ABSTRACT
New Zealand became a champion of the anti-nuclear cause in the region, opposed to both the USA and France on the issue. Australia led smaller countries of the South Pacific in fashioning a limited form of nuclear free zone. The US Consul General in Sydney, John Dorrance, an expert in South Pacific affairs, recognised the danger. In a paper called ‘ANZUS: Misperceptions, Mythology and Reality’, he described as a ‘myth’ the idea that ANZUS could be denuclearised and that Australia should follow New Zealand’s lead. Australia barred HMS Invincible, a British aircraft carrier almost certainly carrying nuclear weapons, from dry dock facilities in Sydney Harbour in December 1983. Australian Labor Party policy forbids nuclear weapons on Australian soil, and the Minister for Defence applied the policy literally. The 1984 Federal Election campaign in Australia showed that a sizeable minority of voters wanted American bases out of the country and an end to ANZUS.
