Editing History of Australia (section)

=== Paris peace conference ===
Hughes attended the Imperial War Conference and Imperial War Cabinet in London from June 1918 where Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa won British support for their separate representation at the eventual peace conference.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fitzhardinge|first=L. F.|date=2006|title=Hughes, William Morris (Billy) (1862–1952)|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hughes-william-morris-billy-6761|access-date=5 November 2021|website=Australian Dictionary of Biography}}</ref><ref>Garton and Stanley (2013). p. 39</ref> At the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]] in 1919, Hughes argued that Germany should pay the full cost of the war, but ultimately gained only £5 million in war reparations for Australia. Australia and the other self-governing British dominions won the right to become full members of the new [[League of Nations]], and Australia obtained a special League of Nations mandate over German New Guinea allowing Australia to control trade and immigration. Australia also gained a 42 per cent share of the formerly German-ruled island of Nauru, giving access to its rich superphosphate reserves. Australia argued successfully against a Japanese proposal for a racial equality clause in the League of Nations covenant, as Hughes feared that it would jeopardise the White Australia policy.<ref>{{Cite book|author-last1=Bridge|author-first1=Carl|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 2, The Commonwealth of Australia|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2013|isbn=9781107011540|editor-last1=Bashford|editor-first1=Alison|location=Port Melbourne|pages=522–24|chapter=Australia, Britain and the British Commonwealth|editor-first2=Stuart|editor-last2=Macintyre}}</ref> As a signatory to the [[Treaty of Versailles]] and a full member of the League of Nations, Australia took an important step towards international recognition as a sovereign nation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Treaty of Versailles 1919 (including Covenant of the League of Nations)|url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-23.html#significance|access-date=5 November 2021|website=Documenting a Democracy, Museum of Australian Democracy}}</ref>