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From Postwar Reconstruction to Pacific Decolonization: Australia’s Historical Engagement with the World Bank
In the two decades following the Second World War, Australia was an active participant in the international organisations established in the war’s aftermath. From the early 1950s until the early 1960s, Australia was one of the leading recipients of World Bank loans. These loans were used to fund Australian development projects, ranging from agricultural machinery to the first Qantas jets. By the mid-1960s, however, Australia’s interactions with the World Bank mostly revolved around its colonial possession of Papua New Guinea (PNG), which was rapidly being prepared for its independence, which it achieved in 1975.
This paper will examine the relationship between Australia and the World Bank, examining both the use of World Bank funds for Australia’s development as well as the harnessing of World Bank expertise to create development plans in PNG. By examining the workings of the World Bank from the Australian perspective, we can trace the evolution of the Bank from one searching for a role in international development finance in the 1950s to becoming the preeminent global development institution in the 1960s.
6 August 2025, 11am AEST
Burwood: C2.05.01
Waurn Ponds: IC1.108
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Nick is a historian of development, empire, and decolonisation, with a particular focus on Australia’s role in the Asia-Pacific region. He’s currently working on his second book, which examines Australia’s relationship with the World Bank, and its impact on development and decolonisation in Australia and Papua New Guinea. His first book examined Australia’s colonial rule in Papua New Guinea, and foreign aid policy in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
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