New Zealand Listener

Bound by an ocean

AUSTRALIA AND THE PACIFIC: A history, by Ian Hoskins (NewSouth Publishing, $44.99)

‘The Pacific Ocean has washed, scoured and thumped Australia’s east coast for more than five million years,” historian Ian Hoskins writes in his introduction to Australia and the Pacific: A history. “Australia’s deep past and its modern history are intrinsically connected to the Pacific.” Despite this, generations of Australian politicians, military leaders and camp followers have denied the fact that Australia is part of the Pacific community, argues Hoskins. He refers repeatedly to Australia’s “repressed oceanic memories”.

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