Naval Heritage and Postcolonial Geography: Why It Should Matter to Australia

Naval heritage is of global significance, enhanced by its association with waterfront revitalisation, its established literary/institutional framework and its postcolonial connotations. This paper reviews its background and its significance for the worldwide chain of (ex‐)naval bases which formerly bound the British Empire, with particular reference to its use for heritage tourism in Bermuda, Malta and Gibraltar and possible wider potential for this. Australian naval heritage is considered in this context and in its subsequent postcolonial evolution; Australian geographers are prompted to give their more informed consideration to its significance, not least for national identity.