ABSTRACT
Debate continues, for example, over the degree of commitment shown by Australia's allies, particularly by Britain, to defending Australia from invasion. The contrast, however, between the lack of urgency and political will behind Australian defence and foreign policies in the 1930s and those policies adopted in the war could hardly have been greater. The greatest blow to Australian interest in the security of the Pacific was the so-called 'beat Hitler first' strategy, an agreement between the British and Americans to give priority to the defeat of Germany and its European allies. Australia's long-term security provided most of the impetus behind Evatt's attempts at involvement in the fate of European empires. The establishment of a separate Australian Department of External Affairs in 1935 was an important and overdue development, although for some time the numbers working there, and the budget supporting its operations, would remain very low.
