Ups and Downs: A Short History of Australian-African Diplomatic Relations

By Hon Prof Matthew Neuhaus

Early Days

Australian-African interaction certainly dates back to the earliest days of European settlement, when the First Fleet sailed from England via Cape Town in 1787.  We may yet discover earlier interactions with indigenous Australians, but there is so far little evidence of that.  One for future archaeologists, perhaps!

As part of the British Empire, people-to-people and business relations became well established.  Australian colonies sent a large contingent to the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902, Australian missionaries provided education and health services in parts of Africa, and Australians were among the settlers in Eastern and Southern Africa.

However, Australian-African diplomatic relations were effectively nonexistent because, until just before the Second World War the new nation of Australia largely left the UK to manage its global diplomatic engagement.  It took till the 1930s for Australia to open missions outside London, with Washington, Tokyo, and the Chinese wartime capital of Chungking the first.

The establishment of the United Nations in 1945 and the post-war era of decolonisation coincided with Australia’s determination to pursue its own way in the world.  There was a rapid growth of the External Affairs Department and the expansion of a network of posts.  On the African continent, posts in South Africa and Egypt were first, with the sea routes to Australia via Suez and Cape Town of key strategic importance to Australia’s trade and security.

The conservative Menzies Government was not always comfortable with the new Commonwealth organisation which emerged from the British Empire or the radical policies of many of these new nations.  But it did open posts in all key Commonwealth countries as they reached independence, including in Africa.  Thus posts in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania were opened in quick succession.  But there was no engagement with Francophone Africa.

Another important aspect of the engagement with Africa was the inclusion of African nations in the Commonwealth Scholarships of the Colombo Plan.  These helped forge relations with the future leadership of these new nations.  With UDI in Rhodesia in 1964 and the deepening of apartheid in South Africa, scholarships were also extended to those fleeing this oppression.

Menzies own diplomatic efforts in engaging Africa were clumsy and unsuccessful.  He sought to engage with Nasser over the Suez Crisis and was rebuffed.  The same with Smith in Rhodesia.  He found it hard to come to terms with South Africa’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth over apartheid.  However the Australian Government was pragmatic in its engagement.

The dawn of Australian-African relations

As it is with so many other issues, the dawn of Australia’s relations with Africa really began with Gough Whitlam and his election in 1972.  While he never visited Africa as Prime Minister, some key decisions were made by his government which engaged Africa positively.  The first was to change Australia’s voting on South Africa in the UN General Assembly to bring it more in line with Africa.  The second was the banning of sporting tours from South Africa.  He established the Australia Development Assistance Agency in 1974, with an ambitious aid level of 0.47% of GDP – and Africa was included.

Perhaps surprisingly, his conservative successor Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was even more committed to Africa.  The Oxford-educated Fraser was a keen Commonwealth man, strongly opposed to apartheid South Africa, and determined to see majority rule in Rhodesia.  Part of his approach was value driven and part was geo-political.  Like Henry Kissinger, he saw these racist policies as simply opening the way for long-term Communist influence.

He engaged well with African leaders. As a fellow conservative, he was also well placed to influence the new conservative Prime Minister of the UK Margaret Thatcher’s views on Rhodesia and push her to work with the Commonwealth.  The result, following a successful 1979 CHOGM in Lusaka, was the Lancaster House agreement, which saw Rhodesia come to independence as Zimbabwe in 1980, led by Robert Mugabe.  A new post had been opened in Lusaka, largely to engage with the ANC, and now one was opened in Harare.

Fraser hosted the 1981 CHOGM in Melbourne, and strongly supported African nations in their sanctions against South Africa, often in the face of a reluctant Thatcher.  These policies were continued under his successor the Labor leader Bob Hawke.  Hawke nominated Fraser as Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on South Africa in 1985 with former President of Nigeria Obasanjo, and they worked well together in engaging the South African regime – if with limited success initially.

A time of consolidation

The period of the Hawke/Keating governments, with Gareth Evans emerging as Foreign Minister after Bill Hayden, was one of consolidation of relations with Africa.  Both Hawke and Evans were deeply committed to seeing change in South Africa, especially through the Commonwealth engagement.  Success was achieved with the release of Mandela and the emergence in 1994 of a free South Africa.

Evans was also strongly committed to multilateralism, and knew to achieve his multilateral ambitions, African support was essential.  He was assiduous in meeting with African Ministers in New York, listening to their goals and ambitions.  As one who arranged his program in New York and later oversighted his briefs, I speak from experience.  His achievements had global impact – the Cambodian Peace Process (for which we drew on the Lancaster House arrangements for Zimbabwe); the Chemical Weapons Convention; the Blue Book on Cooperating for Peace – but were good for Africa too.

During his time in the early/mid 1990s, with the end of the Cold War, the UN and Commonwealth were operating at their best.  I was with Gareth as UN and Commonwealth Director in Auckland in 1995 when General Abacha in Nigeria hung Ogoni activist Ken Saro Wiwa in defiance of President Mandela and the whole Commonwealth.  Australia was quick to support the suspension of Nigeria and establishment of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group.

Hubris and Disaster

Under Gareth Evans we had determined to run for election to the UN Security Council with the vote in late 1996.  Support was looking good, even if aid was low, some African posts had been shut (Accra, Lusaka and Addis Ababa although Port Louis was opened in the Indian Ocean) and a certain over confidence had grown in our multilateral positioning.  Then disaster struck.  We had a change of government in 1996.  The Coalition under John Howard continued with the Security Council bid, but took Africa’s votes largely for granted because of the Commonwealth link.

To be fair, the new Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, accompanied by Malcolm Fraser, our Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Butler, and myself travelled to Yaounde Cameroon in July 1996 to attend our first African Union Summit.  We were strangers in a strange land where we had no diplomatic relations and no post, and getting meetings was not easy.  For me it was a reality check but for the campaign it was too late as policies, including on the Middle East, and personalities shifted away from African interests and engagement.  We lost to Portugal and Sweden in late 1996.

Sadly but perhaps inevitably this meant the Coalition Government lost interest in the UN and in Africa.  The UN was soon important again over the issue of East Timor.  However Africa became bedevilled by the issue of Zimbabwe.  Following political turmoil and land invasions it was suspended from the Commonwealth in 2002 during Howard’s term of office as Commonwealth chair.  I had returned from Nigeria in 2001 and worked with Prime Minister Howard on the Brisbane/Coolum CHOGM in 2002 before heading to London as Political Director of the Commonwealth Secretariat so I lived the issue.

Rebuilding relations

My return from the Commonwealth Secretariat to the Australian Foreign Affairs Department in 2009 coincided with the Labor government of Kevin Rudd launching a new bid for the UN Security Council for the 2013-14 term to be voted on in 2012.  Our competitors were Finland and Luxembourg for two seats.  One thing Rudd’s Foreign Minister, Perth based Stephen Smith, got was the importance of Africa in the UN, reinforced by his attendance at the AU Summit early in 2009.  The first thing I was asked to do was to lead a small UNSC Africa Task Force to come up with a winning strategy. Initially we were told there were no new resources – but resources eventually came.

Central to the new strategy was entering into bilateral diplomatic relations with all African nations – till this point we still did not have relations with over a third of African countries including major players like the DRC.  We re-established our post in Addis Ababa, and supplemented our few posts with a network of Honorary Consuls.  High level visits grew to Africa – including by Parliamentary delegations, Ministers and even the Governor General.

We built better linkages with the Australian mining companies working across Africa, and our Ambassadors gathered every year at the Africa Down Under Mining Conference in Perth and the Mining Indaba in Cape Town to strengthen that cooperation and exchange with African Ministers.  Our modest aid was supplemented, with targeted interventions in food security, water and sanitation and mining governance, where we had comparative advantage.  Australia Awards became a centrepiece.

Led by the Canberra baed ASPI thinktank and Johannesburg based Brenthurst Foundation, an African Australian Leadership Dialogue was inaugurated with a meeting in Zambia in May 2012.  The focus of discussion was on the topic of “Fuelling the Dragon: Natural Resources and China’s Development” – a key topic for both sides.  Participants included former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Government Senator David Feeney and Shadow Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

In 2012, after a CHOGM in Perth in 2011, we secured 50 of Africa’s 54 votes.  And we were much better informed to deal with African issues on the UN Security Council.

Decline but not fall

Sadly it didn’t last.  The new Abbott Government in 2013 slashed aid resources, dismantled AusAID, and largely turned away from Africa.  Only Perth based Foreign Minister Julie Bishop remained a champion for Africa and rescued as much as she could.  Australia Awards for Africa and the Dialogue remained, the mining connection stayed strong with her personal commitment, the Advisory Group on Australia Africa Relations (AGAAR) was established, and our first francophone African post in Morocco was opened.  With Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister, there was enough fuel in the tank of the relationship to see us elected in 2017 to the UN Human Rights Council.  But the fuel was running low.

By the end of the Morrison government last year Australia Awards had almost disappeared, AGAAR had disappeared, there was a reluctant approach to engaging multilaterally and no-one was visiting Africa – even if COVID helpfully masked this.  Only the universities (with the AAUN in the lead) and the mining community and a dedicated group of Ambassadors was keeping the relationship alive.

Reinvigoration?

Helpfully for relations with Africa, shortly after the election of the Albanese Government in May, the CHOGM was held in Kigali in June and Deputy Prime Minister Marles attended.  He was impressed and on return, with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister’s support, tasked the new Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts to have a focus on Africa.

Watts has since visited Africa twice – to Morocco, Ghana, South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya.  In his press release on 4 December 2022 he highlighted the Government’s commitment to “reinvigorating our relationships with Africa”.  His commitment was also demonstrated by his attendance along with Resources Ministers King to a well-attended Africa DownUnder Conference in Perth in September this year, with the President of Botswana a special guest.

Much still remains to be done to really reinvigorate the relationship.  It is more important than ever because we have a new factor with political clout – the growing African diaspora in Australia now over 700,000 strong from across the continent – not just white South Africans as was the case a few decades ago.  Whereas once it was said there are “no votes in Africa” – other than for the Security Council – there are now a growing group of constituencies where African votes do count, and a growing number of Parliamentarians of African origin.

However to put real meaning into the commitment to reinvigorate relations with Africa, and even get us back to the Rudd/Gillard levels of engagement, the previous high water mark, we need some further concrete actions, including:

  • a strengthened Awards program, and more support to knowledge exchange and university engagement
  • an Africa Australia Advisory Council, chaired by the Assistant Minister, meeting three to four times a year, and including diaspora representatives
  • better resourcing for our posts and honorary consuls, and some new posts, with Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Kigali and Lusaka of particular relevance economically
  • more two way high level visits, including by Parliamentarians, the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister, particularly to the G20 in South Africa in 2025 and taking advantage of CHOGM in Samoa in 2024
  • better regular dialogue with African nations on global issues and a strong network of bilateral interaction as well engagement with the AU
  • a recognition that Africa is part of the Indo-Pacific and has a role to play in its future.

 

Africa and Africans are part of Australia’s future.  Africa with its growing population, developing economies and considerable share of global resources is ever more important to Australia and the world. We now need government action to match the rhetoric of reinvigoration which recognises that fact.

When that happens we can then say Australia truly deserves African support, including for election to the UN Security Council when we next face that test in 2028.   It would be a bonus if in doing so we could develop a more steady engagement with Africa, rather than one that is blown by the winds of political expediency and changes of government.

In the meantime, to use a Swahili proverb “Umoja ni Nguvu” – “Unity is Strength”.  Those of us committed to a deeper and more sustainable relationship need to work ever more closely together with that in mind.

This was a keynote address by Honorary Professor Matthew Neuhaus at last year’s ANU African Studies Network Conference, where he deliberated on Africa-Australia diplomatic relations.
 
Prof. Matthew Neuhaus has been an Honorary Professor (International Law) at the Australian National University College of Law since November 2022. He was Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands from August 2018 to October 2022 and Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. He represented Australia at the ICJ, ICC, PCA, and other international legal bodies.

The professor has previously served as Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe (2011–15), accredited to the DRC, Zambia, and Malawi, and High Commissioner to Nigeria (1997–2000), accredited to Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Senegal. He has also held senior positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Prime Minister and Cabinet, covering Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific, UN and Multilateral Engagement, and international law. He was Assistant Secretary for Africa, then First Assistant Secretary for the Middle East and Africa from 2015–18.

Prof. Neuhaus was Director of the Political Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London from 2002–2008. His previous postings with DFAT include Kenya (1983–1985), Papua New Guinea (1988–1989), and UN New York (1991–1994), where he represented Australia on the First and Sixth Committees and was Vice Chair of the Sixth Committee in 1993–94.

Prof. Neuhaus has a B.A. (Hons) LLB from the University of Sydney and a Master of Philosophy (International Relations) from the University of Cambridge. He attended the Harvard University Kennedy School Leaders in Development Program in June 2006 and was a Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at Cambridge University in 2015.

 

Update on Panel Discussion with Prof. Bina D’Costa, Adegboyega Adeniran, and Joel Odota led by Dr Babatunde Obamamoye

This session may start late. A revised link to the conference is

https://anu.zoom.us/j/89372914667?pwd=dE8reWkzRnBSaTRWNXB4Sk5XWElDQT09

Date: 23-11-2023
Time: 13:00 AET
Venue: Marie Reay Building, ANU Campus, Canberra

This panel will explore the dynamic landscape of Australia-Africa relations in the evolving global order and will be led by Dr.Babatunde Obamamoye from the Australian National University.

Panelists:

1. Prof. Bina D’Costa: Australian National University, (will be focusing on UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent).

2. Adegboyega Adeniran: Australian National University, (will be exploring indigenous data governance in the context of Australia-Africa relations).

3. Joel Odota (欧朗志): Australian National University, (will be delving into the impact of China’s rise on Australia-Africa relations).

Engage with our experts, ask questions, and gain insights into this crucial aspect of international affairs.

Can’t make it in person? Join us virtually via Zoom!

Zoom details are as below:

Link: https://anu.zoom.us/j/81283203733?pwd=NUdTY1FHdWNIclZGYXdCOGVyZC9ydz09#success

Meeting ID: 89372914667

Meeting Passcode: 214763

See you there!

The 2023 ANU African Studies Network Conference is finally here!

In just two days, the highly anticipated ANU African Studies Network Conference will commence. We’re thrilled about this event and trust that you share in our excitement.

You have the option to join in person at the Marie Reay Building Room 2.02 on the ANU campus, or virtually via Zoom, through the provided meeting information.

If you have any inquiries, feel free to reach out to us at africanstudiesnetwork@anu.edu.au. Looking forward to connecting with you soon!

Organising Committee

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – AFRICAN STUDIES WORKSHOP 2022

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – AFRICAN STUDIES WORKSHOP 2022 at ANU

Studying Africa at ANU: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Workshop: Friday, 9 December 2022
Proposals due: Thursday, 24 November 2022

We welcome attendance and active participation from scholars at any level. This workshop has been funded by the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS) workshop grant which will cater for advertisement, venue and catering services. The workshop is an opportunity to advance research towards publication, develop scholarly networks, and promote African studies at ANU. Please note that we are planning for an in-person seminar; however, we may transit to a virtual program in case of Covid-19 restrictions.

The deadline to submit an application is Thursday, November 24, 2022. Please email short abstracts (150 words) and the title of the proposed presentation to
ernest.akuamoah@anu.edu.au and cc anu.adeyemi@anu.edu.au. Kindly use the subject “African Studies Workshop Presentation 2022 – Your Name”.

Please indicate whether you are a postgraduate or Early Career Researcher (ECR).

Date: Friday, 9 December 2022

Proposed Time: 10:15 – 15:50

Venue: Research School of Social Sciences, Building 146, Australian National University

Further details

AFSAAP 43rd Annual Conference – University of New England – 03-05 Dec 2020

AFRICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALASIA AND THE PACIFIC

43rd Annual Conference

“Youthful Optimism for Africa”

University of New England, Armidale, NSW

03-05 December 2020

 

Call for Papers

The African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) calls for proposals for preorganized panels, roundtables, thematic conversations, and individual papers for its 43rd annual meeting to be held at the University of New England (UNE), Armidale, NSW, December 3-5th 2020.

If COVID 19 permits, there will be a physical conference at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW. If not, and for anyone who is not able to travel, there will be a ZOOM facility for presenting your papers and getting feed-back (UNE has more experience with distance education than any other Australian University).

60% of the population of Africa is under 25 – [sadly, this proportion may even increase if many older people die of COVID 19]. Whilst you are welcome to submit abstracts on any African topic you choose, we are encouraging you to think about youth and a brighter future.

We would welcome suggestions for panels. There will certainly be panels for peace/conflict, Afro-feminism, and environmental issues.

The deadline for abstracts is 01 September 2020. Abstracts should be 300 words maximum and cover question, methodology, findings. Paper presenters will be allowed 20 minutes for presentation plus 20 minutes for questions.

AFSAAP Postgraduate Day

A special feature of AFSAAP Conferences is our work with post-graduate students. PhD and other post-graduate students who submit a thoughtful abstract and wish to participate in the post-graduate day will be assigned an AFSAAP member with experience in their area as a mentor to help them work on their paper. Post-graduate work on African topics in Australia can be a rather lonely experience and it is good to be able to turn to a friend who can give you advice on how to get your ideas into shape and where you should be heading. December 3rd is post-graduate day and will be devoted to presentations in a warm and encouraging setting. Those presenting their work on that day will also be encouraged to submit their finished papers to a special post-graduate ARAS edition.  Details forthcoming.

Abstracts of proposed papers, panels and roundtables should be sent by to Professor Helen Ware at: vice-president@afsaap.org.au

A preliminary program will be announced in October 2020. Registration and conference fees must be paid before the start of the conference.

AFSAAP 2019

AFSAAP Conference 2019
“Africa: Diversity and Development”, 26 – 27 November 2019

University of Otago campus

Sessions in the draft program include:
Historical Perspectives, Education, Conservation and Inclusivity, African Migrants in Australia, Politics, Literacy and Language, Livelihoods and Food, Security, Health, Geopolitics, Culture, Art and Literature,
Peace and Conflict, Migration and Health, Mining, Development Issues;
Gender/Sexuality: Violence and Activism, Development, Land Politics,
Tourism.

Roundtable Panel: ‘Australian Mining Interests in Africa’.

Workshop: ‘Creating an online
glossary/wiki for terms that reflect African ways of knowing, being and
doing human rights’

KEYNOTE LECTURES
Marcelle Dawson: “Some of my Best Friends are White’: Allies and Affinities in African Studies”
Bob Huish: “The Place of “Past Oncologies” in Global Health Today: Chronicles of Cancer in Africa”
Elizabeth Rankin: “Monumental Manipulations: Reshaping Visual Heritage in South Africa’s Public Domain”

2019 AFSAAP Conference and Student Travel Grants

42nd AFSAAP Annual Conference
Africa: Diversity and Development
26-27 November 2019, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

The African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) invites submissions for its 2019 conference from academics, researchers, students, practitioners and policy makers, and the diaspora community, with interests in African studies, both on the African continent and in the Australasia and Pacific region. In 2019, the conference theme is ‘Africa: Diversity and Development’. The conference seeks to explore the richness of the continent and its diversity in a wide range of social, economic, political and cultural dimensions, while simultaneously discussing development options, challenges and experiences.Papers from all disciplines considering African issues in a broad range of topics, such as culture, history, literature, physical, social and economic development, environment, politics, geography, ecology, demography, health, education, migration, media, aid, climate change, natural and human-induced disasters, civil society and gender are welcomed.

Abstracts due 30 June 2019; Postgraduate travel grant applications due 30 August 2019.

38th AFSAAP Conference – Deakin University 2015

38th AFSAAP Conference
Deakin University, Melbourne CBD
28 – 30 October 2015

See http://afsaap.org.au/conference/conference-20

‘The African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific welcomes to its 2015 conference, papers from academics, researchers, students, practitioners and policy makers with interests in African studies, both on the African continent and in the Australasia and Pacific region. Papers from all disciplines discussing African issues in a broad range of topics, such as culture, physical, social and economic development, environment, politics, geography, ecology, demography, health, education, migration, media, aid, climate change, natural and human-induced disasters, civil society and gender are welcomed.’

More details coming soon.

2015 Australasian Aid conference

The 2015 Australasian Aid Conference, hosted by the Development Policy Centre, Crawford School, ANU, and the Asia Foundation, will be held on 12th and 13th February. Click here to see registration.

The full program is now available [pdf]. The last session on Friday afternoon includes one presentation with African content: ‘Effective strategies for transformation: a review on the utilisation of a strength’s based approach in Malawi and Tanzania’, by Annabel Dulhunty and Lisa McMurray of Caritas Australia.

 Also relevant is ‘ “50 pounds and a bicycle”: the role of NGOs in the Australian official aid program’ by Patrick Kilby, ANU.