This page is an extract from a manuscript about the history of Australia’s defence policy.

The Antarctic Treaty was signed by 12 nations on 1 December 1959. It has been hailed as the first disarmament treaty of the nuclear age.

A cablegram King George V sent to Dominion prime ministers. It expresses his appreciation of their support to the British Empire in being called to war, 1914.

This is an extract of a letter from Douglas Mawson to Prime Minister Billy Hughes, written in 1916.

This is a decoded cablegram describing the King's message of gratitude at the end of hostilities on the armistice of World War I.

This is a government bulletin that was published in Australia in 1948 by the newly formed Department of Immigration.

A photograph of the copper cylinder container for Sir Douglas Mawson's proclamation of sovereignty rights over Antarctic territory, dated 18th February 1931.

Copy of the message sent by the Governor-General to Prime Minister Joseph Cook and Minister of Defence George Pearce at 12.30 am on 5 August 1914.

The BANZARE voyages (1929–30 and 1930–31) charted over 2000 miles of previously unexplored coastline. Bad weather and heavy pack ice made landfall difficult.