive system of committees be created for
the purposes of financial scrutiny of government expenditure and
consideration of legislation. Against this background it is interesting
that the new committee was not given - and indeed showed no intention
of assuming - the role of scrutinising the activities of the Department
of External (and later, Foreign) Affairs.
It is also interesting that Prime Minister Robert Menzies instigated the
committee despite the fact that the government - and particularly the
Minister for External Affairs R G Casey - feared the committee might
go beyond its terms of reference and attempt to exert influence on
government policy. Consequently the government imposed severe
restrictions on the committee's activities which resulted in the
Opposition steadfastly refusing to participate in the work of the
committee for 15 years. Once some of these restrictions were removed,
the committee began to operate as a bipartisan committee in 1967 and
promptly set about attempting to influence government policy in foreign
affairs. Casey's worst fears were realised.
Over the years the brief of the committee expanded into the areas of
defence and trade. Eleven of the committee's reports address significant
defence issues and since 1987 the committee has conducted extensive
inquiries into trade matters. For the purposes of this research essay
however I have focused on the development of the committee's interest
and influence in the area of foreign affairs.
Chapter One of this essay describes the background of parliamentary
reform which resulted in the establishment of a comprehensive system
of committees within the Australian Parliament. Against this
background the emergence of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs
is outlined in Chapter Two. Chapter Three identifies the major trends
in the work of the committee while Chapter Four examines the
influence and some of the mechanisms through which the committee
has exerted pressure on foreign affairs policy. The conclusions of my
research are addressed in Chapter Five.
This research essay is based on an analysis of official committee
documents which address foreign affairs issues from 1967 to the
present. The major sources for the essay therefore are the reports of the
committee, government responses to those reports and parliamentary
debates. Other works consulted include academic journals and
monographs. I have also gained numerous insights into the powers and
limitations of committees through informal discussions with members
of various committees and colleagues. To these people I am indebted for
their thoughtful and provocative remarks. In particular I thank
Professor John Halligan of the University of Canberra for his assistance
and encouragement in bringing this research essay to its conclusion.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218962 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Gould, Gillian, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Administrative Studies |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Gillian Gould |
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