Reviewing 50 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Singapore, Australian diplomats highlight the potential for a strong and enduring partnership.

During celebrations of 50 years of Australia-Singapore diplomatic relations on August 18, 2015, Australian diplomats past and present recounted the reasons for Canberra’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Singapore and offered perspectives on how the next 50 years of Singapore-Australian relations would look like.

On August 9, 1965, the day Singapore became independent from the Federation of Malaysia, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew wrote to Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, informing him about Singapore’s momentous exit from Malaysia. On August 18, Prime Minister Menzies released a press statement announcing: “The Australian Government has recognised the State of Singapore and I have informed the Singapore Prime Minister that we will be happy to establish full diplomatic relations with Singapore at the level of High Commissioner, and that we wish Singapore well in its new sovereignty and look forward to a continuance of close friendly relations with the new State and with Malaysia.”

… Daniel Wei Boon Chua is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.