ABSTRACT
This chapter reveals the frameworks and assumptions that shape the way Australia views its maritime domain, and how these have come to impact the development of policy on fisheries and a range of other maritime security challenges. It reveals the ambivalent nature of Australia’s relationship with the sea, and the limited resonance that maritime matters have with the Australian population. The chapter highlights how successive Australian governments have struggled to generate coherent policy on issues related to the maritime domain. Maritime issues have weighed heavily in Australian strategic discussions, especially more recently, but there remains an uncertainty over the significance and value of maritime operations conducted in the absence of hostilities. In response to this, the chapter concludes by setting out a new Australian definition of maritime security, something intended to bring greater clarity to existing debates.
