Tweet
Australian MPs call for New Zealand union
Fred Attewill and agencies
Tuesday December 5, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
The two countries might be implacable enemies on the sports field, but Australia and New Zealand should merge to form a single nation, a group of Australian MPs said today.
A cross-party committee recommended that the two countries should start by adopting a single currency and merging their legal systems, while New Zealand ministers would be given full access to Australian ministerial councils.
The committee raised the prospect of New Zealand, Australia's smaller neighbour 1,250 miles across the Tasman Sea, returning to the fold. It was one of the seven UK colonies of Australasia, six of which united to form the Australian federation in 1901.
However, the New Zealand prime minister, Helen Clark, today dismissed any suggestion of a union.
The MPs' report said: "While New Zealand ultimately chose not to join the federation, it is still included in the definition of the states in the Australian constitution.
"This historical context forms a backdrop to the closeness and breadth of the relationship between Australia and New Zealand today.
"While Australia and New Zealand are, of course, two sovereign nations, it seems to the committee that the strong ties between the two countries - the economic, cultural, migration, defence, governmental, and people to people linkages - suggest that an even closer relationship, including the possibility of union, is both desirable and realistic."
It said a more closely integrated relationship was also "suggested by the ever-shrinking globalised environment that now exists and the sense that the concept of national sovereignty is not perhaps what it once was".
Peter Slipper, the committee chairman, said Australia should now set up a dedicated panel to look at monetary and national union. The two nations already enjoy close economic and political relations, and their citizens are able to move freely without visas.
However, although the countries are frequently lumped together by outsiders, they retain distinctive cultures and - of course - are well known for their sporting rivalry.
Unsurprisingly, the Australian committee did not recommend pooling resources on the rugby pitch.
Fred Attewill and agencies
Tuesday December 5, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
The two countries might be implacable enemies on the sports field, but Australia and New Zealand should merge to form a single nation, a group of Australian MPs said today.
A cross-party committee recommended that the two countries should start by adopting a single currency and merging their legal systems, while New Zealand ministers would be given full access to Australian ministerial councils.
The committee raised the prospect of New Zealand, Australia's smaller neighbour 1,250 miles across the Tasman Sea, returning to the fold. It was one of the seven UK colonies of Australasia, six of which united to form the Australian federation in 1901.
However, the New Zealand prime minister, Helen Clark, today dismissed any suggestion of a union.
The MPs' report said: "While New Zealand ultimately chose not to join the federation, it is still included in the definition of the states in the Australian constitution.
"This historical context forms a backdrop to the closeness and breadth of the relationship between Australia and New Zealand today.
"While Australia and New Zealand are, of course, two sovereign nations, it seems to the committee that the strong ties between the two countries - the economic, cultural, migration, defence, governmental, and people to people linkages - suggest that an even closer relationship, including the possibility of union, is both desirable and realistic."
It said a more closely integrated relationship was also "suggested by the ever-shrinking globalised environment that now exists and the sense that the concept of national sovereignty is not perhaps what it once was".
Peter Slipper, the committee chairman, said Australia should now set up a dedicated panel to look at monetary and national union. The two nations already enjoy close economic and political relations, and their citizens are able to move freely without visas.
However, although the countries are frequently lumped together by outsiders, they retain distinctive cultures and - of course - are well known for their sporting rivalry.
Unsurprisingly, the Australian committee did not recommend pooling resources on the rugby pitch.
Comment