Australia–New Zealand Relations
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Foreign relations between neighbouring countries
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, also referred to as Trans-Tasman relations, are extremely close. Both countries share a British colonial heritage as antipodean
Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...
s and settler colonies, and both are part of the core
Anglosphere The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is a Western-led sphere of influence among the Anglophone countries. The core group of this sphere of influence comprises five developed countries that maintain close social, cultura ...
. New Zealand sent representatives to the constitutional conventions which led to the uniting of the six Australian colonies but opted not to join. In the
Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...
and in both
world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...
s, New Zealand soldiers fought alongside Australian soldiers. In recent years the Closer Economic Relations
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 state (polity), states. There are two types of trade agreements: Bilateralism, bilateral and Multilateralism, m ...
and its predecessors have inspired ever-converging
economic integration Economic integration is the unification of economic policies between different states, through the partial or full abolition of tariff and Non-tariff barriers to trade, non-tariff restrictions on trade. The trade-stimulation effects intended by ...
. Despite some shared similarities, the cultures of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
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 and those engendered by the formerly long-standing Australian ban on New Zealand apple imports. Both countries are
constitutional monarchies Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited 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 making decisions. ...
and
Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations that has the same constitutional monarch and head of state as the other realms. The current monarch is King Charles III. Except for the United Kingdom, in each of the re ...
s – sharing the same person as the
sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...
and independent
head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
– with parliamentary democracies based on the
Westminster system The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary system, parliamentary government that incorporates a series of Parliamentary procedure, procedures for operating a legislature, first developed in England. Key aspects of ...
. Their only land border defines the western extent of the
Ross Dependency The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a circular sector, sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160th meridian east, 160° east to 150th meridian west, 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60th para ...
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 A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of Earth's water surface areas using physical geography, physiographical or human geography, geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive sovereignty, national rights over mine ...
conclusively delimited by the Australia–New Zealand Maritime Treaty 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.


Country comparison


History

The
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
of
Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
is generally thought to be rich to the extent of at least 40,000–45,000 years duration, whereas the ancestors of Māori arrived in Aotearoa/New Zealand in several waves by means of waka from Eastern Polynesia in waves roughly between 1320 and 1350. Indigenous Australians and Māori (and by extension
Moriori The Moriori are the first settlers of the Chatham Islands ( in Moriori language, Moriori; in Māori language, Māori). Moriori are Polynesians who came from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 AD, which was close to the time of the ...
) are not recorded to have met or interacted prior to 17th and 18th century European exploration of Australia. Regarding the respective indigenous populations, while it may be said that there is a single
Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...
and the
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
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 Janszoon usually abbreviated to Jansz was a Dutch language, Dutch patronym ("son of Jan (name), Jan"). While Janse, Janssens, and especially Jansen (surname), Jansen and Janssen (surname), Janssen, are very common surnames derived from this patronym ...
.
Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch sea explorer, seafarer and exploration, explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New ...
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 land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement ...
s including
Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...
– later named for him as the
Australian state The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereignty, sovereign, administrative divisions that are autonomous administrative division, self-governing polity, ...
of
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
. The
first voyage of James Cook The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, HMS ''Endeavour'', from 1768 to 1771. The aims were to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from Tahiti and to ...
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 New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, dates from the arrival of the
First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...
into Cadi/
Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...
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 and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...
, 1788. New Zealand was separated from the
Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...
in 1840, at which time its European population numbered about 2,000 descended from
Christian missionaries A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...
,
sealers Sealer may refer either to a person or ship engaged in seal hunting, or to a sealant; associated terms include: Seal hunting * Sealer Hill, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica * Sealers' Oven, bread oven of mud and stone built by sealers around 1800 ...
, and whalers (as opposed to mainland Australia's much larger
penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...
population). Although it is accurate to distinguish that New Zealand was never a
penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...
, 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) was an English politician in colonial Canada and New Zealand. He is considered a key figure in the establishment of the colonies of South Australia and New Zealand (where he later served as a ...
. 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 The New Zealand Wars () took place from 1845 to 1872 between the Colony of New Zealand, New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori people, Māori on one side, and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. Though the wars were initi ...
and
Australian frontier wars The Australian frontier wars were the violent conflicts between Indigenous Australians (including both Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) and mostly British settlers during the colonial period of Australia. The first conflic ...
respectively. Whereas Maori iwi endured the
Musket Wars The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) among Māori people, Māori between 1806 and 1845, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an inte ...
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 A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...
. 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, wh ...
from 1885 and fully involved itself among the other self-governing colonies 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 Wester ...
. Ultimately it declined to accept the invitation to join the
Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the sixth-largest country in ...
resultingly formed in 1901, remaining as a
self-governing colony In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with responsible government in which the Executive council (Commonwealth countries), Executive Council was appointed from the majority in the elected Legislative assembly, Legislative A ...
until becoming the
Dominion of New Zealand The Dominion of New Zealand was the historical successor to the Colony of New Zealand. It was a constitutional monarchy with a high level of self-government within the British Empire. New Zealand became a separate British Crown colony in 1841 ...
in 1907 and with other territories later constituting the
Realm of New Zealand The Realm of New Zealand is the area over which the monarch of New Zealand is head of state. The realm is not a federation but is a collection of states and territories united under its monarch. New Zealand is an independent and sovereign sta ...
effectively as an independent country of its own. In the 1908 Olympics, 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 subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...
". 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, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
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 t ...
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
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 state (polity), states. There are two types of trade agreements: Bilateralism, bilateral and Multilateralism, m ...
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 organisation 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 regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...
, New Zealand, to rescue Betty Guard, the wife of John (Jacky) Guard, and the Guards' two children, following their kidnapping by local Māori. This was 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 memb ...
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, 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 comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
and both either sent soldiers or permitted the sending of
military volunteer A military volunteer (or ''war volunteer'') is a person who enlists in military service by free will, and is not a conscript, mercenary, or a foreign volunteers, foreign legionnaire. Volunteers sometimes enlist to fight Foreign volunteers, in th ...
s to the
Mahdist War The Mahdist War (; 1881–1899) was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later th ...
in the
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
, the quelling of the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...
, the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...
, 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 warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Arm ...
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. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
), both nations in the second half of the twentieth century otherwise provided contingents in support of United States strategic aims in the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
,
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, and
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
. Whereas military personnel from both countries participated in
UNTSO The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) is an organization founded on 29 May 1948 for peacekeeping in the Middle East. Established amidst the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, its primary task was initially to provide the military com ...
, 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 to
East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...
, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, UNMIS to
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
, and more recent intervention in Tonga. The New Zealand government officially condemned the 2003 invasion of Iraq 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 The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
against
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
just as New Zealand had declined to join Australia in
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War The Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions that began in 1918. The initial impetus behind the interventions was to secure munitions and supply depots from falling into the German ...
or in UNEF to
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
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 originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...
(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 Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and ...
, 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 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, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, Australia and New Zealand both contributed troops to the Korean and
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
s. Australia's contribution to the Vietnam War in particular was much larger than New Zealand's; while Australia introduced
conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
, New Zealand sent only a token force. Australia has continued to be more committed to the American alliance, ANZUS, 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 in Sydney was given its current name on
Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces me ...
in 1998 to honour the memory of the ANZAC serving in World War I. An
Australian flag The national flag of Australia 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 representation of the Southern C ...
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 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 standard service rifle of th ...
rifle resting on his arms reversed 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 The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...
Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
in the presence of
Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...
Morris Iemma 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. 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, 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 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 1911–1914 established radio connection back to
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
via
Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is a subantarctic island in the south-western Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. It has been governed as a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1880. It became a Protected areas of Tasmania, Tasmania ...
, surveyed King George V Land and examined the
rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock (geology), rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock Geological formation, formation ...
s of Wilkes Land. Mawson's Huts at Cape Denison survive to the current day as habitations at the expedition's chosen base. The expedition's Western Base Party 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. The territorially acquisitive BANZARE expedition of 1929–1931, additionally collaborating with the UK, mapped the coastline of Antarctica and discovered Mac Robertson Land and
Princess Elizabeth Land Princess Elizabeth Land is the sector of Antarctica between longitude 73rd meridian east, 73° east and Cape Penck (at 87°43' east). The sector is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, although this claim is not wi ...
. Both expeditions reported voluminously. Aerial crossing of the Tasman was first achieved by Charles Kingsford Smith with Charles Ulm and crew travelling by return journey in 1928, improving upon failure by Moncrieff and Hood deceased earlier the same year. Guy Menzies 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 ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...
journey from Tasmania by Andrew McAuley in early 2007 ended with his disappearance at sea and presumed death in New Zealand waters 30 nmi short of landfall at Milford Sound.


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 the Eastern Suburbs of 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 ...
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 was laid in 1890 between Sydney and
Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
, New Zealand, and then in 1901 the Pacific Cable from
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...
was landed in Doubtless Bay,
North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
. In 1912 a cable was laid from Sydney to
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
.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 (Insulat ...
in July 1962, and the NZPO- OTC joint venture TASMAN cable laid in 1975. These were retired by effect of the laying of
analogue signal An analog signal (American English) or analogue signal (British and Commonwealth English) is any continuous-time signal representing some other quantity, i.e., ''analogous'' to another quantity. For example, in an analog audio signal, the inst ...
submarine cable linking Australia's
Bondi Beach Bondi Beach () is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of ...
to 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 Paddington is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located east of the Sydney central business district, Paddington lies across two Local government in Australia, local government areas. The portion south of Oxford St ...
and 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 Alexandria is an Southern Sydney, inner southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Alexandria is located 5 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government ar ...
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 to Narrabeen Beach in Sydney.


Migration

Since 2023, New Zealanders are given a fast track to Australian citizenship.


Trans-Tasman migration and connections

There are many people who have emigrated from New Zealand to Australia, including former
Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...
,
Mike Rann Michael David Rann (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and List of Australi ...
, comedian turned psychologist Pamela Stephenson and actor
Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor and film director. Russell Crowe filmography, His work on screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe, various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Gold ...
. Australians who have emigrated to New Zealand include the 17th and 23rd Prime Ministers of New Zealand Sir Joseph Ward and
Michael Joseph Savage Michael Joseph Savage (23 March 1872 – 27 March 1940) was an Australian-born New Zealand politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of New Zealand, heading the First Labour Government of New Zealand, First Labour Government from 1935 ...
,
Russel Norman Russel William Norman (born 2 June 1967) is a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. He was a Member of Parliament and co-leader of the Green Party. Norman resigned as an MP in October 2015 to work as Executive Director of Greenpeace A ...
, former co-leader of the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
, and Matt Robson, former deputy leader of the Progressive Party. Under various arrangements since the 1920s, there has been a free flow of people between Australia and New Zealand. Since 1973 the informal
Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (TTTA) is an arrangement between Australia and New Zealand which allows for the free movement of citizens of one of these countries to the other. The arrangement came into effect in 1973, and allows citizens of ...
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 Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
,
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
and
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
. 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. 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.


Immigration and naturalisation policies

New Zealanders in Australia previously had immediate access to Australian welfare benefits and were sometimes characterised as bludgers. In 2001 this was described by New Zealand Prime Minister
Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
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 Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...
researcher Paul Hamer claimed that the 2001 changes was part of an Australian policy of filtering out Pasifika 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 The Ministry of Education () is the public service department of New Zealand charged with overseeing the New Zealand education system. The Ministry was formed in 1989 when the former, all-encompassing Department of Education was broken up into ...
figures show the number of Australians at 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 in Australia. Persons born in New Zealand continue to be the second largest source of
immigration to Australia The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago. European colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of a B ...
, representing 11% of total permanent additions in 2005–06 and accounting for 2.3% of Australia's population in June 2006. At 30 June 2010, an estimated 566,815 New Zealand citizens were present in Australia. On 22 April 2023, Australian Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...
, Home Affairs Minister
Clare O'Neil Clare Ellen O'Neil (born 12 September 1980) is an Australian politician who is the Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness since July 2024, Minister for Cities since May 2025 and was the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister f ...
, and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles announced the creation of a new direct pathway to Australian citizenship, commencing 1 July 2023. Under the policy, Special Category Visa holders will be able to apply for Australian citizenship without having to apply for permanent residency if they meet a four-year residence and other residency requirements. In addition, children born in Australia to a New Zealander from 1 July 2023 will automatically be eligible for Australian citizenship. The announcement was welcomed by New Zealand Prime Minister
Chris Hipkins Christopher John Hipkins (born 5 September 1978) is a New Zealand politician who has served as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party since January 2023 and leader of the Opposition (New Zealand), leader of the Opposition since November 2023. H ...
and Oz Kiwi chairperson Joanne Cox for improving New Zealanders' access to Australian citizenship, health and social security services. By 15 August 2023, over 15,000 New Zealand citizens residing in Australia had applied for Australian citizenship under the new criteria, with 500 passing the Australian citizenship test at the time of publication. According to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', New Zealanders accounted for half of Australian citizenship applications since 1 July 2023. 35% of applicants came from
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, 30% from Victoria, and 20% from
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
.


Section 501 "character test"

In December 2014, Peter Dutton assumed the portfolio of Australian
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship is a ministerial post of the Australian Government and is currently held by Tony Burke since July 2024 in the First Albanese ministry, Albanese ministry. The post was created in 1945 and its inaugur ...
following a cabinet reshuffle. That same month, the Australian Government amended the
Migration Act 1958 The ''Migration Act 1958'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that governs immigration to Australia. It set up Australia’s universal visa system (or entry permits). Its long title is "An Act relating to the entry into, and pre ...
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 Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016. Following his father's death when ...
and Australian Prime Minister
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...
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 Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...
reached an agreement with Key to allow New Zealanders detained at Australian immigration detention centres to fly home while they appealed their visa applications and to fast-track the application process. The Fifth National Government also passed Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Act 2015 in November 2015 which established a strict monitoring returning for section 501 returnees. The law allows the chief executive of the Department of Corrections to apply to a district court for special conditions on returning prisoners including submitting "identifying particulars" such as photographs and fingerprints. While the Returning Offenders Act's strict monitoring regime reduced recidivism rates from 58% in November 2015 to 38% by March 2018, the New Zealand Law Society expressed concern that the Act potentially violated the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 by imposing "retroactive penalties and double jeopardy" on former offenders. 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
Home Affairs Department The Home Affairs Department is an executive agency in the government of Hong Kong responsible for internal affairs of the territory. It reports to the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Home Affairs. Purpose The d ...
obtained by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
(ABC), 1,512 skilled independent visas had been issued by late February 2018 with another 7,500 visas still being processed.
Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...
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 The Turnbull government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 29th prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, from 2015 to 2018. It succeeded the Abbott government, which brought the Coalition to power at the 2013 Au ...
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 Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...
and
Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician. He has led the political party New Zealand First since he founded it in 1993, and since November 2023 has served as the 25th Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), ...
, the
Turnbull government The Turnbull government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 29th prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, from 2015 to 2018. It succeeded the Abbott government, which brought the Coalition to power at the 2013 Au ...
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
Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
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 A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...
Ministers including the now- 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 criticised Australia's deportation laws for lacking "humanitarian ideals." In response, Dutton vowed to continue deporting non-citizen criminals and criticised 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 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 The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...
(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 Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...
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
ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is a newlywed. When marrying, if the bride's future spouse is a man, he is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, ...
who had migrated from New Zealand to Australia at the age of six, acquiring Australian citizenship. She subsequently travelled 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 The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was an Australian tribunal that conducted independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws of the Australian Government. The AAT reviewed decisions made by Australian G ...
(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 Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jeremy Strong Fictional c ...
reported that 80% of appeals to the AAT were rejected or affirmed the Australian Government's visa cancellation orders. In January 2021,
TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...
's
1News 1News is the news service of the New Zealand television network TVNZ. Its flagship programme is the daily evening newscast ''1News at Six''; other programmes include morning news-talk show ''Breakfast'', '' Te Karere'', '' Seven Sharp'', and ...
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 criminal activity in New Zealand. In December 2019, Stuff reported that several repatriated senior members of Australian bikie gangs including the
Comanchero The Comancheros were a group of 18th- and 19th-century Merchant, traders based in northern and central New Mexico. They made their living by trading with the nomadic Great Plains Native Americans in the United States, Indian tribes in northeaste ...
and
Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
had expanded their operations in New Zealand; contributing to a surge in gang membership and the
methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...
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 ''Newshub'' (stylised as Newshub.) was a New Zealand news service that operated from 1989 to 2024 and served as the local news division of Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand until its closure. The division, known as ''3 News'' until 2016, had ...
, 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
Police Commissioner A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...
Andrew Coster and
New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party (), often shortened to National () or the Nats, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand that is the current senior ruling party. It is one ...
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 The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 21 May 2022, to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Morrison government, Liberal–National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, soug ...
held on 21 May 2022, Ardern announced that she would press the newly-elected Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...
's
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
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. On 20 December 2022, High Court Judge Cheryl Gwyn ruled in favour of a former 501 deportee known as "G," who challenged the Government's authority to impose special conditions upon his return to New Zealand. She ruled that special conditions such as ordering "G" to reside at a particular address, supplying fingerprints and DNA, and attending rehabilitative and treatment programmes violated the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and constituted an act of
double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare cases ...
since he had already served time for crimes in Australia which had led to his repatriation to New Zealand. Gwyn's decision has implications for the monitoring regime for deportees established under the framework of the Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Act 2015. On 21 December, the Crown Law Office appealed against Gwyn's High Court ruling, citing its implications for the Returning Offenders Act's monitoring regime. In early February 2023, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles confirmed that the Australian Government would maintain the 501 deportation policy but would consider the length of time they had lived in Australia and connections to the Australian community. This directive was known as Ministerial Direction 99 and stated that immigration officials and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal had to consider a person's communal ties and time spent in Australia before cancelling a visa. While New Zealand Prime Minister
Chris Hipkins Christopher John Hipkins (born 5 September 1978) is a New Zealand politician who has served as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party since January 2023 and leader of the Opposition (New Zealand), leader of the Opposition since November 2023. H ...
welcomed these changes, deportee advocate Filipa Payne argued that these changes were insufficient since they preserved mandatory detention and allowed for the deportation of "dangerous" individuals." In late May 2024, Albanese and Giles announced that the Australian Government would rewrite Ministerial Directive 99 following criticism from Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton that the ministerial direction had allowed several non-citizens convicted of serious crimes including rape, drug smuggling, kidnapping and serious assault to remain in Australia. In one notable case, a New Zealander known as "CHCY" had been allowed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to keep his visa despite being convicted of the rape of his teenage stepdaughter. In response to Australian plans to rewrite Ministerial Directive 99, New Zealand Foreign Minister
Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician. He has led the political party New Zealand First since he founded it in 1993, and since November 2023 has served as the 25th Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), ...
and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon expressed concern that the policy revision would lead to the deportation of New Zealanders with little connection to New Zealand but said they would work with their Australian counterparts to address New Zealand's concerns. On 7 June, Giles issued a revised ministerial directive called "Direction 110" which stated that violent non-citizen criminals could be deported even if they had lived their whole lives in Australia. As a result, Giles reinstated the visa cancellations for 40 individuals, who had previously had their visa cancellations overturned under the previous Directive 99. While Luxon responded that Australia was "well within its right" to make its own rules" but also said "it's just not right that people who have no connection to New Zealand are deported to New Zealand."


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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, 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 New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
and the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
from 16 October as part of initial steps to establish a "travel bubble" between the two countries. However, New Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...
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 New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
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. 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 Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016. Following his father's death when ...
and Australian Prime Minister
Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...
signed an agreement for New Zealand to accept several asylum seekers who had travelled 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 Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
and
Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...
. In early November 2017, the Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...
turned down an offer by his New Zealand counterpart
Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...
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 The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...
(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.


Human capital flight

In late October 2023, RNZ reported that Australian police forces were recruiting New Zealand Police personnel by offering lucrative pay and housing packages. By 30 October, figures released by Australian police showed that 77 former NZ police had migrated to
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
while almost 20 had migrated to the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
. NZ Police Association president Chris Cahill estimated that 3,000 New Zealand police officers had immigrated to Australia in the past six years. By mid-March 2024, ''
The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...
'' reported that 50 of the 200 former NZ police officers who had resigned in 2023 were already working as police officers in Australia. The ''Herald'' reported that another 70 police officers were planning to emigrate from New Zealand, having been enticed by tax-free sign-on fees and relocation costs of up to $25,000. In August 2023, NZ Police deputy commissioner Wally Haumaha sought to downplay concerns that New Zealand could lose a lot of Māori police officers to Australia, claiming that many New Zealand emigrants "get mokemoke (homesick) for whānau (family) and end coming back to the NZ Police as rejoins." In April 2024, Police Minister Mark Mitchell admitted that New Zealand was unable to compete with Australian police job officers, saying that "we cannot compete with that. Australia have got a much bigger and a healthier and stronger high-wage economy than we have, and that's one of the big jobs that we've got as the incoming government is to strengthen our economy and start to head towards being a higher wage economy that at least goes some way towards competing with 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 organisation 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 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 industry assistance measures and work towards harmonisation of common administrative procedures for
quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...
* additional services were brought within the Agreement's scope from January 1989 * remaining
tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...
s and quantitative restrictions in
bilateral trade Bilateral trade or clearing trade is trade exclusively between two states, particularly, barter trade based on bilateral deals between governments, and without using hard currency for payment. Bilateral trade agreements often aim to keep trade d ...
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 Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...
Agreement was reached and legislation to establish Food Standards Australia New Zealand was promulgated that year. * a
double taxation Double taxation is the levying of tax by two or more jurisdictions on the same income (in the case of income taxes), asset (in the case of capital taxes), or financial transaction (in the case of sales taxes). Double liability may be mitigated ...
agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...
was sealed in 1995 * co-operation to harmonise customs policies and procedures has existed since 1996 * agreement on food inspection measures was reached in 1996 * from 1998 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 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 Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction or spread of harmful organisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, plants, animals etc.) intentionally or unintentionally outside their native range or within new environments. In agricult ...
Cooperation was established in 1999 to function as a high-level Trans-Tasman dialogue convening and reporting annually * an "
Open Skies The freedoms of the air, also called five freedoms of air transport, are a set of commercial aviation rights granting a country's airlines the privilege to enter and land in another country's airspace. They were formulated as a result of disag ...
Agreement" effective from November 2000 committed to the enjoyment of all freedoms of the air by
airlines An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in ...
operating out of places in either country and the existence of an Australia–New Zealand aviation and
air safety Aviation safety is the study and practice of managing risks in aviation. This includes preventing aviation accidents and incidents through research, educating air travel personnel, passengers and the general public, as well as the design of airc ...
common market * an MOU on
business law Commercial law (or business law), which is also known by other names such as mercantile law or trade law depending on jurisdiction; is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and organizations engaged in ...
co-ordination was reached in 2000 * a
social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
agreement was reached in 2001 * a joint food standards code issued in 2002 * from October 2002 the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) inclusive of the two countries plus the Forum Island Countries has taken effect * trans-Tasman 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 Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...
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 Market Outcome Framework issued in August 2009 and has been subsequently worked upon * the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Area came into force on 1 January 2010 * a business-initiated and AUSTRADEbr>InvestmentNZ
sponsored first joint Australia–New Zealand Investment Conference was held in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
in March 2010 * revisions to 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 The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental organisation, intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square ...
of exploratory
radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna (radio), antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the r ...
s 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, emissions and other environmental matters * from 30 June 2010, commencing with 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 International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (See: World economy.) In most countries, such trade represents a significan ...
One example of a formerly longstanding trading issue unresolved by the closer economic relations was Australia's restriction of the import of
apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
s 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 The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...
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

Political conditions in the aftermath of the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
in 1815 smoothed informal adoption of the British
Pound Sterling Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency general ...
in
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
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
British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
decided in 1825 to introduce the 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 A currency union (also known as monetary union) is an intergovernmental agreement that involves two or more states sharing the same currency. These states may not necessarily have any further integration (such as an economic and monetary union ...
, based on the British
gold sovereign The sovereign is a British gold coin with a nominal value of one pound sterling (£1) and contains of pure gold. Struck since 1817, it was originally a circulating coin that was accepted in Britain and elsewhere in the world; it is now a ...
existed in a part of the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
which included all of both countries and their dependencies. In 1910, Australia introduced its own currency in the likeness of sterling currency. The
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
was the catalyst that forced more dramatic shifts in the
exchange rates In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
between the various 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 peg to be the US dollar in 1971, with first Australia and then New Zealand having fortuitously already 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 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 bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
s and economic regulatory systems of both countries have been proposed and discussed though in no way implemented.


Law

Both nations adhere to secular
common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
legal system A legal system is a set of legal norms and institutions and processes by which those norms are applied, often within a particular jurisdiction or community. It may also be referred to as a legal order. The comparative study of legal systems is th ...
s acknowledging the
rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...
; and the
separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...
. Like the United States and Canada, however, Australia is a federal nation with a written
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
. 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 South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, New Zealand, Queensland,
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
, 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 Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
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 "Nature has made 1,200 impediments to the inclusion of New Zealand in any such federation in the 1,200 miles of stormy ocean which lies between us and our brethren in Australia". 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 Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...
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 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 neighbouring 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 Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
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