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Foreign relations between neighbouring countries Australia and New Zealand, also referred to as
Trans-Tasman Trans-Tasman is an adjective used primarily to signify the relationship between Australia and New Zealand. The term refers to the Tasman Sea, which lies between the two countries. For example, ''trans-Tasman commerce'' refers to commerce betw ...
relations, are extremely close. Both countries share a British colonial heritage as
antipodean In geography, the antipode () of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it. A pair of points ''antipodal'' () to each other are situated such that a straight line connecting the two would pass through Ear ...
Dominions and settler colonies, and both are part of the wider
Anglosphere The Anglosphere is a group of English-speaking nations that share historical and cultural ties with England, and which today maintain close political, diplomatic and military co-operation. While the nations included in different sources vary, ...
. New Zealand sent representatives to the constitutional conventions which led to the uniting of the six
Australian colonies The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing po ...
but opted not to join. In the
Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...
and in both world wars, New Zealand soldiers fought alongside
Australian soldiers Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...
. In recent years the
Closer Economic Relations The Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, commonly known as Closer Economic Relations (CER), is a free trade agreement between the governments of New Zealand and Australia. It came into force on 1 January 1983, bu ...
free trade agreement A free-trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states. There are two types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral. Bilateral trade agreements occu ...
and its predecessors have inspired ever-converging economic integration. Despite some shared similarities, the cultures of Australia and New Zealand also have their own sets of differences and there are sometimes differences of opinion which some have declared as symptomatic of sibling rivalry. This often centres upon sports and in commercio-economic tensions, such as those arising from the failure of
Ansett Australia Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into admini ...
and those engendered by the formerly long-standing Australian ban on New Zealand apple imports. Both countries are
constitutional monarchies A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
and Commonwealth realms – sharing the same person as the sovereign and independent head of state – with
parliamentary democracies A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
based on the Westminster system. Their only land border defines the western extent of the
Ross Dependency The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south. It is claimed by New Zealand, a claim accepted only ...
and eastern extent of the
Australian Antarctic Territory The Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) is a part of East Antarctica claimed by Australia as an external territory. It is administered by the Australian Antarctic Division, an agency of the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the E ...
. They acknowledge two distinct maritime boundaries conclusively delimited by the
Australia–New Zealand Maritime Treaty The Australia–New Zealand Maritime Treaty is a 2004 treaty between Australia and New Zealand in which the two countries formally delimited the maritime boundary between the two countries.Charney, Jonathan I. ''et al.'' (2005). ''International ...
of 2004. In 2017, a major poll showed that New Zealand was considered Australia's "best friend", a position previously held by the United States.


History

The History of Indigenous Australians is generally thought to be rich to the extent of at least 40,000–45,000 years duration, whereas Polynesian
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
arrived in
Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' ("North Island and South ...
/New Zealand in several waves by means of
waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori ...
in waves roughly between
1320 Year 1320 ( MCCCXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 20 – Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland. * April 6 – Th ...
and
1350 Year 1350 ( MCCCL) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 9 – Giovanni II Valente becomes Doge of Genoa. * May 23 (possible date) & ...
. Indigenous Australians and Polynesian
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
indigenous to New Zealand are not recorded to have met or interacted prior to 17th and 18th century
European exploration of Australia The European exploration of Australia first began in February 1606, when Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon landed in Cape York Peninsula and on October that year when Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through, and navigated, Torres Stra ...
. Regarding the respective indigenous populations, while it may be said that there is a single Māori language and the
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...
have been able to present as a unified population represented by a monarch neither has ever been able to be said of the
Australian Aboriginal languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
or their corresponding population groups. The first European landing on the Australian continent occurred in the Janszoon voyage of 1605–06.
Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first known European explorer to reach New Z ...
in two distinct voyages in the period 1642–1644 is recorded as the first person to have coastally explored regions of the respective
landform A landform is a natural or anthropogenic land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, m ...
s including
Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...
– later named for him as the Australian state of Tasmania. The first voyage of James Cook stands as significant for the circumnavigation of New Zealand in 1769 and as the European discovery and first ever coastal navigation of Eastern Australia from April to August 1770. The European settlement of Australia and New Zealand, then referred to as the colony of New South Wales, dates from the arrival of the First Fleet into Cadi/ Port Jackson on
Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Jac ...
, 1788. New Zealand was separated from the Colony of New South Wales in 1840, at which time its
pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non- Māori New Z ...
population numbered about 2000 descended from
Christian missionaries A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
, sealers, and whalers (as opposed to mainland Australia's much larger penal colony population). Although it is accurate to distinguish that New Zealand was never a penal colony, neither were some of the Australian colonies. In particular, South Australia was founded and settled in a similar manner to New Zealand, both being influenced by the ideas of
Edward Gibbon Wakefield Edward Gibbon Wakefield (20 March 179616 May 1862) is considered a key figure in the establishment of the colonies of South Australia and New Zealand (where he later served as a member of parliament). He also had significant interests in Britis ...
. Both countries experienced ongoing internal conflict concerning indigenous and settler populations, although this conflict took very different forms most sharply manifested in the New Zealand Wars and Australian frontier wars respectively. Whereas Maori iwi endured the Musket Wars of the period 1807–1839 preceding the former in New Zealand, indigenous Australians have no comparable period of the experience of warfare amongst each other employing European-introduced modern weaponry either before or after their own confrontations with European settler society. Both countries experienced nineteenth century gold rushes and during the nineteenth century there was extensive trade and travel between the
colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
. New Zealand participated as a member of the
Federal Council of Australasia The Federal Council of Australasia was a forerunner to the current Commonwealth of Australia, though its structure and members were different. The final (and successful) push for the Federal Council came at a "Convention" on 28 November 1883, whic ...
from 1885 and fully involved itself among the other
self-governing colonies In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with an elected government in which elected rulers were able to make most decisions without referring to the colonial power with nominal control of the colony. This was in contrast t ...
in the 1890 conference and 1891 Convention leading up to
Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western ...
. Ultimately it declined to accept the invitation to join the
Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
resultingly formed in 1901, remaining as a
self-governing colony In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with an elected government in which elected rulers were able to make most decisions without referring to the colonial power with nominal control of the colony. This was in contrast to ...
until becoming the Dominion of New Zealand in 1907 and with other territories later constituting the
Realm of New Zealand The Realm of New Zealand consists of the entire area in which the monarch of New Zealand functions as head of state. The realm is not a federation; it is a collection of states and territories united under its monarch. New Zealand is an indep ...
effectively as an independent country of its own. In the
1908 Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...
, the 1911 Festival of Empire and the 1912 Olympics the two countries were represented at least in sporting competition as the unified entity "
Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...
". Both continued to co-operate politically in the 20th century as each sought closer relations with the United Kingdom, particularly in the area of trade. This was helped by the development of refrigerated shipping, which allowed New Zealand in particular to base its economy on the export of meat and dairy – both of which Australia had in abundance – to Britain. The two nations sealed the Canberra Pact in January 1944 for the purpose of successfully prosecuting war against the
Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were N ...
in World War II and providing for the administration of an
armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the L ...
and territorial trusteeship in its aftermath. The Agreement foreshadowed the establishment of a permanent Australia–New Zealand Secretariat, it provided for consultation in matters of common interest, it provided for the maintenance of separate military commands and for "the maximum degree of unity in the presentation ... of the views of the two countries". The quantity of trans-Tasman trade increased by 9% per annum from the early 1980s through to the end of 2007, with the
Closer Economic Relations The Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, commonly known as Closer Economic Relations (CER), is a free trade agreement between the governments of New Zealand and Australia. It came into force on 1 January 1983, bu ...
free trade agreement A free-trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states. There are two types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral. Bilateral trade agreements occu ...
of 1983 being a major turning point. This was partially a result of Britain joining the
European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
in the early 1970s, thus restricting the access of both countries to their biggest export market.


Military

In the Harriet Affair of 1834, a group of British soldiers of the 50th Regiment from Australia landed in
Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...
, New Zealand, to rescue the wife and children of John (Jacky) Guard and punish the kidnappers – the first clash between Māori and British troops. The expedition was sent by Governor Bourke from Sydney and was subsequently criticised by a
British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
report in 1835 for use of excessive force. In 1861, the Australian ship HMCSS ''Victoria'' was dispatched to help the New Zealand colonial government in its war against Māori in Taranaki. ''Victoria'' was subsequently used for patrol duties and logistic support, although a number of personnel were involved in actions against Māori fortifications.Dennis et al 1995, p. 435. In late 1863, the New Zealand government requested troops to assist in the invasion of the Waikato. Promised settlement on confiscated land, more than 2500 Australians were recruited. Other Australians became scouts in the Company of Forest Rangers. Australians were involved in actions at Matarikoriko,
Pukekohe East Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is in South Auckland, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. Th ...
, Titi Hill, Ōrākau and Te Ranga. In the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, both countries or their colonial precursors were enthusiastic members of the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
and both either sent soldiers or permitted the sending of military volunteers to the
Mahdist War The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...
in the Sudan, the quelling of the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
, the Second Boer War, the First and Second World Wars and the
Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...
and Konfrontasi. Independent of the sense of Empire (or
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
), both nations in the second half of the twentieth century otherwise provided contingents in support of United States strategic aims in the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Gulf War. Whereas military personnel from both countries participated in UNTSO, the
Multinational Force and Observers The Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) is an international peacekeeping force overseeing the terms of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The MFO generally operates in and around the Sinai peninsula, ensuring free navigation through ...
to Sinai,
INTERFET The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) was a multinational non-United Nations peacemaking task force, organised and led by Australia in accordance with United Nations resolutions to address the humanitarian and security crisis that took ...
to East Timor, the
Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren, Operation Anode and Operation Rata (by New Zealand), was created in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of ...
,
UNMIS The United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) was established by the UN Security Council under Resolution 1590 of 24 March 2005, in response to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government of the Sudan and the Sudan ...
to Sudan, and more recent intervention in Tonga the New Zealand government officially condemned the
2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...
and stood apart from Australia in refusing to contribute any combat forces. Somewhat similarly in 1982, although without speaking in condemnation, Australia found no purpose in joining with New Zealand to support the United Kingdom in the Falklands War against
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
just as New Zealand had declined to join Australia in
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War or Allied Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions which began in 1918. The Allies first had the goal of helping the Czechoslovak Legi ...
or in
UNEF UNEF may refer to: * United Nations Emergency Force, a UN force deployed in the Middle East in 1956 * UNEF, a designation for Extra-Fine thread series of Standard Unified Screw Threads (ANSI B1.1) * Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (Natio ...
to Egypt and Israel during the 1970s. In the First World War, the soldiers of both countries were formed into the
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comma ...
(ANZACs). Together Australia and New Zealand saw their first major military action in the Battle of Gallipoli, in which both suffered major casualties. For many decades the battle was seen by both countries as the moment at which they came of age as nations. It continues to be commemorated annually in both countries on
Anzac Day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands New ...
, although since the 1960s there has been some questioning of the "coming of age" idea. World War II was a major turning point for both countries, as they realised that they could no longer rely on the protection of Britain. Australia was particularly struck by this realisation, as it was directly targeted by the Empire of Japan, with Darwin bombed and Broome attacked. Subsequently, both countries sought closer ties with the United States. This resulted in the
ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a 1951 non-binding collective security agreement between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on milita ...
pact of 1951, in which Australia, New Zealand and the United States agreed to defend each other in the event of enemy attack. Although no such attack occurred until, arguably,
11 September 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
, Australia and New Zealand both contributed troops to the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Australia's contribution to the Vietnam War in particular was much larger than
New Zealand's New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country b ...
; while Australia introduced
conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
, New Zealand sent only a token force. Australia has continued to be more committed to the American alliance,
ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a 1951 non-binding collective security agreement between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on milita ...
, than New Zealand; although both countries felt considerable unease about American military policy in the 1980s, New Zealand angered the United States by refusing port access to nuclear ships into its nuclear-free zone from 1985 and in retaliation, the United States 'suspended' its obligations otherwise owed under the alliance treaty to New Zealand. Australia has made a significant contribution to the Iraq War, while New Zealand's much smaller military contribution was limited to UN-authorised reconstruction tasks.
Anzac Bridge The Anzac Bridge is an eight-lane cable-stayed bridge that carries the Western Distributor (A4) across Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and Glebe Island (part of the suburb of Rozelle), on the western fringe of the central business district of S ...
in Sydney was given its current name on Remembrance Day in 1998 to honour the memory of the ANZAC serving in World War I. An
Australian flag The flag of Australia, also known as the Australian Blue Ensign, is based on the British Blue Ensign—a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter—augmented with a large white seven-pointed star (the Commonwealth Star) and a ...
flies atop the eastern pylon and a New Zealand flag flies atop the western pylon. A bronze memorial statue of a digger holding a
Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's sta ...
rifle pointing down was placed on the western end of the bridge on Anzac Day in 2000. A statue of a New Zealand soldier was added to a plinth across the road from the Australian Digger, facing towards the east, and unveiled by Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark in the presence of Premier of New South Wales
Morris Iemma Morris Iemma (; born 21 July 1961) is a former Australian politician who was the 40th Premier of New South Wales. He served from 3 August 2005 to 5 September 2008. From Sydney, Iemma attended the University of Sydney and the University of Techno ...
on Sunday 27 April 2008. In 2001 the Australia–New Zealand Memorial was opened by the prime ministers of both countries on
Anzac Parade, Canberra Anzac Parade, a significant road and thoroughfare in the Australian capital Canberra, is used for ceremonial occasions and is the site of many major military memorials. Named in honour of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) of ...
. The memorial commemorates the shared effort to achieve common goals in both peace and war. Joint defence arrangements involving both countries include the Five Power Defence Arrangements,
ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a 1951 non-binding collective security agreement between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on milita ...
, and the UK-USA Security Agreement for intelligence sharing. Since 1964, Australia, and since 2006, New Zealand have been parties to the ABCA interoperability arrangement of national defence forces. ANZUK was a tripartite force formed by Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to defend the Asian Pacific region after the United Kingdom withdrew forces from the east of Suez in the early seventies. The ANZUK force was formed in 1971 and disbanded in 1974. The
SEATO The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, the Philipp ...
anti-communist defence organisation also extended membership to both countries for the duration of its existence from 1955 to 1977.


Exploration

The
Australasian Antarctic Expedition The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was a 1911–1914 expedition headed by Douglas Mawson that explored the largely uncharted Antarctic coast due south of Australia. Mawson had been inspired to lead his own venture by his experiences on Ernes ...
1911–1914 established radio connection back to Tasmania via
Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 19 ...
, surveyed
King George V Land George V Land is a segment of Antarctica part of the land claimed as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, inland from the George V Coast. As with other segments of Antarctica, it is defined by two lines of longitude, 142°02' E and 153° ...
and examined the rock formations of
Wilkes Land Wilkes Land is a large district of land in eastern Antarctica, formally claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, though the validity of this claim has been placed for the period of the operation of the Antarctic Treaty, ...
.
Mawson's Huts Mawson's Huts are the collection of buildings located at Cape Denison, Commonwealth Bay, in the far eastern sector of the Australian Antarctic Territory, some 3000 km south of Hobart. The buildings were erected and occupied by the Austral ...
at
Cape Denison Cape Denison is a rocky point at the head of Commonwealth Bay in George V Land, Antarctica. It was discovered in 1912 by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911–14) under Douglas Mawson, who named it for Sir Hugh Denison of Sydney, a pat ...
survive to the current day as habitations at the expedition's chosen base. The expedition's
Western Base Party The Western Base Party was a successful exploration party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. The eight-man Western Party was deposited by the SY ''Aurora'' on the Shackleton Ice Shelf at Queen Mary Land. The leader of the team was Frank ...
made a number of discoveries and explored into
Kaiser Wilhelm II Land Kaiser Wilhelm II Land is a part of Antarctica lying between Cape Penck at 87° 43'E and Cape Filchner at 91° 54'E. Princess Elizabeth Land is located to the west, and Queen Mary Land to the east. The area is claimed by Australia a ...
from initial stationing in
Queen Mary Land Queen Mary Land or the Queen Mary Coast () is the portion of the coast of Antarctica lying between Cape Filchner, in 91° 54' E, and Cape Hordern, at 100° 30' E. It is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory. It ...
. The territorially acquisitive
BANZARE The British Australian (and) New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) was a research expedition into Antarctica between 1929 and 1931, involving two voyages over consecutive Austral summers. It was a British Commonwealth initiative, dr ...
expedition of 1929–1931, additionally collaborating with the UK, mapped the coastline of Antarctica and discovered Mac Robertson Land and Princess Elizabeth Land. Both expeditions reported voluminously. Aerial crossing of the Tasman was first achieved by
Charles Kingsford Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...
with
Charles Ulm Charles Thomas Philippe Ulm (18 October 1898 – 3 December 1934) was a pioneer Australian aviator. He partnered with Charles Kingsford Smith in achieving a number of aviation firsts, serving as Kingsford Smith's co-pilot on the first transpac ...
and crew travelling by return journey in 1928, improving upon failure by
Moncrieff and Hood Lieutenant John Moncrieff and Captain George Hood were two New Zealanders who vanished on 10 January 1928 while attempting the first trans-Tasman flight from Australia to New Zealand. Radio signals were received from their aircraft for 12 hour ...
deceased earlier the same year.
Guy Menzies Guy Lambton Menzies (20 August 19091 November 1940) was an Australian aviator who flew the first solo trans-Tasman flight, from Sydney, Australia to the West Coast of New Zealand, on 7 January 1931. Family The eldest of the five children o ...
then completed solo crossing in 1931. Rowing crossing was first successfully completed, solo, by Colin Quincey in 1977 and then by teams of kayakers in 2007. A pioneering solo kayak journey from Tasmania by
Andrew McAuley Andrew McAuley (born 7 August 1968; presumed dead 9–12 February 2007) was an Australian mountaineer and sea kayaker. He is presumed to have died following his disappearance at sea while attempting to kayak 1600 km (994 mi) across th ...
in early 2007 ended with his disappearance at sea and presumed death in New Zealand waters 30 nmi short of landfall at
Milford Sound Milford Sound / Piopiotahi is a fiord in the south west of New Zealand's South Island within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. It has been judged the world's top tr ...
.


Telecommunications

The first international cable landing on New Zealand soil was that laid in 1876 from
La Perouse, New South Wales La Perouse is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb of La Perouse is located about southeast of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Randwick. The La Perouse peninsula is the ...
to Wakapuaka, New Zealand. The major part of that cable was renewed in 1895 and it was withdrawn from service in 1932. A second trans-Tasman
submarine cable Submarine cable is any electrical cable that is laid on the seabed, although the term is often extended to encompass cables laid on the bottom of large freshwater bodies of water. Examples include: *Submarine communications cable *Submarine power ...
was laid in 1890 between Sydney and
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, New Zealand and then in 1901 the
Pacific Cable The All Red Line was a system of electrical telegraphs that linked much of the British Empire. It was inaugurated on 31 October 1902. The informal name derives from the common practice of colouring the territory of the British Empire red or ...
from Norfolk Island was landed in Doubtless Bay, North Island. In 1912 a cable was laid from Sydney to
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...
.History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network
– New Zealand Cables
The two countries additionally established communication via undersea laid
coaxial cable Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ) is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner Electrical conductor, conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting Electromagnetic shielding, shield, with the two separated by a dielectric (Insulato ...
in July 1962, and the
NZPO The New Zealand Post Office (NZPO) was a government department of New Zealand until 1987. It was previously (from 1881 to 1959) named the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department (NZ P&T). As a government department, the New Zealand Post Office ...
- OTC joint venture TASMAN cable laid in 1975. These were retired by effect of the laying of analogue signal submarine cable linking Australia's Bondi Beach to Takapuna, Takapuna, New Zealand via Norfolk Island in 1983, which itself in turn was supplemented and eventually outmoded by the TASMAN-2 optical fibre cable laid between Paddington, New South Wales and Whenuapai, Whenuapai, Auckland in 1995. The trans-Tasman leg of the high capacity fibre-optic Southern Cross Cable has been operational from Alexandria, New South Wales to Whenuapai since 2001. Another high capacity direct linkage was proposed for construction to be operational in 2013, and yet another for early 2014. A 2288 km fibre optic cable went live in March 2017: the Tasman Global Access cable from Ngarunui Beach in Raglan, New Zealand, Raglan to Narrabeen Beach in Sydney.


Migration


Trans-Tasman migration and connections

There are many New Zealanders in Australia, people who have emigrated from New Zealand to Australia, including former Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann, comedian turned psychologist Pamela Stephenson and actor Russell Crowe. Australian New Zealander, Australians who have emigrated to New Zealand include the 17th and 23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand, Prime Ministers of New Zealand Joseph Ward, Sir Joseph Ward and Michael Joseph Savage, Russel Norman, former co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, Green Party, and Matt Robson, former deputy leader of the New Zealand Progressive Party, Progressive Party. Under various arrangements since the 1920s, there has been a Permanent residency, free flow of people between Australia and New Zealand. Since 1973 the informal Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement has allowed for the free movement of citizens of one nation to the other. The only major exception to these travel privileges is for individuals with outstanding warrants or criminal backgrounds who are deemed dangerous or undesirable for the migrant nation and its citizens. New Zealand passport holders are issued with special category visas on arrival in Australia, while Australian passport holders are issued with residence class visas on arrival in New Zealand. In recent decades, many New Zealanders have migrated to Australian cities such as Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, Western Australia, Perth. Many such New Zealanders are Māori Australians. Although this agreement is reciprocal there has been resulting significant net migration from New Zealand to Australia. In 2001 there were eight times more New Zealanders living in Australia than Australians living in New Zealand, and in 2006 it was estimated that Australia's real income per person was 32 per cent higher than that of New Zealand and its territories. Median household income in Australia and New Zealand, Comparative surveys of median household incomes also confirm that those incomes are lower in New Zealand than in most of the Australian States and Territories. Visits in each direction exceeded one million in 2009, and there are around half a million New Zealand citizens in Australia and about 65,000 Australians in New Zealand. There have been complaints in New Zealand that there is a clearly manifested brain drain to Australia.


2001 Australian immigration policy changes

New Zealanders in Australia previously had immediate access to Social Security (Australia), Australian welfare benefits and were sometimes characterised as wikt:bludger, bludgers. In 2001 this was described by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark as a "modern myth". Regulations changed in 2001 whereby New Zealanders must wait two years before being eligible for such payments. All New Zealanders who have moved to Australia after February 2001 are placed on a Special Category Visa, classing them as ''temporary residents'', regardless of how long they reside in Australia. This visa is also passed on to their children. As temporary residents, they are ineligible for government support, student loans, aid, emergency programmes, welfare, public housing and disability support in Australia. As part of the stricter immigration regulations in 2001, New Zealanders must also acquire permanent residency before applying for Australian citizenship. These stricter immigration requirements have led to a drop in New Zealanders acquiring Australian citizenship. By 2016, only 8.4 per cent of the 146,000 New Zealand–born migrants who arrived in Australia between 2002 and 2011 had acquired Australian citizenship. Of this number, only 3 per cent of New Zealand–born Māori had acquired Australian citizenship. The Victoria University of Wellington researcher Paul Hamer claimed that the 2001 changes was part of an Australian policy of filtering out Pacific Islander migrants who had acquired New Zealand citizenship and were perceived to be exploiting a "backdoor access" to Australia. Between 2009 and 2016, there was a 42 per cent increase in New Zealand–born prisoners in Australian prisons. Attempts by the Queensland Government to pass a law that would allow government agencies to deny support based on residency status without it being considered discriminatory were condemned by Queensland's anti-discrimination commission as an attempt to legalise state discrimination against New Zealanders, claiming it would create a "permanent second class of people". Children born to Australians in New Zealand are granted New Zealand citizenship by birth as well as Australian citizenship by descent. New Zealand Ministry of Education figures show the number of Australians at List of universities in New Zealand, New Zealand tertiary institutions almost doubled from 1,978 students in 1999 to 3,916 in 2003. In 2004 more than 2700 Australians received student loans and 1220 a student allowance. Unlike other overseas students, Australians pay the same fees for higher education as New Zealanders, and are eligible for student loans and allowances once they have lived in New Zealand for two years. New Zealand students are not treated on the same basis as Australian students Tertiary education in Australia, in Australia. Persons born in New Zealand continue to be the second largest source of immigration to Australia, representing 11% of total permanent additions in 2005–06 and accounting for 2.3% of Population of Australia, Australia's population in June 2006. At 30 June 2010, an estimated 566,815 New Zealand citizens were present in Australia.


Section 501 "character test"

In December 2014, Peter Dutton assumed the portfolio of Australian Minister for Immigration and Border Protection following a cabinet reshuffle. That same month, the Australian Government amended the Migration Act 1958 that facilitates the cancellation of Australian visas for non-citizens who have served for more than twelve months in an Australian prison or if immigration authorities believe that they pose a threat to the country. This stricter character test also targets non-citizens who have lived in Australia for most of their lives and have family there. As of July 2018, about 1,300 New Zealanders have been deported since January 2015 under the new section 501 "character test." Refusal or cancellation of visa on character grounds. Of the deported New Zealanders, at least 60 per cent were of Māori and Pacific Islander ethnicity. While Australian officials have justified the deportations on law and order grounds, New Zealand officials have contended that such measures damage the "historic bonds of mateship" between the two countries. Following a meeting between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott in February 2015, the Australian Government agreed to give New Zealand more advance warning about the repatriation of deported criminals so that NZ authorities could better manage "at risk" deportees. In October 2015, Abbott's successor Malcolm Turnbull reached an agreement with Key to allow New Zealanders detained at Immigration detention in Australia, Australian immigration detention centres to fly home while they appealed their visa applications and to fast-track the application process. The Fifth National Government of New Zealand, Fifth National Government also passed legislation in November 2015 to establish a strict monitoring regime for those returned under section 501, which reduced recidivism rates from 58% in November 2015 to 38% by March 2018. In February 2016, Turnbull and Key reached an agreement to give New Zealanders in Australia a pathway to citizenship if they had been earning above the average wage for five years. In July 2017, the Australian Government introduced the "Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189)" which allows New Zealanders who have been Australian residents for five years to apply for citizenship after 12 months. The visa also requires applicants to maintain an annual income over A$53,900 and gives New Zealanders more access to welfare services. Between 60,000 and 80,000 New Zealanders are eligible for the new visa. This new visa reflected a policy shift to prioritise non-citizen New Zealanders residing in Australian over Asian migrants from overseas. According to figures from the Australian Department of Home Affairs (Australia), Home Affairs Department obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 1,512 skilled independent visas had been issued by late February 2018 with another 7,500 visas still being processed. Australian Greens immigration spokesperson Nick McKim criticised the new immigration policy as a stealth effort by Immigration Minister Dutton to favour "English-speaking, white and wealthy" migrants. In addition, the new visa scheme was criticised by the "Ozkiwi lobby" since two thirds of New Zealanders living in Australia earned less than the qualifying rate. The Turnbull Government subsequently overturned the Skilled Independent visa in 2017. In February 2018, an Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee recommend that Australian migration laws be amended to facilitate the removal of non-citizens under the age of 18 years. Despite concerns raised by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), Foreign Minister Winston Peters, the Turnbull Government refused to budge on its 501 deportation policy. By May 2018, the Australian Government had accelerated its 501 deportation policy by deporting individuals on the basis of Dutton's ministerial discretion and repatriating adolescent offenders. In addition, Section 116 of the Migration Act 1958 also gave the Australian Immigration Minister the power to cancel the visas of lesser offenders without considering their ties to Australia. Between 2017 and 2019, there was a 400% increase in visa cancellations under Section 116 for offences that did not meet the Section 501 criteria. In mid-July 2018, the effect of Australia's controversial new "character" test was the subject of a controversial ABC documentary by Peter FitzSimons entitled "Don't Call Australia Home." While the New Zealand Minister of Justice (New Zealand), Justice Minister Andrew Little (New Zealand politician), Andrew Little criticised the high deportation rate as a breach of human rights, the Australian Immigration Minister Dutton defended Australia's right to deport "undesirable" non-citizens. The ABC report was criticised by several Coalition (Australia), Coalition Ministers including the now-Minister for Home Affairs (Australia), Minister for Home Affairs Dutton and Assistant Minister of Home Affairs Alex Hawke for ignoring the crimes and victims of the deportees. Hawke also criticised Little for not warning New Zealand nationals to obey Australian law. In response, Little criticized Australia's deportation laws for lacking "humanitarian ideals." In response, Dutton vowed to continue deporting non-citizen criminals and criticized New Zealand for not doing enough to assist Australian naval patrols intercepting the "people smugglers." The documentary's release coincided with the release of a 17-year-old New Zealand youth from an Australian detention centre, who had successfully appealed against his deportation. The New Zealand Government expressed concern about the deportation of the teenager since minors under the age of 18 years were not covered by the adult deportees' monitoring regime. In response, Oranga Tamariki (the Ministry of Children) began developing an "inter-departmental plan" to handle the repatriation of adolescent offenders. In 25 October 2018, the Australian Immigration Minister David Coleman (Australian politician), David Coleman introduced the ''Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2018'' in response to reports that some judges had reduced criminal sentences to avoid triggering the Section 501 threshold for mandatory visa cancellations. The proposed Bill did not explicitly differentiate between adult and under-18 year old offenders. Despite opposition from New Zealand High Commissioner Annette King, the Law Council of Australia, Australian Human Rights Commission, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Migration Amendment Bill 2018 progressed to its first reading on 25 October. However, the bill lapsed following the dissolution of the Australian Parliament prior to the 2019 Australian federal election in April 2019. In late February 2020, Prime Minister Ardern criticised Australia's policy of deporting New Zealanders as "corrosive", saying that it was testing the relationship between the two countries. In response, the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended Australia's right to deport non-citizens. Dutton also defended the Australian Government's deportation policy, suggesting that Arden was playing to the New Zealand electoral cycle. In response, Ardern described Dutton's policy as regrettable and described her remarks as a defence of New Zealand's "principled position." In mid-February 2021, Ardern criticised the Australian Government's decision to revoke dual New Zealand–Australian national Suhayra Aden's Australian citizenship. Aden was an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIS Brides of ISIL, bride who had migrated from New Zealand to Australia at the age of six, acquiring Australian citizenship. She subsequently traveled to Syria to live in the Islamic State. On 15 February 2021, Aden and two of her children were detained by Turkish authorities after illegally crossing the border. In response, Morrison defended the decision to revoke Aden's citizenship, citing legislation stripping dual nationals of their Australian citizenship if they were engaged in terrorist activities. Following a phone conversation, Ardern and Morrison agreed to work together in the "spirit of the relationship" to address what the former described as "quite a complex legal situation." In late May 2021, Morrison defended the revocation of Aden's citizenship but indicated that Canberra was open to allowing her children to settle in Australia. In mid–August 2021, Aden and her children were repatriated to New Zealand. Non-citizens in Australia facing visa cancellation can appeal to the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), which hears visa cancellation appeals. However, the Minister of Home Affairs has the discretionary power to set aside AAT decisions. In December 2019, the New Zealand media company Stuff (company), Stuff reported that 80% of appeals to the AAT were rejected or affirmed the Australian Government's visa cancellation orders. In January 2021, TVNZ's 1 News reported that 25% of New Zealand nationals facing deportation under the 501 "character test" had successfully appealed against their deportations to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. These figures included 21 in the 2019-2020 financial year and 38 in the 2020-2021 year. The repatriation of New Zealanders under the 501 character test policy has contributed to a surge in Crime in New Zealand, criminal activity in New Zealand. In December 2019, Stuff reported that several repatriated senior members of Australian Outlaw motorcycle club, bikie gangs including the Comanchero Motorcycle Club, Comanchero and Mongols Motorcycle Club, Mongols had expanded their operations in New Zealand; contributing to a surge in gang membership and the methamphetamine black market. By early March 2022, 2,544 New Zealanders had been deported from Australia, which accounted for 96% of deportations to New Zealand since 2015. According to Newshub, former 501 deportees accounted for more than 8,000 offences since 2015. These included over 2,000 dishonesty convictions, 1,387 violent crime convictions, 861 drug and anti-social behaviour offences and 57 sexual crime offences. Both Commissioner of Police (New Zealand), Police Commissioner Andrew Coster and New Zealand National Party leader Christopher Luxon have attributed the rapid surge in gang membership and organised crime between 2018 and 2022 to repatriated 501 deportees. Following the 2022 Australian federal election held on 21 May 2022, Ardern announced that she would press the newly-elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Albanese Government, government on the 501 deportation policy. While Albanese indicated that Section 501 deportation policy would remain, he expressed an openness to amending the policy to recognise the amount of time a person had spent in Australia. On 10 June 2022, Ardern raised New Zealand's concerns during a state visit to Canberra. In response, Albanese reiterated that he would look at addressing New Zealand's concerns about the impact of the policy on its citizens. On 8 July, Albanese stated during a meeting with Ardern that his government would commit to amending the Section 501 policy to consider prospective deportees' long-term connections to Australia. In addition, Albanese stated that he would explore expanding voting rights to New Zealanders residing in Australia and pathways for allowing New Zealanders residing in Australia to acquire Australian citizenship. In response, Shadow Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews expressed concerns that modifying the Section 501 policy would allow foreign criminals to remain in Australia, endangering public safety and security.


COVID-19 pandemic

On 30 March 2020, Australian Prime Minister Morrison announced that New Zealanders living in Australia under the Special Category Visa (subclass 444) would be eligible for AU$1,500 fortnightly payments following negotiations with his New Zealand counterpart Prime Minister Ardern. Thousands of New Zealanders, who were unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had been forced to leave Australia after finding they were ineligible for Centrelink payments. On 5 May, the Australian federal government, New Zealand government, and several Australian state and territorial governments announced that they would work together to develop a trans-Tasman COVID-safe travel zone that would allow residents from both countries to travel freely without travel restrictions as part of efforts to ease coronavirus restrictions. On 2 October 2020, Prime Minister Morrison announced that the Australian Government had formalised a deal allowing New Zealanders "one-way quarantine-free travel" into New South Wales and the Northern Territory from 16 October as part of initial steps to establish a "travel bubble" between the two countries. However, Prime Minister of New Zealand, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ruled out extending reciprocal "quarantine-free travel" for Australians in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 into New Zealand. On 16 October the trans-Tasman travel bubble went into effect, whereby travellers from New Zealand were able to go to New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory without having to quarantine upon arrival. However, the arrangement was not reciprocal - Australian travellers still had to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in New Zealand. The trans-Tasman bubble was extended to Queensland on 12 December 2020. On 14 December 2020, the New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern announced that the New Zealand Government had approved plans to establish a quarantine free travel bubble with Australia in the first quarter of 2021. Minister for Health (Australia), Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt welcomed the move, describing it as the "first step" in normalising international travel and reiterated the Australian Government's support for measures to establish the travel bubble.


Refugee resettlement

In February 2013, the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard signed an agreement for New Zealand to accept several asylum seekers who had traveled to Australia by sea. As part of the agreement, 150 refugees would be resettled in New Zealand a year, commencing 2014. These asylum seekers would come from Australia as well as the offshore processing centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. In early November 2017, the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull turned down an offer by his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern to resettle 150 asylum seekers from Nauru and Manus Island in New Zealand on the grounds that Australia was pursuing a refugee resettlement deal with the United States. Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton also claimed that the New Zealand offer would encourage more people smugglers to travel from New Zealand to Australia. This offer coincided with Australian efforts to close down the Manus Regional Processing Centre. Dutton also warned that the proposed New Zealand offer could damage bilateral relations between the two countries. On 24 March 2022, the New Zealand and Australian Governments reached an agreement to accept New Zealand's earlier 2013 offer to take in asylum seekers housed at the Nauru Regional Processing Centre or residing temporarily in Australia for "processing." Refugees being resettled in New Zealand will have to go through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) process and meet the criteria for NZ's refugee quota requirements. As part of the deal, 450 refugees would be resettled in New Zealand over a three year period. Subsequent Australian governments had declined to accept New Zealand's offer due to concerns that it would encourage more asylum seekers to travel by boat to Australia and that former asylum seekers could gain New Zealand citizenship and migrate to Australia.


Trade

New Zealand's economic ties with Australia are strong, especially since the demise of Britain as a trading partner following the latter's decision to join the
European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
in 1973. Effective from 1 January 1983 the two countries concluded the Australia New Zealand
Closer Economic Relations The Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, commonly known as Closer Economic Relations (CER), is a free trade agreement between the governments of New Zealand and Australia. It came into force on 1 January 1983, bu ...
Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA) for the purpose of allowing each country access to the other's markets. Two-way trade between Australia and New Zealand was NZ$26.2 billion (approximately A$24.1 billion) in 2017–18, including goods and services. New Zealand's largest exports to Australia are travel and tourism, dairy products, foodstuffs, precious metals and jewellery, and machinery. Australia's largest exports to New Zealand are travel and tourism, machinery, inorganic chemicals, vehicles, foodstuffs, and paper products. Flowing from the implementation of the ANZCERTA: * by agreement from 1988 there will be consultation between the respective governments as part of any variation to corporate welfare, industry assistance measures and work towards harmonisation of common Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, administrative procedures for quarantine * additional services were brought within the Agreement's scope from January 1989 * remaining tariffs and Import quota, quantitative restrictions in bilateral trade were eliminated prior to 1 July 1990 * from 1991 under the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand
JAS-ANZ
has existed as the joint authority for the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies in the fields of certification and inspection; also, a Government Procurement Agreement was reached and legislation to establish Food Standards Australia New Zealand was promulgated that year. * a double taxation tax treaty, agreement was sealed in 1995 * co-operation to harmonise customs policies and procedures has existed since 1996 * agreement on food safety, food inspection measures was reached in 1996 * from 1998 Single market, goods that may legally be sold in either country may be sold in the other and a person who is registered to practise an occupation in either country Mutual recognition agreement, is entitled to practise an equivalent occupation in the other. A Reciprocal Health Care Agreement was reached in the same year. * the Consultative Group on Biosecurity Cooperation was established in 1999 to function as a high-level Trans-Tasman dialogue convening and reporting annually * an "Open Skies Agreement" effective from November 2000 committed to the enjoyment of all freedoms of the air by airlines operating out of places in either country and the existence of an Australia–New Zealand aviation and air safety common market * an Memorandum of understanding, MOU on business law co-ordination was reached in 2000 * a Social Security (Australia), social security agreement was reached in 2001 * a joint food standards code issued in 2002 * from October 2002 the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations, Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) inclusive of the two countries plus the Forum Island Countries has taken effect * trans-Tasman Dividend imputation, imputation reform occurred in 2003 * revised rules of origin took effect in 2007 with a review by the end of 2009 and a transitional implementation period extending to the end of 2011 * a revised Australia New Zealand Government Procurement Agreement entered into force in 2008Joint Communique of the 2009 Australia–New Zealand Ministerial Forum
(9 August 2009)
* the Joint Statement of Intent: Single Economic Space, Single Economic Market Outcome Framework issued in August 2009 and has been subsequently worked upon * the Agreement Establishing the AANZFTA, ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Area came into force on 1 January 2010 * a business-initiated and AUSTRADE]
InvestmentNZ
sponsored first joint Australia–New Zealand Investment Conference was held in
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...
in March 2010 * the Joint Food Standards Treaty came into force in June 2010 * a revised MOU on Coordination of Business Law was signed in 2010 * a commitment for the two countries to jointly bid for hosting the Square Kilometre Array of exploratory radio telescopes has been resolved and telescopes in the two countries have already successfully been linked for VLBI experimentation * CER Ministerial Forums have been held annually with an occurrence as recent as June 2010 at which investigation into trans-Tasman mobile roaming arrangements was identified as an issue of priority concern along with co-operation for the international enforcement of understandings and controls on logging, greenhouse gas emissions, emissions and other environmental matters * from 30 June 2010, commencing with Tim Groser, The Hon. Tim Groser, New Zealand's Minister for Trade is invited to membership of what was formerly Australia's Ministerial Council on International Trade One example of a formerly longstanding trading issue unresolved by the closer economic relations was Australia's restriction of the import of apples from New Zealand owing to fear of introducing fire blight disease. A ban on importation of New Zealand apples into Australia had been in place since 1921, following the discovery of fire blight in New Zealand in 1919. New Zealand authorities applied for re-admittance to the Australian market in 1986, 1989 and 1995, but the ban continued. Further talks over Australia's import restrictions on apples from New Zealand failed, and New Zealand initiated WTO dispute resolution proceedings in 2007. Only in 2010 did the WTO order Australia, over its sustained appeals and objections, to vary those import restrictions. The Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum is a business-led initiative designed to further develop Australia and New Zealand's bilateral relationship as well as their joint relations in the region. The ninth and most recent such convened on 9 April 2011.


Monetary

Britain's Imperial Century, Political conditions in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 smoothed informal adoption of the British Pound Sterling in New South Wales with relative ease, such adoption proceeding to expand out to New Zealand and other regions of Oceania in time. Having adopted a successful Gold Specie Standard in 1821, the UK Government, British Government decided in 1825 to introduce the Pounds, shillings and pence, sterling coinage to all of its colonies as a matter of policy. From the latter half of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I, a monetary union, based on the British gold sovereign existed in a part of the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
which included all of both countries and dependent territory, their dependencies. In 1910, Australia introduced Australian Pound, its own currency in the likeness of sterling currency. The Great Depression was the catalyst that forced more dramatic shifts in the exchange rates between the various Pound (currency), pound units, and hence the introduction of the New Zealand pound in 1933. Both national currencies had membership of the sterling area from 1939 until its effective demise in 1972. Both adjusted their Fixed exchange rate, peg to be the US dollar in 1971, with first Australia and then New Zealand having fortuitously already Decimalisation#Australia and New Zealand, decimalised their monetary units on 14 February 1966 and 10 July 1967 respectively, both replacing the pound with the dollar at a rate of £1 to $2. The Australian dollar was floating exchange rate, floated in December 1983, as subsequently also was the New Zealand dollar in March 1985. Contemporary dollarisation by either country to the currency of the other or the more involved currency union entailing amalgamation of the central banks and Regulatory economics, economic regulatory systems of both countries have been proposed and discussed though in no way implemented.


Law

Both nations adhere to secular common law legal systems acknowledging the rule of law; and the separation of powers. Like the United States and Canada, however, Australia is a federalism, federal nation with a written Constitution of Australia, constitution. New Zealand, like the United Kingdom, is a unitary state with parliamentary sovereignty. Australia lacks a treaty with its indigenous peoples, whereas New Zealand has had the Treaty of Waitangi from 1840. In acknowledgement of Land rights#Indigenous land rights, indigenous land rights including aboriginal title, the National Native Title Tribunal and Waitangi Tribunal in the respective nations take similar jurisdiction and powers. Both judicial power, judicial systems are now independent of the ultimate authority of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Whereas the Constitution of New Zealand is not one that is either Codification (law), codified or Entrenchment clause, entrenched, the Constitution of Australia has had the s:Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act as such an entrenched codification embodying a written constitution. New Zealand contract law is now largely distinct from that of Australia due to the effect of Acts of Parliament#New Zealand, Acts of the New Zealand Parliament promulgation, promulgated since 1969. Main among them is the wide discretionary power given to New Zealand courts in granting Legal remedy, relief. In 2005 and 2006 the Australian House of Representatives committees#Standing Committees 2, Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs enquired into the harmonisation of legal systems within Australia, and with New Zealand, with particular reference to those differences that affect Section 51(i) of the Constitution of Australia, trade and commerce. The Committee stated that the already close relationship between Australia and New Zealand should be closer still and that: Key recommendations on the Australia–New Zealand relationship included: * Establishment of a trans-Tasman parliamentary committee to monitor legal harmonisation and examine options including closer association or union; * Pursuit of a common currency; * Offering New Zealand Ministers full membership of Australian ministerial councils; * Work to advance harmonisation of the two bank regulation, banking and telecommunications regulation frameworks.


New Zealand as an Australian state

The 1901 Australian Constitution included provisions to allow New Zealand to join Australia as its seventh state, even after the government of New Zealand had already decided against such a move. The sixth of the initial defining and covering clauses in part provides that:
'' 'States and territories of Australia, The States' shall mean such of the colonies of New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia, including the Northern Territory, Northern Territory of South Australia, as for the time being are parts of the Commonwealth, and such colonies or territories as may be admitted into or established by the Commonwealth as States; and each of such parts of the Commonwealth shall be called 'a State'.''
One of the reasons that New Zealand chose not to join Australia was due to perceptions that the indigenous Māori population would suffer as a result. 1901 Australian federal election#Voting and enrolment, At the time of Federation, indigenous Australians were only allowed to vote if they had been previously allowed to in their state of residence, Māori politics#Māori and colonial politics, unlike the Māori in New Zealand, who had equal voting rights from the founding of the colony. Moreover, and most ironically Maori voting rights in Australia, Māori people had voting rights in Australia in certain jurisdictions between 1902 and 1962 as a result of the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902, part of the effort to allay New Zealand's concerns about joining the Federation. All Voting rights of Australian Aborigines, Indigenous Australians did not have universal suffrage until 1962. During the parliamentary debates over the Act, King O'Malley supported the inclusion of Māori, and the exclusion of Australian Aboriginals, in the franchise, arguing that: From time to time the idea of joining Australia has been mooted, but has been ridiculed by some New Zealanders. When Australia's former opposition leader, John Hewson, raised the issue in 2000, Prime Minister of New Zealand, New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark remarked that he could "dream on". A 2001 book by Australian academic Bob Catley (politician), Bob Catley, then at the University of Otago, titled ''Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing with Matilda: should New Zealand join Australia?'', was described by New Zealand political commentator Colin James (journalist), Colin James as "a book for Australians". Australia and New Zealand are separated by the Tasman Sea by more than . Arguing against Australian statehood, New Zealand's Premier of New Zealand, Premier, John Hall (New Zealand), Sir John Hall, remarked that there were "1,200 reasons" not to join the federation. Both countries have contributed to the sporadic discussion on a Pacific Union, although that proposal would include a much wider range of member-states than just Australia and New Zealand. A result of the rejected 1999 Australian republic referendum, 1999 Australian republican referendum was that Australians retained a common head of state with New Zealand. Whereas none of List of political parties in New Zealand, the major political parties in New Zealand have a policy of encouraging Republicanism in New Zealand, republicanism, the Australian Labor Party has long favoured a republicanism in Australia, republic, as have some politicians in the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party, although National Prime Minister Jim Bolger spoke in favour of a republic in 1994. While there is little prospect of political union now, in 2006 there was a recommendation from an Australian federal parliamentary committee that a full union should occur or Australia and New Zealand should at least have a single currency and more common markets. New Zealand Government submissions to that committee concerning harmonisation of legal systems however noted:


Diplomacy

The two countries and their colonial precursors have enjoyed unbroken friendly diplomatic relations over the entire period of their coexistence from the early nineteenth century up to the present. They are founding and continuing United Nations member states and they were formerly founding League of Nations members, members of the League of Nations carrying through for the entire period League of Nations members#Members at end of League, until its dissolution. There is otherwise a high degree of commonality between Outline of Australia#International organisation membership, Australia's international organisation memberships and Outline of New Zealand#International organisation membership, those of New Zealand. There is a high degree of commonality in their co-membership of international organization, international organisations and their coparticipation as signatories of multilateral treaties of significance. They are conjoint members of a number of influential trade blocs, forums, military alliances, sharing and interoperability arrangements, and Regional integration, regional associations. Both are members of the World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC, the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, the East Asia Summit, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, the Pacific Islands Forum, the AANZFTA, ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand Free Trade Area, the Conference on Disarmament, the International Criminal Court, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, INTERPOL, WIPO, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, the Cairns Group, the Proliferation Security Initiative, the International Hydrographic Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the International Whaling Commission, the International Organization for Migration, the International Seabed Authority, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, the Colombo Plan, the Asian Development Bank, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, and the World Organisation for Animal Health. Both are occasional observers to Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN. Both have signed and ratified the ICCPR and its First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, First Optional Protocol and Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Second Optional Protocol, the United Nations Convention Against Torture, Convention Against Torture, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, its Optional Protocol, the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)#Hague Convention of 1899, First Hague Convention – with Australia additionally acceding to the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)#Hague Convention of 1907, Second Hague Convention, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Geneva Conventions, the Antarctic Treaty System, the Outer Space Treaty, the Statelessness Reduction Convention, the Genocide Convention, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, the CTBT, the Treaty of Rarotonga, the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Tobacco Control Treaty, UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Convention to Combat Desertification, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, Berne Convention, the Universal Copyright Convention, the TRIPS, TRIPS Agreement, the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination – with Australia additionally accepting the competency of CERD to hear individual complaints, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol, the Ottawa Treaty, the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, the ENMOD Convention, the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, London Convention, the Ramsar Convention, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Both voted against the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations General Assembly and both have declined to sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New Zealand, has signed and ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Australia has signed the optional protocol but has not ratified it. Australia, but not New Zealand, is a member of the Nuclear Energy Agency and UNIDROIT and a party to the Patent Law Treaty, the Budapest Treaty, the WIPO Copyright Treaty, the IPC Agreement, the Statelessness Status Convention and the Moon Treaty. Whereas Australia has signed and ratified the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals, New Zealand had not ratified it as of 2003. From 1923 to 1968 both nations along with the UK exercised trusteeship of Nauru pursuant to the Nauru Island Agreement. In the period from 2001 to 2007 New Zealand accepted certain boat arrival intending migrants to Australia for immigration processing as part of the Pacific Solution otherwise focused upon the detention centre commissioned at Papua New Guinea's Manus Island. The two countries were the lead participants in the
Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren, Operation Anode and Operation Rata (by New Zealand), was created in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of ...
initiated from 2003. In late May 2021, Ardern and Morrison issued a joint statement in Queenstown, New Zealand affirming bilateral cooperation on the issues of COVID-19, bilateral relations, and security issues in the Indo-Pacific. Morrison and Ardern also raised concerns about the South China Sea dispute and human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. In response to the joint statement, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China), Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin criticised Canberra and Wellington for allegedly interfering in Chinese domestic affairs.


Sport

Cricket, rugby union, rugby league & netball are the preeminent sporting rivalries. Otherwise notably, respective national teams have competed in indoor bowls, basketball, Australia–New Zealand soccer rivalry, football, field hockey and touch football. Regular cross-Tasman competition occurs between domestic teams in men's rugby union, rugby league, A-League Men, football, and basketball, and also women's netball.


Polls

A 2021 Lowy Institute poll ranked New Zealand as the most favourably viewed country by Australians, with an 87% favourability rating. New Zealand had also placed at number one in 2019, but were not included for the 2020 poll, in which Canada ranked first. In the Lowy Institute's 2022 poll, New Zealand again ranked as the most favourably viewed country by Australians, with a 86% rating, placing it ahead of Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. In the same poll, another neighboring Pacific Island state (Tonga), ranked as the sixth most positively viewed country with a 67% rating, placing it ahead of the United States, while the nearby countries of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea also garnered ratings of 57% and 61%. A poll from travel company 1Cover suggested that 22% of New Zealanders had experienced displeasure at being mistaken for Australians when overseas, compared to only 4% for Australians who were mistaken for New Zealanders.


Gallery

File:Samuel marsden.jpg, Rev. Samuel Marsden (1765–1838), Australian settler renowned for introducing Christianity to New Zealand File:Aurora Ship.png, ''SY Aurora'' – ship of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition File:The Empire Needs Men WWI.jpg, Recruitment poster urging men from the British Dominions to enlist in the World War I, Great War (1915) File:Anzac Cove1.jpg, ANZAC at ANZAC Cove on 25 April 1915 File:Southern cross.jpg, Southern Cross (aircraft), Southern Cross – first plane to accomplish aerial crossing of the Tasman File:Phar Lap.jpg, Phar Lap. New Zealand born winner of the 1930 Melbourne Cup File:Cape Bruce proclamation.jpg, Douglas Mawson with members of BANZARE c.1930 claiming Mac Robertson Land for the Crown File:Crossing the Ditch NP Arrival.jpg, Culmination of the first successful kayak crossings of the Tasman at New Plymouth in 2007 File:APEC Australia 2007 leaders.jpg, Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand seen at left among Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC leaders in 2007 File:Australian High Commission in Wellington.jpg, The Australian High Commissioner, High Commission in Wellington File:New Zealand High Commission in Canberra June 2014.jpg, The New Zealand High Commission in Canberra File:2009 Victorian bushfires smoke plume over NZ.jpg, Smoke from the Black Saturday bushfires crosses the southern Tasman Sea in February 2009


See also

* Australian New Zealanders * New Zealand Australians * Etiquette in Australia and New Zealand * List of articles about Australia and New Zealand jointly * List of islands of Australia and list of islands of New Zealand


References


Sources

* * * * * *


Citations


External links


2010 CER Ministerial Forum: Communiqué

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade information on New Zealand


* [https://newzealand.embassy.gov.au/wltn/home.html Australian High Commission in New Zealand]
New Zealand High Commission in Australia

New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade information on Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australia-New Zealand Relations Australia–New Zealand relations, Bilateral relations of Australia, New Zealand Bilateral relations of New Zealand Australia and the Commonwealth of Nations New Zealand and the Commonwealth of Nations