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Political Science Comparative Politics of Australia and New Zealand
by
Marian Sawer, Kirsty McLaren, Norm Kelly

Introduction

Australia and New Zealand have many commonalities, apart from both having national flags featuring the Union Jack and the Southern Cross. As British settlements in the South Pacific, or settler societies, the Australasian colonies inherited Westminster political institutions and a tendency to believe in the superiority of the British race. When the federation process began in Australia in the last decade of the 19th century, it was thought that New Zealand might become the seventh state, but this was not to be. While this period was characterized by a significant amount of policy transfer between policy innovators on both sides of the Tasman Sea, New Zealanders prided themselves on better policy in relation to their Indigenous population, the Maori, and did not wish to put this at risk. For this and other reasons, New Zealand did not become part of the Commonwealth of Australia, although both Australia and New Zealand are now members of the Commonwealth of Nations based on the former British Empire. Policy transfer speeded up again in the 1980s with the institutional and cultural similarities of the two countries facilitating the adoption of successful policy experiments tested in one or another of the Australasian jurisdictions and the rejection of less successful ones. This brief history indicates some of the features that make Australia and New Zealand good candidates for comparative studies based on a “most similar systems” design. This approach seeks to compare cases that are similar in as many respects as possible, to simplify the task of identifying the source of difference. The two countries also differ in interesting ways in terms of political architecture and the treaty framework for Indigenous relations in New Zealand. A brief note on terminology may be helpful. Outsiders often find the different meanings of the term Commonwealth confusing—it is both the official name of the federal government of Australia as well shorthand for the Commonwealth of Nations, of which both Australia and New Zealand are members. The term Australasia is also a source of confusion. The term was invented in the 18th century by a French explorer to mean “south of Asia.” It most often refers simply to Australia and New Zealand, although sometimes to the island of New Guinea as well. Another bugbear for comparative research is that the Australian Labor Party dropped the “u” from labour after its 1905 federal conference, but the New Zealand Labour Party has retained it. This article uses the Australian and New Zealand spelling of “labour”; here as in other works the “u” is retained where both parties are being referred to but otherwise the parties’ own spelling is used.

Foundational Works

The most important classic texts influencing international perceptions of Australasia as a “social laboratory” are Albert Métin’s Le socialisme sans doctrines: La question agraire et la question ouvrière en Australie et Nouvelle-Zélande (Métin 1977) and William Pember Reeves’s State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand (Reeves 1968–1969). Métin won a traveling scholarship from the University of Paris and a commission from the French Office of Labour to undertake his research in 1899, which was originally published as a government report with plenty of statistics. Métin was deeply impressed by the degree of social, economic, and political equality achieved in the colonies, despite the church-going nature of the workers, their loyalty to queen and empire and their lack of awareness of, or interest in, socialist theory. New Zealand–born Pember Reeves provides a “local” perspective. Reeves was a minister (1891–1896) in the reforming Liberal governments of John Ballance and Richard Seddon. He introduced the world’s first successful scheme of compulsory industrial arbitration with legally enforceable awards, as well as legislating for labour exchanges, Saturday half days, and a factory inspectorate. Both authors put stress not only on the practical rather than philosophical strengths of Australasian reformers, but also on the advanced character of their social reforms (“the workers’ paradise”). Bryce 1921 discusses the outcomes of the “rule of the multitude” in Australia and New Zealand. Like Métin, he pointed out that “socialistic practice” in Australia and New Zealand had not been accompanied by “socialistic doctrine.” More recently, Castles 1998 provides a useful analysis of views of Australasia as a social laboratory.

  • Bryce, James. Modern Democracies. 2 vols. London: Macmillan, 1921.

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    In the second volume of this influential account of modern democracy Viscount Bryce deals in some detail with the United States of America, Australia, and New Zealand. Bryce believed the results of the rule of the multitude could be best studied in the newest democracies, where it included state regulation of wages.

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  • Castles, Francis G. “Social Laboratory.” In The Oxford Companion to Australian History. Edited by Graeme Davison, John Hirst, and Stuart Macintyre, 592–593. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998.

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    Discusses the idea of Australasia as a site of social experimentation and the role of outsiders, such as Métin and Bryce, in developing this idea, along with “local” protagonist Pember Reeves. Castles points out that the concept of Australasia as a social laboratory, for testing ideas under discussion elsewhere, sometimes shaded into a concept of Australasian exceptionalism.

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  • Métin, Albert. Socialism without Doctrine. Translated by Russel Ward. Chippendale, Australia: Alternative Publishing Co-operative, 1977.

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    English translation of Le socialisme sans doctrines: La question agraire et la question ouvrière en Australie et Nouvelle-Zélande (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1901). Revised and expanded edition 1910. The English translation of his book was very belated, perhaps in part because a rival work (Reeves 1968–1969) was available in English. Provides a lively European perspective on Australasian social reforms.

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  • Reeves, W. Pember. State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand. 2 vols. Melbourne: Macmillan, 1968–1969.

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    First published in 1902 (London: Grant Richards). An invaluable source on the introduction of compulsory arbitration and other labour legislation in the Australasian colonies as well as the struggle to introduce progressive land taxes. Also a valuable source on the introduction of noncontributory old-age pensions. Covers a number of other “experiments,” such as women’s suffrage.

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Journals and Other Sources

Journals that have provided a natural home for such comparative studies include the UK-based Commonwealth & Comparative Politics and the Australian Journal of Political Science but not the New Zealand journal, Political Science , despite a recent issue devoted to New Zealand-Canadian comparisons. Matthews and O’Loghlin 1994 is also a helpful source.

Comparative Politics

Australia and New Zealand make ideal nations for comparison, given their common Westminster inheritance; however, important differences do exist, such as the unitary and unicameral political system of New Zealand (at least in recent times) as against the federalism and bicameralism of Australia. At the level of national parliaments, the introduction of proportional representation in the Australian Senate in 1948 has led to independents and minor parties holding the balance of power in the upper house and to the institutional strengthening of the parliament as against executive government. The introduction in 1993 of the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system for the New Zealand House of Representatives has similarly led to minority governments and the strengthening of the parliament vis-à-vis the executive (see McLeay and Uhr 2006).

Politics and Institutions

Because of the Westminster family resemblances, despite differences, a number of useful works focus on the political institutions, and especially the parliaments, of Australia and New Zealand (McLeay and Uhr 2006; Patapan, et al. 2005; Tiernan and Menzies 2007). Kullman 2008 also compares the two countries, but focuses on political attitudes, suggesting reasons for differing attitudes to the monarchy. In contrast, Gauja 2008 is one of many comparative works that deal with more than two states within the “Westminster family,” in this case analyzing political party regulation. A more general text, Robinson, et al. 2000, compares a range of economic and social policy sectors in the two countries while Panelli and Larner 2010 examines how new approaches to governance can bring together state and nonstate actors in participatory spaces.

  • Gauja, Anika. “State Regulation and the Internal Organisation of Political Parties in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.” Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 42 (2008): 244–261.

    DOI: 10.1080/14662040801990264Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Argues that political parties in the four countries have been able to shape increasing legal regulation to their advantage by, on the one hand, eliciting significant financial support from the state and, on the other hand, by successfully resisting legislative intrusion into their internal affairs. However, in all four countries, political parties have become increasingly subject to civil law actions.

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  • Kullmann, Claudio. “Attitudes towards the Monarchy in Australia and New Zealand Compared.” Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 46 (2008): 442–463.

    DOI: 10.1080/14662040802461125Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Seeks to explain why the 1990s saw a greater decline in the popularity of the monarchy in Australia than in New Zealand. Looks at the role of political parties, the role of republican and monarchist organizations, and, most importantly, the role of the media. Finds that the Australian newspaper was an active campaigner for a republic through the 1990s, effectively setting the agenda.

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  • McLeay, Elizabeth, and John Uhr. “The Australian and New Zealand Parliaments: Context, Response and Capacity.” Australian Journal of Political Science 41 (2006): 257–272.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140600672469Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Looks at the ways in which the New Zealand and Australian parliaments have responded to globalization, including New Zealand borrowing from Germany for electoral reform and consequent changes to its parliament. Examines the international networks in which parliamentary institutions in both countries are now embedded and the importance of maintaining parliamentary oversight of international agreements entered into by executive government.

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  • Panelli, Ruth, and Wendy Larner. “Timely Partnerships? Contrasting Geographies of Activism in New Zealand and Australia.” Urban Studies 47 (2010): 1343–1366.

    DOI: 10.1177/0042098009360226Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    This geography-based article analyzes contrasting conceptions of time-space and looks at how urban space may be used for rural-related purposes. The paper focuses on two specific cases—an Australian rural women’s “Heritage Project” in Australia and a “Fishbowl” evaluation of a rural community development program in New Zealand—to illustrate how new approaches to governance can bring together state and nonstate actors in participatory spaces.

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  • Patapan, Haig, John Wanna, and Patrick Weller, eds. Westminster Legacies: Democracy and Responsible Government in Asia and the Pacific. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2005.

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    Examines the development of Westminster-style responsible government across selected Asian and Pacific states. Includes chapters on Australia (Rod Rhodes) and New Zealand (John Wanna), the two countries in the selection in which the Westminster system marked more of a natural continuation from colonialism.

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  • Robinson, Guy M., Robert J. Loughran, and Paul J. Tranter. Australia and New Zealand: Economy, Society and Environment. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

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    An academic text that provides a comparative analysis of agricultural policies, trade and development, and environmental management. Also covers social policies, immigration and Indigenous issues, and historical colonization.

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  • Tiernan, Anne, and Jennifer Menzies. Caretaker Conventions in Australasia: Minding the Shop for Government. Canberra: ANU E Press, 2007.

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    This monograph explores the origins of caretaker conventions in Australia and New Zealand, the current arrangements, and when conventions apply. Written by an academic with extensive experience in the public sector (Tiernan), and a former senior public servant (Menzies), this book also looks at the relationship between caretaker conventions and responsible government.

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Labour Movement and Trade Union Politics

The shared industrial relations institutions and similar economic history of Australia and New Zealand have led to many parallels, which have tended to be overlooked within the national narratives characterizing traditional labour history. The new comparative and transnational approach to research on labour movement and trade union politics is best seen in the recent special issue of the Australian journal Labour History (see Markey and Taylor 2008), with articles covering topics such as comparative union history (see Ellem and Franks 2008), the development of joint work by the major union bodies in the two countries (see Harford 2008), and the parallel histories of gender and labour, particularly in relation to equal pay (Frances and Nolan 2008, listed under Women’s Policy). An earlier classic study, Milburn 1966, was undertaken by an outsider puzzled by the development of a strong union movement in countries without much industrialization, while Bray and Neilson 1996 looked at the differing relationship between trade union bodies and Labour governments in the 1980s and Easton and Gerritsen 1996 looked at the effect of this differing relationship on the economic policies adopted in the two countries.

  • Bray, Mark, and David Neilson. “Industrial Relations Reform and the Relative Autonomy of the State.” In The Great Experiment: Labour Parties and Public Policy Transformation in Australia and New Zealand. Edited by Francis G. Castles, Rolf Gerritsen, and Jack Vowles, 68–87. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1996.

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    Assesses the relationships between the Labour parties and trade unions in the 1980s and 1990s, and how these power dynamics influenced industrial relations reforms under labour governments.

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  • Easton, Brian, and Rolf Gerritsen. “Economic Reform: Parallels and Divergences.” In The Great Experiment: Labour Parties and Public Policy Transformation in Australia and New Zealand. Edited by Francis G. Castles, Rolf Gerritsen, and Jack Vowles, 22–47. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1996.

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    Compares and contrasts the Australian Labor government’s “corporate” approach to economic reform with New Zealand Labour’s “commercial” approach. Issues discussed include the diminishing economic influence of Britain and the different decision-making processes in the two labour parties.

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  • Ellem, Bradon, and Peter Franks. “Trade Union Structure and Politics in Australia and New Zealand.” Labour History 95 (2008): 43–67.

    DOI: 10.2307/27516309Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Provides a comparative analysis of 150 years of unionism in Australia and New Zealand, exploring the similarities and differences in the economic and political contexts in which trade unions have sought to define themselves. Unions in the two countries have exhibited very similar patterns of union growth and decline, policy, and lines of inclusion and exclusion.

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  • Harford, Shelley. “A Trans-Tasman Union Community: Growing Global Solidarity.” Labour History 95 (2008): 133–150.

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    Examines the increasingly close relationship between the New Zealand Federation of Labour (FOL) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) from 1970 to the mid-1980s. The intensification of ties and exchanges facilitated the development of joint work on antinuclear and labour issues in the South Pacific.

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  • Markey, Ray, and Kerry Taylor. “Trans-Tasman Labour History.” Labour History 95 (2008): 1–168.

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    Eight articles and introductions by editors deriving from the Trans-Tasman Labour History Conference held in Auckland in 2007. All contributors were required to adopt a comparative or transnational approach, breaking free from the national narratives of traditional labour history.

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  • Milburn, Josephine F. “Trade Unions in Politics in Australia and New Zealand.” Western Political Quarterly 19 (1966): 672–687.

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    Classic “outsider” analysis of the development of powerful trade union movements in the two countries, despite the lack of a history of industrialization in these agriculture-based economies. Discusses the political activity of unions, including in the bureaucracies and in the judicial system.

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Women, Politics, and Representation

Leading comparativists among Australasian political scientists working on gender and politics have included Jennifer Curtin, Sandra Grey, Marian Sawer, and Marian Simms, while Canadian Manon Tremblay has also undertaken comparative research in both Australia and New Zealand. Their work has included comparative studies of the impact of electoral systems on the parliamentary representation of women (Curtin 2003); the entry of women into executive government (Curtin and Sawer 2011); the entry of women into parliament and political leadership (Grey and Sawer 2005); the rise of women to positions of political leadership (Simms 2008); and the effect of electoral systems on the propensity of women parliamentarians to view themselves as representing “women” (Tremblay 2007).

  • Curtin, Jennifer. “Women and Proportional Representation in Australia and New Zealand.” Policy, Organisation and Society 22 (2003): 48–68.

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    Examines the impact of proportional representation on women’s parliamentary presence in four legislatures, namely, those of the two national parliaments, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory. Finds that the proportion of women elected reflected the proportion of women standing as candidates in only four of twelve elections studied. Curtin concludes that women’s representation has stagnated in these four legislatures.

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  • Curtin, Jennifer, and Marian Sawer. “Oceania.” In Women and Executive Power: A Global Overview. Edited by Gretchen Bauer and Manon Tremblay, 45–64. London: Routledge, 2011.

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    Suggests that reform in both the Labor Party in Australia and the Labour Party in New Zealand was the key to increasing the presence of women in parliament and hence the pool for ministerial office. Although reform has been more difficult in Australia, in New Zealand women’s presence in cabinet has remained at the one-third level achieved under Prime Minister Helen Clark.

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  • Grey, Sandra, and Marian Sawer. “Australia and New Zealand.” In Sharing Power: Women, Parliament, Democracy. Edited by Yvonne Galligan and Manon Tremblay, 171–187. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2005.

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    Argues that while both Australia and New Zealand were pioneers of women’s political rights, the focus by labour on the male breadwinner slowed progress. Women’s movement mobilization helped change this by the 1980s, but, paradoxically, women achieved positions of political leadership at a time when the ascendancy of neoliberalism made the achievement of feminist policy outcomes increasingly difficult.

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  • Simms, Marian. “Women’s Politics and Leadership in Australia and New Zealand.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 34 (2008): 32–36.

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    Symposium contribution arguing that, in New Zealand, Helen Clark carried her support for women’s issues into her leadership role from 1993 while, in Australia, women politicians struggled with a media culture that promoted traditional gender roles.

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  • Tremblay, Manon. “Electoral Systems and the Substantive Representation of Women.” Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 45 (2007): 278–302.

    DOI: 10.1080/14662040701516870Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Finds from interviews with more than one hundred women parliamentarians in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand that most felt they had a responsibility to represent women and not just a geographical constituency, regardless of the electoral system under which they were elected.

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Electoral Behavior

Large-scale academic surveys have been conducted following national elections in Australia since 1987 and in New Zealand since 1990. Ian McAllister of the Australian Election Study and Jack Vowles of the New Zealand Election Study have both been closely involved with the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project that coordinates the operation of more than fifty national election studies across the world. Some of the most significant comparative publications arising from the electoral surveys in Australia and New Zealand are McAllister and Vowles 1994 on the rise of new politics; Vowles and McAllister 1996 on the decline of class-based voting; Vowles and Bean 2006 on the relative impact of globalization; Denemark and Bowler 2002 on the nature of support for populist parties; McCraw 1990 on greater support for minor parties in New Zealand; and Bean 1993 on the electoral influence of party leaders’ images.

  • Bean, Clive. “The Electoral Influence of Party Leader Images in Australia and New Zealand.” Comparative Political Studies 26 (1993): 111–132.

    DOI: 10.1177/0010414093026001005Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Considers the types of specific leadership qualities that influence electoral choice. Data from open-ended questions in surveys conducted in Australia in 1979 and in New Zealand in 1981 indicate a broad similarity of voter responses to different political leaders.

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  • Denemark, David, and Shaun Bowler. “Minor Parties and Protest Votes in Australia and New Zealand: Locating Populist Politics.” Electoral Studies 21 (2002): 47–67.

    DOI: 10.1016/S0261-3794(00)00034-2Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Explores the electoral role of populist politics within the larger context of minor party protest voting. Uses survey data to analyze the bases of support for One Nation in Australia and New Zealand First, and finds that the populist parties played two fundamentally distinct roles— tapping, virtually exclusively, support for extremist-issue stances while sharing vote gain from economic concerns and political disaffection.

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  • McAllister, Ian, and Jack Vowles. “The Rise of New Politics and Market Liberalism in Australia and New Zealand.” British Journal of Political Science 24 (1994): 381–402.

    DOI: 10.1017/S0007123400006906Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Examines the rise of “New Politics” concerns since the 1970s in parallel with the rise in popularity of market liberalism by applying multivariate analysis to election survey data collected in each country in 1990. Suggests that the effects of value change are more far-reaching in New Zealand, where social liberalism may have overtaken collectivism as the dominant value cleavage in the party system.

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  • McCraw, David. “Comparing Election Outcomes in Australia and New Zealand.” Politics 25 (1990): 105–112.

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    Argues that despite claims based on election outcomes, that voters in Australia and New Zealand have moved in parallel since World War II, aggregate electoral data shows that significant differences exist, particularly a greater likelihood in New Zealand of voters turning to minor parties.

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  • Olssen, Erik, and Bruce Scates. “Class Formation and Political Change: A Trans-Tasman Dialogue.” Labour History 95 (2008): 3–24.

    DOI: 10.2307/27516307Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    This journal article focuses on two New Zealand research projects in a review of traditional interpretations of class-based coalitions. The article looks at demographic class formation in New Zealand’s oldest industrial suburbs and its most densely populated urban region, southern Dunedin, as well as investigating electoral behavior in ten provincial towns. The article discusses how this “class work” may inform similar studies in Australia

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  • Vowles, Jack, and Clive Bean. “Electoral Politics: Does Globalisation Matter?” Australian Journal of Political Science 41 (2006): 273–288.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140600672485Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Using data from the Australian and New Zealand election studies, two sets of theoretically derived propositions are tested: first, that globalization will reduce the reality and/or the perceptions of electoral choice, and, second, that it may change but not necessarily reduce choice. Finds little support for the assumption that because New Zealand is more economically exposed to globalization its electoral politics will reflect such influences more strongly.

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  • Vowles, Jack, and Ian McAllister. “Electoral Foundations and Electoral Consequences: From Convergence to Divergence.” In The Great Experiment: Labour Parties and Public Policy Transformation in Australia and New Zealand. Edited by Francis G. Castles, Rolf Gerritsen, and Jack Vowles, 192–210. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1996.

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    Assesses declining voter attachment to traditional parties in Australia and New Zealand and the impact of social and economic policy reforms on class voting.

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Electoral Systems

The impact of differing electoral systems on electoral behavior and the behavior of representatives is a significant question for political scientists. Bean 1986 offers a strong comparative study of influences on voting behavior and election outcomes in the two countries while Heitshusen, et al. 2005 compares the incentives provided by electoral systems for the provision of constituency services in five Westminster countries. Bowler, et al. 2006 examines what motivates politicians to support electoral system change in four countries, including Australia and New Zealand, while Zvulun 2010 examines whether postal voting in the two countries serves to increase turnout in local government elections.

  • Bean, Clive. “Electoral Law, Electoral Behaviour and Electoral Outcomes: Australia and New Zealand Compared.” Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 24 (1986): 57–73.

    DOI: 10.1080/14662048608447486Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Investigates whether electoral system differences between the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand (compulsory voting and the alternative vote in Australia and the lack of an upper house in New Zealand) result in differences in electoral behavior. Concludes that the differences are smaller than might be expected, with the effects of electoral system differences outweighed by historical, cultural, and political similarities.

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  • Bowler, Shaun, Todd Donovan, and Jeffrey Karp. “Why Politicians Like Electoral Institutions: Self-Interest, Values, or Ideology?” Journal of Politics 68 (2006): 434–446.

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    Examines whether MPs and candidates for parliament are motivated by electoral self-interest, values, ideology, or all of these when evaluating proposals for changing electoral institutions. Uses survey data from Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, finding that candidates who won election are less supportive of proposals to change institutions, while those who lost elections are more supportive of institutional changes.

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  • Heitshusen, Valerie, Garry Young, and David M. Wood. “Electoral Context and MP Constituency Focus in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.” American Journal of Political Science 49 (2005): 32–45.

    DOI: 10.1111/j.0092-5853.2005.00108.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Provides a comparison of the job description for legislators in five Western democracies. Examines the constituency focus of MPs, finding that electoral considerations and incentives provided by different electoral systems, as well as other factors, affect the priority that MPs place on constituency service.

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  • Zvulun, Jacky. “Postal Voting and Voter Turnout in Local Elections: Lessons from New Zealand and Australia.” Lex Localis – Journal of Local Self-Government 8 (2010): 115–131.

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    Assesses the relationship between postal voting and voter turnout in local elections in the context of whether postal voting helps increase voter turnout in 21st-century local elections. Explores the history of the postal voting method by looking into these two countries and analyzing the method of political participation at the local level, and argues that postal voting no longer increases or decreases voter turnout in these countries.

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Comparative Public Policy

Australia and New Zealand provide ideal comparative public policy subjects for most similar case research design but only one author, Francis G. (Frank) Castles, has really aspired to achieve the comprehensive scope of classic comparative studies. Castles 1985 and Castles, et al. 1996 (co-edited) are both major contributions, followed by a special co-edited issue of the Australian Journal of Political Science (Curtin, et al. 2006). Castles 1985 is a powerful essay analyzing the sources of Australasian exceptionalism in terms of welfare state development and the historical points at which Australian and New Zealand policies converged and diverged. Castles, et al. 1996, published after Labour governments in both countries had engaged in significant deregulation and market reforms, pairs Australian and New Zealand political scientists for chapters on each policy sector. This collective enterprise exemplifies the increased specialization and perhaps complexity in place since the classic works of almost a century earlier. The same strategy was pursued in 2006 for the follow-up special issue of the Australian Journal of Political Science (Curtin, et al. 2006).

  • Castles, Francis G. The Working Class and Welfare: Reflections on the Political Development of the Welfare State in Australia and New Zealand, 1890–1980. Wellington: Allen & Unwin, 1985.

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    Describes Australia and New Zealand as sharing a role as social policy innovators from 1890 to 1910, taking divergent paths from 1910 to 1950, and once again becoming welfare state laggards after 1950. Argues that Australasian exceptionalism rests with the creation of the “wage-earners’ welfare state,” whereby most welfare was delivered through the arbitration system rather than through social security, which was largely residual and means-tested.

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  • Castles, Francis G., Rolf Gerritsen, and Jack Vowles, eds. The Great Experiment: Labour Parties and Public Policy Transformation in Australia and New Zealand. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1996.

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    Argues that Australia and New Zealand once again become social laboratories in the 1980s, although in the opposite direction from the previous century. Has chapters on government reforms, policy areas, and changing voting patterns. Concludes that the closer relationship between the trade union movement and Labor Party governments in Australia provided a useful brake on the kind of deregulatory policies pursued in New Zealand.

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  • Curtin, Jennifer, Francis G. Castles, and Jack Vowles, eds. Special Issue: Globalising the Antipodes? Policy and Politics in Australia and New Zealand. Australian Journal of Political Science 41 (2006): 131–288.

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    A special journal issue updating the comparative studies of a range of policy sectors and topics published a decade before in Castles, et al. 1996. The editors’ introduction identifies institutional similarities and differences between the two countries that may constrain or facilitate globalization. The jointly authored articles deal with economic policy, governance, social policy, rankings on global indexes of gender equality, Indigenous citizenship, environmental policy, foreign policy, parliaments, and electoral politics.

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Sectoral Studies

Valuable comparative studies of specific policy sectors include those on immigration and refugee policy (Neumann and Tavan 2009), tobacco control (Studlar 2005), health reform (Bloom 2000), and superannuation (Marriott 2009). Human rights issues have also been the subject of comparative studies, including Chesterman and Galligan 2009 on prisoner voting and gay marriage (covering five countries) and Erdos 2008 on examining why bills of rights were adopted in Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom but not at the national level in Australia.

  • Bloom, Abby L., ed. Health Reform in Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2000.

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    Analysis of management and politics of health reform in the 1980s and 1990s edited by a health-industry consultant, with much emphasis on health economics and the introduction of market-like mechanisms. Contributors include secretaries of the Commonwealth Department of Health in Australia, a chief executive of the Ministry of Health in New Zealand, and other policy practitioners.

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  • Chesterman, John, and Brian Galligan. “The Politics of Rights Protection in Western Democracies.” Australian Journal of Political Science 44 (2009): 29–40.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140802654976Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Examines two contentious rights debates—prisoner voting and gay marriage—across five Western democracies (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to assess the impact of different methods of rights protection. Argues that although the existence of a bill of rights has tended to correlate with the improved position of marginalized groups, this has not always been the case.

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  • Erdos, David. “Elite Supply ‘Blockages’ and the Failure of National Bills of Rights Initiatives in Australia: A Comparative Westminster Analysis.” Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 46 (2008): 341–364.

    DOI: 10.1080/14662040802176566Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Examines why Australia has not adopted a national bill of rights and finds supply blockages rather than weak demand to be the answer, namely, the existence of greater institutional fragmentation than in New Zealand or the United Kingdom and the lack of the kind of catalyst that provided the impetus for change in the latter two countries and Canada.

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  • Marriott, Lisa. “The Politics of Superannuation in Australasia: Saving the New Zealand Standard of Living.” Australian Journal of Political Science 44 (2009): 477–495.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140903067250Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    A detailed comparison of Australian and New Zealand approaches to retirement savings. Is critical of New Zealand’s universal superannuation and lack of incentives for individual savings but overlooks the gender disparity that flows from Australia’s increased reliance (since 1992) on occupationally based retirement income.

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  • Neumann, Klaus, and Gwenda Tavan, eds. Does History Matter? Making and Debating Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Policy in Australia and New Zealand. Canberra: ANU E Press, 2009.

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    This collection of essays explores the importance of historical context in the development of immigration and citizenship policy. Chapter authors include Roderic Pitty (Indigenous citizenship), Amy Nethery (immigration detention centers), and Ann Beaglehole (New Zealand multicultural nation-building).

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  • Studlar, Donley T. “The Political Dynamics of Tobacco Control in Australia and New Zealand: Explaining Policy Problems, Instruments, and Patterns of Adoption.” Australian Journal of Political Science 40 (2005): 255–274.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140500130063Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    A comparative perspective on how Australia and New Zealand, both tobacco-growing countries with subsidy regimes, came to adopt some of the most restrictive tobacco-control policies in the world. Argues that policy networks, policy diffusion, and catch-up are responsible, with Australian jurisdictions being the first to take action on fifteen tobacco-control instruments, New Zealand on eight, and two being introduced simultaneously.

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Public Sector Management

Interest has been considerable in comparing the trajectory of public-sector reform in the two countries, with New Zealand leading the way with the “marketization” of the public sector in the 1980s (see Schwartz 1994, Boston and Uhr 1996) but with both countries increasingly engaging in public-private partnerships of various kinds (Steane 2008). The creation of the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) in 2001, a collaborative effort between governments and universities, has stimulated research with a fairly sanguine perspective on the success of governance adaptation to the challenge of globalization (Mintrom and Wanna 2006). It has also stimulated the development of strategic management and public policy texts geared to both countries (Scott and Baehler 2010). The progress of e-government has also attracted comparative study (Dunleavy, et al. 2008; Goldfinch, et al. 2009).

  • Boston, Jonathan, and John Uhr. “Reshaping the Mechanics of Government.” In The Great Experiment: Labour Parties and Public Policy Transformation in Australia and New Zealand. Edited by Francis G. Castles, Rolf Gerritsen, and Jack Vowles, 48–67. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1996.

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    Argues that while the New Zealand Labour government was able to undertake wholesale restructuring of the public sector in the 1980s, particularly influenced by public choice theory, the Australian Labor government was constrained by greater institutional complexity (federal and bicameral systems) as well as by the corporatist framework of the accord with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

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  • Dunleavy, Peter, Helen Margetts, Simon Bastow, and Jane Tinkler. “Australian E-government in Comparative Perspective.” Australian Journal of Political Science 43 (2008): 13–26.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140701842540Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Using the prism of e-governance to compare government modernization processes, the authors draw on empirical material from a seven-nation study (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands). A major focus is given on the potential for service delivery online and saving resources.

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  • Goldfinch, Shaun, Robin Gauld, and Peter Herbison. “The Participation Divide? Political Participation, Trust in Government, and E-government in Australia and New Zealand.” Australian Journal of Public Administration 68 (2009): 333–350.

    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8500.2009.00643.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    An analysis of more than nine hundred telephone interview surveys in both countries on political participation and confidence in government. Finds evidence of a “digital divide” stratified by education, ethnicity, income, gender, and age. Also finds that lower levels of trust in government are associated with higher levels of some types of participation, including e-government ones.

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  • Mintrom, Michael, and John Wanna. “Innovative State Strategies in the Antipodes: Enhancing the Ability of Governments to Govern in the Global Context.” Australian Journal of Political Science 41 (2006): 161–176.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140600672410Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Argues that governments in Australia and New Zealand, regardless of political complexion, were at the forefront in adapting components of their governance structures in order to be more competitive in global markets. Protection and public provision of services were replaced by capacity-building strategies such as “joined-up government, public-private partnerships and use of networks that span a range of institutions and interests.”

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  • Schwartz, Herman M. “Public Choice Theory and Public Choices: Bureaucrats and State Reorganization in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden in the 1980s.” Administration & Society 26 (1994): 48–77.

    DOI: 10.1177/009539979402600104Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Compares the introduction of market disciplines and competition in the four countries, with a particular emphasis on the roles of fiscal bureaucrats in the formation of economic policy.

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  • Scott, Claudia, and Karen Baehler. Adding Value to Policy Analysis and Advice. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2010.

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    This text, written primarily for Australian and New Zealand public-sector managers, draws on two theoretical approaches to policymaking, the rational comprehensive (policy cycle, multistep) and network participatory (more horizontal) models. The authors adopt a “systems perspective,” by which they mean “connecting up actors and institutions on the inside and outside of government,” with both politicians and public servants grouped as insiders.

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  • Steane, Peter. “Public Management Reforms in Australia and New Zealand: A Pot-Pourri Overview of the Past Decade.” Public Management Review 10 (2008): 453–465.

    DOI: 10.1080/14719030802263863Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    A useful overview of developments in both countries, including the contracting out by government of service delivery and the impact on third-sector governance of the complex reporting and acquittal requirements involved. Also mentions the contribution of both governments to public service capacity-building in the region under the auspices of various multilateral bodies.

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Women’s Policy

The shared labour market institutions in Australia and New Zealand meant that close parallels occurred in women’s industrial experience, such as the equal pay campaigns (Frances and Nolan 2008). Labour governments in the 1980s brought women major gains in terms of policy machinery in both countries, at the same time that pro-market reforms, particularly of the labour market, threatened to undermine pay equity and other equality gains (see Curtin and Sawer 1996, Simms 2005). Despite increased emphasis on global competitiveness in both countries, the approach of the New Zealand Labour government and the (conservative) Coalition government in Australia toward women’s rights differed significantly in the 1990s (Curtin and Devere 2006). In both countries, and in Canada, sport remained a bastion of androcentric organizational culture (see McKay 1997).

  • Curtin, Jennifer, and Heather Devere. “Global Rankings and Domestic Realities: Women, Work and Policy in Australia and New Zealand.” Australian Journal of Political Science 41 (2006): 193–207.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140600672436Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Considers the changing fortunes of the two countries on the UN’s gender-sensitive Human Development Index. Argues that while the policy environment in both Australia and New Zealand was dominated by discourses associated with free-market activity and global competitiveness, significant differences existed in the positions held by the Labour government in New Zealand and the (conservative) Coalition government in Australia on issues pertaining to women’s rights.

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  • Curtin, Jennifer, and Marian Sawer. “Gender Equity in the Shrinking State: Women and the Great Experiment.” In The Great Experiment: Labour Parties and Public Policy Transformation in Australia and New Zealand. Edited by Francis G. Castles, Rolf Gerritsen, and Jack Vowles, 149–169. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1996.

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    In both countries Labour governments brought women major gains in terms of policy machinery and increased funding of women’s services and childcare, but also losses, such as universal child allowance in Australia (often the only independent money women had received) and the conflict between equal pay and the decentralization of wage fixing.

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  • Frances, Raelene, and Melanie Nolan. 2008. “Gender and the Trans-Tasman World of Labour: Transnational and Comparative Histories.” Labour History 95: 25–42.

    DOI: 10.2307/27516308Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Argues that, so far, separate national narratives have characterized labour struggles such as that for equal pay, which have failed to note the shared institutional framework and parallel nature of developments. While providing a comparative analysis of gender and labour, the authors suggest that a transnational study tracking exchange of people and ideas across the Tasman would also be illuminating.

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  • McKay, Jim. Managing Gender: Affirmative Action and Organizational Power in Australian, Canadian and New Zealand Sport. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997.

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    A “pro-feminist” analysis by a sports sociologist of the gendered structures of power in national sporting organizations in the three countries. Based on interviews with more than one hundred male and female managers, the author analyzes how affirmative action initiatives have been resisted, subverted, or co-opted.

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  • Sawer, Marian. Femocrats and Ecorats: Women’s Policy Machinery in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Occasional Paper No. 6. Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 1996.

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    Pioneering comparative analysis of women’s policy machinery in the three countries, the political opportunity structures in which it came into existence and how they have changed over time, as well as the nature of the political base for such machinery. Republished in Missionaries and Mandarins: Feminist Engagement with Development Institutions, edited by Carol Miller and Shahrashoub Razavi (London: Intermediate Technology Publications, 1998), pp. 112–137.

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  • Simms, Marian. “Australie et Nouvelle-Zélande: Le role crucial des partis pour une meilleure représentation des femmes.” In Femmes et parlements: Un regard international. Edited by Manon Tremblay, 311–326. Montreal: Les Editions du Remue-Ménage, 2005.

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    The chapter traverses, for the benefit of Francophones, some rather well-worn ground concerning the comparative trajectories of women in parliamentary politics and women’s policy machinery in the two countries.

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Environmental Policy and Politics

The creation of the first Green parties in the world in Tasmania and then New Zealand in 1972 proved an important catalyst for the “greening” of politics in the two countries, even if political competition with the established Labour parties created uneasy alliances (Papadakis and Rainbow 1996; Hay, et al. 1989). Economic globalization intensified environmental challenges in both countries, to which New Zealand responded more promptly in terms of creating institutions for environmental governance (Buhrs and Christoff 2006).

  • Buhrs, Ton, and Peter Christoff. “‘Greening the antipodes’? Environmental Policy and Politics in Australia and New Zealand.” Australian Journal of Political Science 41 (2006): 225–240.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140600672444Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Assesses the processes of globalization in intensifying environmental challenges in Australia and New Zealand, particularly the push to export natural resources and develop cheap sources of power. Considers institutional similarities and differences in dealing with environmental issues, cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels, and the role of party ideology.

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  • Hay, Peter, Robyn Eckersley, and Geoff Holloway, eds. Environmental Politics in Australia and New Zealand. Hobart, Australia: Board of Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania, 1989.

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    A collection of studies of environmental politics in the 1980s. Some chapters address specific environmental issues, including Tasmanian wood chipping (John Formby), New Zealand’s hazardous waste management (Alastair Gunn), Kakadu (Clem Lloyd,), and the Antarctic Minerals Convention (Catherine Wallace). Also includes chapters on environment-based political parties.

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  • Papadakis, Elim, and Stephen Rainbow. “Labour and Green Politics: Contrasting Strategies for Environmental Reform.” In The Great Experiment: Labour Parties and Public Policy Transformation in Australia and New Zealand. Edited by Francis G. Castles, Rolf Gerritsen, and Jack Vowles, 107–128. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1996.

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    Considers the rising influence of environmental politics in both countries in the 1980s and the policy responses. It describes the political advantage gained by both the Labor Party in Australia and the Labour Party in New Zealand from their stands on high-profile environmental issues (whether wilderness or nuclear power) but contrasts the corporatist approach to the environment movement of the Australian Labor Party with the rolling back of the state engaged in by New Zealand Labour.

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Policy Transfer

The concept of policy transfer (also policy learning, lesson drawing, and policy diffusion) has become increasingly prominent in public policy studies beginning in the 1990s. It is particularly relevant in the Australasian context, in which the colonies experienced not only the wholesale transfer of “Westminster” political institutions from the United Kingdom, but also promptly embarked on social and political experimentation that, when successful, was adopted in other jurisdictions. Usually the adoption of these successful experiments occurred within Australasia (the “shared exceptionalism” referred to in Castles 1998, listed under Foundational Works) but sometimes experiments traveled much farther abroad, as with the secret ballot invented in Victoria in 1856 or, more recently, the mandatory wearing of seat belts in cars. The adoption of policy innovations that have already been tested helps take the risk out of policymaking, particularly when jurisdictions have institutional and cultural similarities. Goldfinch 2006 provides a broad historical view of policy transfer between Australia and New Zealand, while Goldfinch and Mein Smith 2006 explores the development of compulsory arbitration in the two countries. While innovations such as compulsory arbitration are claimed as distinctively Australian or distinctively New Zealand institutions in respective national histories, this ignores the multilevel exchange and policy transfer that was occurring across the Tasman (Mein Smith, et al. 2008). Finally, Harris 2002, a study of taxation, provides material from a different policy sector relevant to the analysis of policy transfer.

  • Goldfinch, Shaun. “Shared State Experiments: Policy Transfer and Convergence in Australia and New Zealand.” Otemon Journal of Australian Studies 32 (2006): 61–81.

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    Argues that Australia, New Zealand, and the Australian states have shared policy ideas, innovations, and personnel to a remarkable extent since the 19th century and that the dismantling of the pro-state Australasian model in the 1980s and 1990s was also facilitated by trans-Tasman policy transfer and elite networks.

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  • Goldfinch, Shaun, and Philippa Mein Smith. “Compulsory Arbitration and the Australasian Model of State Development: Policy Transfer, Learning and Innovation.” Journal of Policy History 18 (2006): 419–445.

    DOI: 10.1353/jph.2006.0012Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Shows how the adoption of compulsory arbitration resulted from two decades of policy learning and transfer: while the successful New Zealand legislation of William Pember Reeves built on Charles Cameron Kingston’s unsuccessful South Australian bill of 1890, New Zealand experience then flowed back into the 1902 New South Wales and 1904 Commonwealth Acts in Australia.

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  • Harris, Peter A. Metamorphosis of the Australasian Income Tax: 1866 to 1922. Research Study 37. Sydney: Australian Tax Research Foundation, 2002.

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    With some effort, important material can be extracted from this work, showing the importance of policy transfer relating to progressive income and land taxes among the Australasian colonies, with South Australia and New Zealand the front-runners.

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  • Mein Smith, Philippa, Peter Hempenstall, and Shaun Goldfinch. Remaking the Tasman World. Christchurch, New Zealand: University of Canterbury Press, 2008.

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    An outcome of the New Zealand Australia Research Centre at the University of Canterbury led by Mein Smith. Argues that nationalist historiographical narratives on both sides of the Tasman have ignored the multilayered exchanges characteristic of trans-Tasman relations and the shared nature of much policy innovation.

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Indigenous Affairs

Australia and New Zealand have much in common as settler societies with Indigenous minorities and the view is widespread among scholars that Australia has much to learn from New Zealand in terms of Indigenous policy, and the advantages of a treaty. Canada and the United States are sometimes also included in such comparative studies of Indigenous policy and politics, as these nations offer further examples of treaty frameworks and relatively effective forms of Indigenous representation.

Historical Influences

History casts a long shadow, and Attwood and Magowan 2001 examines struggles over interpreting the past in the two countries while others compare the long-term impact of colonization and the presence, or absence, of treaty frameworks. Alford and Muir 2004 considers the advantages of treaty frameworks and greater theoretical clarity in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States while Byrnes and Ritter 2008 focuses on the advantages of the Waitangi Treaty framework over Australian native title. Havemann 1999 compares the impact of colonization, progress of land rights claims, and the role of international human rights treaties in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada while Armitage 1995 provides a first systematic and comparative account of the history of assimilation policies in the three countries. Evans, et al. 2003 extends the historical comparison to South Africa while Lester and Dussart 2008 examines policies of Aboriginal protection in Australia and New Zealand with an emphasis on the imperial context.

  • Alford, Katrina, and Jan Muir. “Dealing with Unfinished Indigenous Business: The Need for Historical Reflection.” Australian Journal of Public Administration 63 (2004): 101–107.

    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8500.2004.00406.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Calls for the use of a multilayered framework for understanding the effects of colonization in Australia and the policy prerequisites for redressing its effects. Compares the Australian situation with Canada, the United States, and New Zealand, where long-established treaties are in place. Advocates greater theoretical clarity in identifying the process of colonization and its ill-effects on Indigenous peoples.

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  • Armitage, Andrew. Comparing the Policy of Aboriginal Assimilation: Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1995.

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    A comparative assessment of Indigenous policies in the three countries. Includes chapters on child welfare policy for each country, and concludes with chapters comparing similarities and differences, as well as assimilation policies.

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  • Attwood, Bain, and Fiona Magowan, eds. 2001. Telling Stories: Indigenous History and Memory in Australia and New Zealand. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2001.

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    Deals with struggles over knowledge production between Indigenous and settler historians in the two countries but not on a comparative basis.

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  • Byrnes, Giselle, and David Ritter. “Antipodean Settler Societies and Their Complexities: The Waitangi Process in New Zealand and Native Title and the Stolen Generations in Australia.” Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 46 (2008): 54–78.

    DOI: 10.1080/14662040701838001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Compares and contrasts the epistemological positions and discourses adopted in inquiries associated with the Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal in New Zealand and the National Native Title Tribunal and Federal Court in Australia, as well as the Stolen Generations Inquiry and the relationship between truth seeking and legal evidence.

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  • Evans, Julie, Patricia Grimshaw, David Philips, and Shurlee Swain. Equal Subjects, Unequal Rights: Indigenous Peoples in British Settler Colonies, 1830–1910. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2003.

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    Provides a comparative assessment of the treatment of Indigenous peoples in four British settler colonies:—Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa. Provides an historical and anthropological approach.

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  • Havemann, Paul, ed. Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1999.

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    Provides comprehensive accounts of Indigenous rights issues, including land rights (Richard H. Bartlett, on Australian Native Title; P. G. McHugh, on Maori claims), the impact of international human rights treaties (Catherine Magallanes), and deaths in custody (David McDonald). Chapters include historical analysis of the impacts of colonization in each of the three countries.

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  • Lester, Alan, and Fae Dussart. “Trajectories of Protection: Protectorates of Aborigines in Early 19th Century Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.” New Zealand Geographer 64 (2008): 205–220.

    DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7939.2008.00146.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Tracks the passage of Aboriginal protection, as a contested imperial institution, from the Caribbean to Australia and New Zealand via the Cape Colony and Britain. Also advocates positioning the contemporary politics of the colonial past in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand within a wider, trans-imperial, set of connections.

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Politics and Policy

Scholars have analyzed Indigenous politics and policy in Australasia from a number of perspectives. Rowse 2009 is one of a number of excellent works by the author on Indigenous issues. This article identifies the importance of official statistics to advocates of Indigenous rights in the two countries and the constitutive nature of such statistics. Sarah Maddison has made valuable contributions to the Australian literature on conservative populism and Maddison 2006 examines similar political discourses in New Zealand. The place of Indigenous people and identity in “postcolonial” national identity has been the subject of much study. Williams 1996 compares changing iterations of national identity in the two nations, while Pearson 2001 examines nationalism in Australia, New Zealand, and also Canada. Other useful works include discussions of the impact of neoliberalism and globalization (Humpage 2008 and MacDonald and Muldoon 2006), the importance of the courts and of institutional renewal in “decolonization” (Mulgan and Sanders 1996), and the reasons why it is unrealistic to seek closure on Indigenous land claims (Mulgan 1996). Nielsen 2006 compares inclusion of Indigenous groups in public deliberation in Western Australia and New Zealand.

  • Humpage, Louise. “Relegitimating Neoliberalism? Performance Management and Indigenous Affairs Policy.” Policy and Politics 36 (2008): 413–429.

    DOI: 10.1332/030557308X313688Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Using New Zealand and Australian examples, the author provides evidence that neoliberalism is both coherent and diverse. Argues that government initiatives focused on “improving government performance” regarding Indigenous outcomes and Indigenous “capacity-building” in illustrating how “performance management” has both legitimated and extended the impact of neoliberalism in both countries.

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  • MacDonald, Lindsey Te Ata O Tu, and Paul Muldoon. “Globalisation, Neo-liberalism and the Struggle for Indigenous Citizenship.” Australian Journal of Political Science 41 (2006): 209–223.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140600672477Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    An exploration of the varying effects of globalization and neoliberalism on Indigenous citizenship. In New Zealand some positive outcomes have flowed from new international norms and domestic jurisprudence concerning Indigenous rights (“citizenship plus”). In contrast, outcomes for Indigenous citizenship in Australia have been less positive and the stress on individual self-reliance has been accompanied by increased surveillance, intervention, and threats to collective rights.

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  • Maddison, Sarah. “Ideas from “Across the Ditch”? Wedge Politics in the 2005 New Zealand Election.” Australian Journal of Political Science 41 (2006): 427–435.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140600849018Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Analyzes the use of “governing for the mainstream” and “one law for all” discourse by the National Party in the 2005 election, and the racialized character of such discourse. Suggests this form of wedge politics has been borrowed from its successful use in Australia by John Howard, but that it was not ultimately successful in the New Zealand context as a consequence of a different electoral system.

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  • Mulgan, Richard. “A Race Relations Lesson from Across the Tasman.” Australian Quarterly 68 (1996): 77–87.

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    Argues that the New Zealand National government of the mid-1990s was creating difficulties for itself by attempting to impose limits of time and funds on the settlement of Maori land claims. Suggests that Maori politicians could not afford to relinquish the lever of non-Maori guilt by agreeing to closure on the wrongs of colonialism and that Australian policymakers should bear this in mind in dealing with the post-Mabo settlement.

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  • Mulgan, Richard, and Will Sanders. “Transforming Indigenous Affairs Policy: Labour’s Contribution to ‘Internal Decolonisation.’” In The Great Experiment: Labour Parties and Public Policy Transformation in Australia and New Zealand. Edited by Francis G. Castles, Rolf Gerritsen, and Jack Vowles, 129–148. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1996.

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    Discusses the invidious position of colonized peoples, whether Aboriginal or Maori, who are Indigenous minorities within majority settler societies. Outlines the important role of courts and tribunals in advancing recognition of Indigenous land rights and the significance of Indigenous authority structures, such as land councils in Australia and the rejuvenated iwi structure in New Zealand.

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  • Nielsen, Helene Pristed. “Deliberative Democracy and Minority Inclusion in Australia and New Zealand.” PhD diss., Aalborg University, 2006.

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    Compares mechanisms for inclusion of Indigenous minorities in public deliberation in Western Australia and New Zealand, the role of the media and the extent to which deliberative democracy ideals are met. Notes the greater institutionalizing of Maori involvement in public decision-making in New Zealand but also the way in which deliberative democratic theory has explicitly influenced the West Australian Government’s guidelines for public consultation.

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  • Pearson, David. “Divergent nationalisms: Some Comparative Thoughts on Australia, Canada and New Zealand.” Political Science 53 (2001): 3–16.

    DOI: 10.1177/003231870105300101Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Examines “nationalist” discourses and ideologies in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and proposes new theoretical directions for understanding the intricacies of “national” questions in settler societies. Draws on the work of Rogers Brubaker on state-framed and counterstate nationalisms, and discusses the theoretical shortcomings of a binational model of New Zealand.

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  • Rowse, Tim. “Official Statistics and the Contemporary Politics of Indigeneity.” Australian Journal of Political Science 44 (2009): 193–211.

    DOI: 10.1080/10361140902862487Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Quantified measures of descent were used to define the Indigenous population until 1971 in Australia and until 1974 in New Zealand. In both countries, the shift to self-identified “ethnicity” was seen as a concession to self-determination. However, Rowse argues, the boundary between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations varies in accordance to answers to ancestry and identity questions, resulting in statistical and policy complexity.

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  • Williams, Mark. “Immigrants and Indigenes: The Politics of Pluralism in Australia and New Zealand.” Meanjin 55 (1996): 635–650.

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    Primarily considers New Zealand’s concept of Maori-Pakeha biculturalism in contrast to Australia’s treatment of Indigenous peoples. Compares Indigenous relations with differing policy and cultural attitudes toward economic engagement with Asia. In the 1990s Australia embraced increased trade with Asia while New Zealand turned more to the South Pacific.

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Trans-Tasman Relations

Trans-Tasman relations have been the subject of attention by the Australian Institute of International Affairs and the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs as well as by economic think tanks. While trade has increased and the economies have become ever more integrated under the 1983 Closer Economic Relations agreement, foreign and defense policies have diverged since the 1980s, particularly in relation to the alliance with the United States. One neglected area has been the kind of policy exchange that occurs through New Zealand’s participation in Commonwealth/State Ministerial Councils in Australia and associated meetings of officials.

General Works

The best overview of Australian and New Zealand governmental and trade relations from federation onward is provided by Mulgan 2007. Historical perspectives on the relationship are also provided in McCaskill 1982, Sinclair 1987, and Simms 2006, while Alley 2000 compares the way differing social and political dynamics have shaped responses to regional issues ranging from nuclear nonproliferation to the Bougainville conflict.

  • Alley, Roderic. The Domestic Politics of International Relations: Cases from Australia, New Zealand and Oceania. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2000.

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    Provides a case-study approach to the way domestic social and political dynamics shape foreign policy responses by the two countries on important regional issues, including nuclear nonproliferation, climate change, Indigenous rights, the Bougainville conflict, and decolonization.

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  • McCaskill, Murray. “The Tasman Connection: Aspects of Australian-New Zealand Relations.” Australian Geographical Studies 20 (1982): 3–23.

    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8470.1982.tb00391.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Examines aspects of trans-Tasman relationships, including New Zealand’s 19th-century peripheral relationship to a southeast Australian economic “core,” legislative borrowings concerning land and resources administration, population movements, and trade connections. Argues that since World War II, growing cultural and political divergences have made the Tasman nations cautious about pursuing closer economic relationships.

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  • Mulgan, Richard. “New Zealand–Australia.” In The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics. Edited by Brian Galligan and Winsome Roberts, 365–367. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2007.

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    A useful overview of Australian–New Zealand relations from the time that New Zealand decided not to join the Australian Commonwealth to the Trans-Tasman Travel Agreement (1973) and the Closer Economic Relations agreement of 1983. Stresses the importance of participation by New Zealand ministers in Australia’s intergovernmental Ministerial Councils (MINCOs), and examines cases of shared policy and policy divergence.

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  • Simms, Marian. “Australia and New Zealand: Separate States but Path-Dependent.” The Round Table 95 (2006): 679–692.

    DOI: 10.1080/00358530601046802Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Assesses different models for explaining the trans-Tasman relationship, criticizes comparativists for treating Australia and New Zealand as separate sovereign states, and concludes that a path-dependent approach works best. Discusses the relevance of close geographic proximity, shared membership in political associations, and frequent policy exchange. Argues that the settler colonies helped shape the form of the British Empire, and subsequently the Commonwealth of Nations.

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  • Sinclair, Keith, ed. Tasman Relations: New Zealand and Australia, 1788–1988. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1987.

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    A collection of historical perspectives on trans-Tasman relations. Chapters include discussion on economic development (Gary Hawke) and trade relations (P. J. Lloyd), defense (Ian McGibbon), and women (Patricia Grimshaw).

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ANZUS and Strategic Policy

Both Australia and New Zealand turned to the United States as a great and powerful friend after World War II, entering the ANZUS alliance (of Australia, New Zealand and the United States) in 1951. However, New Zealand’s antinuclear stance from the 1980s meant its departure from ANZUS (see Burnett 1988, Young 1992, and Alley and Ravenhill 1996). It also declined to join in the war in Iraq, preferring to take on peacekeeping roles under the auspices of the United Nations.

  • Alley, Roderic, and John Ravenhill. “Labour and Foreign Relations.” In The Great Experiment: Labour Parties and Public Policy Transformation in Australia and New Zealand. Edited by Francis G. Castles, Rolf Gerritsen, and Jack Vowles, 170–191. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1996.

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    Analyzes the foreign policy stance of the Hawke and Keating Labor governments in Australia, and New Zealand’s Lange and Palmer Labour governments. Included in the discussion are the stresses placed on the ANZUS alliance due to the two countries’ differing positions on nuclear issues.

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  • Burnett, Alan. The A-NZ-US Triangle. Canberra: Strategic and Defense Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1988.

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    Provides a comprehensive review of ANZUS relationships, at a time when nuclear issues were putting the alliance under significant stress and the future of the alliance was being questioned. Includes a thorough analysis of trade relationships and the interrelationships between trade and defense policies.

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  • Young, Thomas-Durrell. Australian, New Zealand, and United States Security Relations, 1951–1986. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1992.

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    Examines the post–World War II security relationship between the three countries, with the ANZUS treaty forming the legal basis, but also looking at diplomatic alliances. Defense expenditures are compared as well as expenditures on defense research.

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Economic Issues and Policy

The Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement of 1983 has led to a single market in goods and services across the Tasman, including mutual recognition of standards and qualifications. Applied studies of the impact of CER include Bollard and Thompson 1987, Henderson 1997, and Holmes 1996. The creation of a single market has also encouraged increased cooperation between the major union bodies in the two countries (see Harford 2008, listed under Labour Movement and Trade Union Politics).

  • Bollard, Alan E., and Mary Anne Thompson, eds. Trans-Tasman Trade and Investment: The Effects of CER. Wellington: New Zealand Institute of Economic Research and Victoria University Press for the Institute of Policy Studies, 1987.

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    Provides an economic think-tank perspective of trans-Tasman trade under the Closer Economic Relations agreement, which came into effect in 1983. Assesses the impacts on intra-industry trade and trans-Tasman investment.

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  • Henderson, David. New Zealand’s External Economic Policies: Current Issues in an International and Trans-Tasman Perspective. Wellington: New Zealand Business Roundtable, 1997.

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    Written by a former OECD official, this short paper provides a snapshot of the positioning of Australia and New Zealand in a world economy at a time of economic liberalization. A historical perspective is given for these economic policies, as is analysis of the rising Asian influence for both countries.

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  • Holmes, Frank. The Trans-Tasman Relationship. Wellington: Institute of Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, 1996.

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    Reviews the economic relationship between Australia and New Zealand, primarily from New Zealand’s perspective. The development of Closer Economic Relations (CER) provides a backdrop for this analysis, written thirteen years after the introduction of the CER agreement.

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Prospects for a Closer Political Union

While a number of scenarios have been mooted for closer political integration of Australia and New Zealand, ranging from New Zealand becoming an Australian state to equal partnership in a new federation or transnational union (Craig 1993), most agree that there are irresolvable problems to closer political union, including political asymmetry (Galligan and Mulgan 1999; Grimes, et al. 2002). However, one interesting polemic suggests that, as an underendowed Australian state, New Zealand would benefit significantly from commonwealth/state transfers (Catley 2001).

  • Catley, Bob. Waltzing with Matilda: Should New Zealand Join Australia? Wellington: Dark Horse, 2001.

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    A breezy polemic arguing that New Zealand should become an Australian state and, like Tasmania, enjoy the benefits of fiscal equalization. Suggests that the Australian economy has been growing faster than that of New Zealand because of superior economic management. Criticizes the Clark government’s reversal of preceding liberalizing reforms and reorientation of defense policy.

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  • Craig, John. “A United States of Australasia?” Australian Journal of Political Science 28 (1993): 38–53.

    DOI: 10.1080/00323269308402224Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

    Examines five scenarios for closer political union between Australia and New Zealand, ranging from New Zealand becoming one or more Australian states to the creation of an Australasian Parliament similar to the European Parliament.

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  • Galligan, Brian, and Richard Mulgan. “Asymmetric Political Association: The Australasian Experiment.” In Accommodating Diversity: Asymmetry in Federal States. Edited by Robert Agranoff, 57–72. Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1999.

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    Examines the Closer Economic Relations agreement of 1983 and considers the prospects for closer political relations, including eventual federation. Concludes that formal union is ruled out by political asymmetry—New Zealand will not accept the status simply of a state within an expanded Australian federation and Australia will not cede equal status to New Zealand in an Australia–New Zealand federation.

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  • Grimes, Arthur, Lydia Wevers, and Ginny Sullivan, eds. States of Mind: Australia and New Zealand 1901–2001. Papers presented at an interdisciplinary conference hosted by the Stout Research Centre and the Institute of Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington. Wellington: Institute of Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, 2002.

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    Papers from an interdisciplinary conference on trans-Tasman relations to mark the centenary of Australian federation. Authors note there are more obstacles to closer political relations than to closer economic and functional relations. One such complication is New Zealand’s constitutional relationship with the Maori, another is the constitutional relationship with the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau.

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LAST MODIFIED: 11/29/2011

DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780199756223-0008

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