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With New Zealand’s parliament due to rise soon ahead of the October 14 election, there’s been the usual parade of retiring MPs giving their valedictories.
Normally this is a time for fond farewells and the odd parting shot – but one departing Labour politician was also moved to say New Zealanders should give serious thought to political union with Australia.
It’s an idea with a long pedigree, to be sure. In the 1890s, New Zealand was closely involved in discussions about Australian federation. And the Australian Constitution still allows for it, in theory at least. An Australian parliamentary committee even recommended it as recently as 2006.
But as Dominic O’Sullivan writes, despite their obvious similarities and shared histories, the two countries would make a very uneasy fit in 2023. “Nowhere would this be more evident than in the respective debates about whether democracy should be properly inclusive of Indigenous peoples.”
New Zealand is not without its challenges, for sure, but the constitutional place of the Treaty of Waitangi and the guaranteed Māori seats in parliament are simply not negotiable. “In reality,” O’Sullivan says, “the Māori presence in public life gives New Zealand a cultural certainty and security that is not so evident in Australia.”
Despite the potentially mutual benefits for both countries’ cricket and rugby teams, don’t bet on another state just yet.
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Finlay Macdonald
New Zealand Editor
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