ABSTRACT
One of the characteristics of maritime security is that there are two distinct dimensions in terms of responding to external threats faced by a coastal state. The first is that there exists a core set of threats, values and responses which any state will bring to bear in seeking to secure its maritime security. These reflect the national and international outlook of a state, its geographical location and maritime domain, and its bilateral and regional relationships. While some of these factors may vary over time, they will remain fairly stable. This is certainly the case for Australia and New Zealand, though there has from time to time been some disruption in bilateral and regional relationships so as to impact upon maritime security outlooks, as was the case with New Zealand’s suspension of the ANZUS Treaty 1 with the United States (US) and the breakdown of relations between Australia and Indonesia over East Timor. While both of these issues and relationships have now been ‘mended’ – or at least worked around – they created for a time a particular maritime security dimension which needed to be addressed by both countries. The second dimension is the evolving and emerging threats to maritime security, some of which may be only periodic or temporary, others of which may be looming or may suddenly arise with little warning.2 The attacks on 11 September 2001 have highlighted the potential that one single event may have, not only for national security, but also for global and regional security. The ripple effect felt by Australia and New Zealand of the terrorist attacks upon New York and Washington demonstrated that maritime security concerns can be not only simultaneously both global and national, but also sudden and in the context of a nuclear world have very far-reaching consequences.
