Editing Foreign relations of Australia (section)

===Post-Federation period===
The [[Department of External Affairs (1901–1916)|Department of External Affairs]] was one of the inaugural departments created upon the [[Federation of Australia|federation of the Australian colonies]] in 1901, but largely remained an appendage of the [[Prime Minister's Department (Australia)|Prime Minister's Department]].  Outside of the prime minister, the role of [[Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom]] (established in 1910) remained the most significant conduit for Australian foreign relations, with its significance emphasisesd that the first three appointees were former prime ministers. It has been suggested that, for Australia's early governments, foreign policy meant "relations with London on matters of imperial foreign policy on which Australia might have an interest".<ref name=lowy>{{Cite news|url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/alfred-deakin-roots-australian-foreign-policy|title=Alfred Deakin and the roots of Australian foreign policy|first=Judith|last=Brett|date=19 September 2017|publisher=Lowy Institute|access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref>

Australia's first prime minister [[Edmund Barton]] was in favour of a uniform foreign policy for the British Empire, suggesting Australia could have no "foreign policy of its own" but expected that the British government would defer to the Australian perspective for "regional" imperial policy.{{sfn|Bird|2008|p=3}} Barton's successor [[Alfred Deakin]] also repeatedly lobbied the British government for greater consultation on imperial foreign policy and suggested the establishment of an imperial department of state to coordinate policy, as part of his broader support for an [[Imperial Federation]].{{sfn|Bird|2008|p=4}} Deakin took some of the first steps towards diplomatic independence by dealing directly with the Japanese consul-general, for which he was reminded by the [[Colonial Office]] that it "expected Australia to conduct any dealings with a foreign power through London". He also dealt directly with the U.S. consul in Sydney to engineer the visit of the [[Great White Fleet]] in 1908.<ref name=lowy/> His actions "set a precedent for unilateralism" in foreign policy that was followed by his immediate successors as prime minister, although with a continued reliance on the British diplomatic service and policy-making apparatus and no efforts to develop Australian equivalents.{{sfn|Bird|2008|p=4}}