Decolonisation

Australia has consistently supported the rights of people in dependent territories to self-determination. The UN has played an important role in this process of decolonisation. Since its establishment, more than 75 formerly dependent territories have joined the UN as sovereign independent states. The UN’s decolonisation machinery has served Australia well. It gave international endorsement to Australia's program of decolonisation of Papua and New Guinea, and to the wish of the residents of Cocos and Keeling Islands to become an integral part of the Australian Commonwealth. It oversaw the move to orderly independence by several of the island states in the South Pacific, which is an area of primary strategic interest to Australia.