Cold war on ice? Politics and science collide once more in Australia’s approach to Antarctica | Kieran Pender

Strategic and scientific motivations are not always neatly separable, but it's clear Australia's renewed interest in Antarctica is spurred in part by China

In the 1950s, the Soviets came to Antarctica. As part of its contribution to the International Geophysical Year of 1957-8, a global scientific jamboree, the Soviet Union began building research stations across the great southern land - largely in areas claimed by Australia.

Amid heightened cold war tensions, Australian officials were not pleased. Government records from the time reveal fears the Soviets might install defence infrastructure in Antarctica; the then foreign minister, Richard Casey, warned of missiles being launched on Sydney or Melbourne. The Australian Antarctic Territory is vast: at approximately 6m square kilometres (just shy of half of the landmass), the territory is almost the size of continental Australia itself. Plenty of room for Soviet missiles.