Overview

2025 National Library of Australia Honorary Fellow Dr Andrew Carr discusses his research on the history of Australian defence policy.
During his Fellowship, Dr Carr explored the personal papers of Australian politicians, as well as defence and diplomatic officials from the 1960s to the 1980s, to better understand how they thought about protecting the continent.

In discussing the history of Australia's defence policy, Dr Carr aims to address the shortfalls in our understanding of both the policy and the way the nation's elite have considered the geography of this nation.

Andrew Carr is a Senior Lecturer in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. His research focuses on Strategy and Australian Defence Policy. He has published widely and has a sole-authored book with Melbourne University Press, as well as edited books with Oxford University Press and Georgetown University Press. He is currently a member of the ANU-Defence Strategic Policy History Project, writing a history of Australian Defence White Papers from 1976-2020.