Australia and the Antarctic Treaty

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Haward, Marcus
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2009
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Australian Antarctic Territory; Antarc*; Antarctica; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247409990246; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247409990246

Australia has extensive interests in, and has taken a long term interest over, Antarctica. These interests include a territorial claim to the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) encompassing 42 per cent of the continent. In addition to its interests as a claimant state Australian participated in the negotiation of the Antarctic Treaty and has devoted itself to a major role in the Antarctic Treaty system (ATS), firmly committing to upholding the twin pillars of the Treaty: ‘peace’ and ‘science’.