Australian Reactions to the French Penal Colony in New Caledonia

Author: JILL DONOHOO
Explorations No 54 (Australian Winter 2013): 25-45
https://doi.org/10.62586/NKBH6208

This is an historical essay on Australian reactions to the mid-nineteenth century French take-over of New Caledonia. Jill Donohoo highlights ‘post-convict shame’ as a likely reason for the Australian colonies’ opposition to the establishment of a penal colony in the Pacific and she analyses the emergence of an early independent Australian foreign policy.

Keywords: French penal colony, New Caledonia, post-convict shame, security threat, foreign policy, spying