Operation Morris Dance

Operation Morris Dance
HMAS Tobruk during an exercise in 1987
Planned	May 1987
Planned by	Australian Defence Force
Objective	To evacuate Australian citizens from Fiji
Date	14–29 May 1987
Executed by	HMAS Stalwart, HMAS Sydney, HMAS Parramatta, HMAS Success, HMAS Tobruk, B Company, 1 RAR
Outcome	Evacuation was not required and the units involved returned to Australia on 29 May

Operation Morris Dance was an Australian military operation conducted in May 1987 in response to the first of the 1987 Fijian coups d'état.

On the morning of 14 May 1987 the Military of Fiji took control of the country in a bloodless coup d'état. In response to the coup, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) began preparations to evacuate Australian citizens from Fiji. Five Australian warships (HMA Ships Stalwart, Sydney, Parramatta, Success, and Tobruk) were deployed to patrol south-west of Fiji. 'B' Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment was added to this force on 23 May, with the soldiers being flown from Townsville to Norfolk Island and transferred by helicopter to Stalwart, Tobruk, and Success. The Australian task force remained off Fiji until 29 May, when the situation in the country had stabilised.

In the years after the Vietnam War, Australia's defence policy shifted away from emphasising 'forward defence': countering potential threats as far from Australia as possible, typically through joint operations with allied forces. This was replaced by the 'Defence of Australia Policy', which involved reorienting the military's capabilities to improve its ability for independent operations in Australia's immediate region. The guidance provided by the government was unclear, however, and retarded the development of an integrated ADF with the force structure needed to meet the Defence of Australia requirements. The ADF made few deployments in the years after 1972 due to the stable international situation and the focus on the defence of Australia. While the deployments which took place provided useful experience for the units involved, they did not test the ADF's ability to conduct joint operations.