Friends, Not Family
It's time for a new maturity
in the trans-Tasman relationship
By
LEORA MOLDOFSKY
Before
federation, new zealand was one of the seven colonies of Australasia.
Had it accepted the offer of statehood within the Australian
Commonwealth, it would have ranked third in population and
wealth behind New South Wales (to which it was annexed in
1840) and Victoria. But the 1,200 miles [1,930 km] of sea
that separated New Zealand from Australia were, said Premier
Sir John Hall, "1,200 reasons" not to join the new nation.
Though the invitation to New Zealand to join the Commonwealth
remains part of the Australian Constitution, such a union
appears even less likely today than it did a century ago.
Still, the
two countries remain good friends-as public figures on both
sides of the Tasman like to point out. To mark Australia's
100th birthday, New Zealand chose a gift based on the Maori
saying "Mau tena kiwai o te kete, maku tenei" ("You at that
handle, and I at this handle of the basket"). The two 11.5-m
bronze arches now flanking Canberra's Anzac Parade represent
the handles of a kete, or flax basket, rising out of the ground
as if lifted by giant hands. A powerful symbol of the losses
shared and the legends forged at Gallipoli, the memorial also
reflects the shape of the relationship between New Zealand
and Australia. Not only have the two nations' soldiers stood
side by side in conflicts from the Boer War to East Timor,
but their economies are so entwined they could soon be indistinguishable.
And such is the intermingling of their peoples that it would
be hard to tell them apart if it weren't for their accents.
But that
warm relationship is showing signs of strain. In Wellington,
some officials resent the fact that Australia has tightened
the rules for welfare benefits to Kiwis (who are now treated
like all other migrants). There are grumbles, too, in Canberra,
where New Zealand's military scale-back is seen as placing
an unfair burden on Australian defense capabilities-and potentially
threatening regional security.
The friction
isn't new. Australian politicians have been grizzling that
their defense force would be unable to operate effectively
with New Zealand's since the anti-nuclear Lange government
sank the trilateral anzus alliance in 1985. But the forces
remain enmeshed in a web of agreements, commitments and joint
exercises. Kiwis have been labeled beach-seeking "dole bludgers"
by out-of-work Aussies (despite studies showing they earn
more, and pay more tax, than the locals) since they began
pouring into Australia in the 1980s, while their governments
have wrangled over their respective shares of the bill.
So why are
these spats so often portrayed as unbridgeable breaches rather
than as recurring irritants in an otherwise healthy and developing
relationship? The truism is that the two countries are like
family: Australia is the older sibling who wants to play with
the big boys to its north; as the younger sibling, New Zealand
takes pains to set itself apart and is affronted when its
closest relative takes it for granted.
What's missing
from this picture is the fact that the relationship owes much
to geography and international developments. United by their
isolation and odd-man-out status in the Asia-Pacific region,
the two countries teamed up to boost their own markets as
countries across the region began integrating with their neighbors.
If the squabbles
are to stop, both countries need to rethink the relationship
-and drop the family references. By thinking about each other
as close, but still separate, countries, New Zealand and Australia
could be more objective about each other's domestic interests
and differences. The European Union is made up of countries
that have hated their neighbors for centuries. But concerns
about loss of sovereignty are standing in the way of a currency
union between Australia and New Zealand, even though it would
broaden trans-Tasman trade and make it easier to do business
in both markets.
As the E.U.
demonstrates, countries can work toward a single market while
retaining their independence and pursuing separate domestic
agendas. Tweaks to traditional trans-Tasman relations don't
have to get personal. If Australia's new social security arrangements
were really designed to keep Kiwis out, for example-and not
simply to ease immigration and budgetary pressures-work permits
would have been introduced for New Zealanders.
Instead
of navel-gazing, Australia and New Zealand should focus on
looking outward together, using their enduring relationship
to pursue common goals. That strategy has already helped both
countries get closer to their neighbors and lower protectionist
trade barriers against some of their products. For in the
age of globalization, it's the self-interest of Adam Smith's
"invisible hand" that's really holding up the basket.
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April 30, 2001 | No.
17
COVER
STORIES
Want
a Brain Child?
Are you planning to raise a baby Mozart or an infant Einstein? You'll
find lots of purported methods and expensive programs out there, but you'll
also run into a lot of myths about "perfecting" your child. And is it
really a wise thing to attempt? What if you were to get a smarter but
meaner kid? That's what child care may produce, according to a new study.
And remember the old saw that all work and no play can make Johnny a dull
boy? Well, that one is not a myth
The
Quest For A Superkid
What
Ever Happened To Play?
TRAVELER'S
ADVISORY
AUSTRALIAN
SCENE: Mixing it at the match
PACIFIC
OBSERVED: Family ties can be a bind
THE
ARTS
THEATER: Mel Brooks' The Producers hits
Broadway...
MUSIC:
Ani DiFranco and her righteous Reckoning...
SHOW
BUSINESS : Tupac lives!...
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