Origins of the Cold War
Australia's entry into the Cold War came in 1950, when it rushed combat air and sea forces into the Korean War, two days after the Americans did. The Australian Prime Minister received a hero's welcome in Washington. The ANZUS military alliance with New Zealand and the United States was signed in July 1951; it was a plan for consultation and did not involve military planning like NATO. Public opinion in Australia was intensely hostile to Japan after its wartime atrocities, but Japan was now an ally in the Cold War, so Australia's accepted the very generous soft peace treaty with Japan in 1951. Instead of worrying about a resurgent Japan, Australia now worried more about a possible Chinese threat.
History of Australian naval aviation
"Sydney" was the only non-US, non-UK aircraft carrier to be involved in the Korean War. The operation of a United States helicopter aboard "Sydney" during the war prompted the development of helicopter aviation in the Australian military. The RAN's second aircraft carrier, , had encountered delays while upgrading to the latest technology, and the British aircraft carrier was loaned to the RAN from 1952 until 1955, when "Melbourne" was commissioned. "Sydney" was decommissioned and converted into a troop transport during the late 1950s, and the obsolescence of "Melbourne"s British-designed aircraft saw her reduced to helicopter operations until the mid-1960s, when new aircraft were purchased from the United States. "Melbourne" did not participate in the Vietnam War, although RAN pilots were used to support RAAF and United States Army helicopter units.