Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality - Chapter 28 - Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Regions

January 06, 2026

Every two weeks I am going to feature one of the chapters of our Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality which was published in spring 2024.
This week we are taking a closer look at Chapter 28 – Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Regions - contributed by Agnieszka Sobocinska.

From the introduction
This chapter argues that humanitarianism in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific has been profoundly imprinted by its roots in settler colonialism. Humanitarianism in Australia and New Zealand grew out of the project of appropriating Indigenous land, and somewhat ironically, facilitated the extension of government control over Indigenous lives. The relationship between humanitarianism, colonialism, and governmentality is by no means unique to Australia or the Pacific; as Didier Fassin notes, the ‘tension between inequality and solidarity, between a relation of domination and a relation of assistance, is constitutive of all humanitarian governance’ (Fassin, 2012: 3). The relationship between humanitarianism and paternalism, especially in contexts structured by powerful racial hierarchies, has also been much discussed (Barnett, 2011: 34). Nonetheless, the history of humanitarianism in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific reveals particularly close connections between humanitarianism, governmentality, and discourses of control. It also reveals the powerful legacies that colonial patterns continue to bear on contemporary humanitarianism (see Chapter 2 by O’Leary McNeice on Humanitarianism and colonialism in this volume). Colonial origins set the pattern for humanitarianism in Australia. From the mid-twentieth century, the close ties between humanitarianism, control, and the search for security shaped Australian engagement with Asia and even influenced emergency and disaster response efforts in the Asia-Pacific region. This pattern was not monolithic; some groups – particularly migrants and Indigenous Australians – participated in humanitarian campaigns for reasons beyond those of anxiety, governmentality, and control. But the overarching pattern has been consistent, and recently resulted in humanitarian funding being used to further Australian objectives in the areas of counter-terrorism and people smuggling. It has also resulted in humanitarian rhetoric being used to support Australia’s controversial policy of offshore detention of asylum seekers. While this pattern continues to hold in Australia, recent developments in New Zealand and other parts of the Pacific suggest that the links between humanitarianism, governmentality, and control may be disrupted by a recognition of the particularly grave consequences that climate change will have on the region.

Note on contributor
Agnieszka Sobocinska is Professor of Global History and Director of the Australia Studies Institute at King’s College London.
She is the author of two monographs, Saving the World? Western Volunteers and the Rise of the Humanitarian-Development Complex (Cambridge University Press, 2021) and Visiting the Neighbours: Australians in Asia (UNSW Press, 2014).