Trans-Tasman Trouble: Is Australia Exporting its Problems to New Zealand?

There are very few countries that are as close as Australia and New Zealand, with the pair being bound by geography,  history, culture, and an almost constant need to make fun of each other. When former New Zealand Prime Minister Mike Moore stated that “The Australians are our best friends, whether we like them or not,” he was not just making an amusing quip, but reflecting the reality of the seemingly unbreakable bond between the two countries. Yet in mid-February, an exasperated Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was not joking when she felt compelled to bluntly state that “New Zealand frankly is tired of having Australia export its problems.”

Ardern’s statement came in relation to a woman and her two children who were detained by Turkish officials trying to cross into Turkey from Syria. The woman had departed Australia in 2014 to live in Syria under the Islamic State. Although she had been born in New Zealand, she had lived in Australia since she was six years old, and travelled to Syria on an Australian passport.

However, she also retained New Zealand citizenship, which is where the present problem has its roots. In 2019 Australia created a controversial piece of legislation that automatically cancels the citizenship of any dual citizen if they have been found to engage in terrorist activities. Due to this, New Zealand is now having to take responsibility for the woman, and her two children, despite the fact that, for all intents and purposes, the woman is Australian.

For Ardern, the frustration is not just concerning this one case, but the consistent behavior of Australia in deporting people to New Zealand who have committed crimes in Australia. This may, on the surface, seem reasonable. But due to the freedom of movement between the two countries, many of the deportees may have New Zealand citizenship but have spent most or all of their lives in Australia. Many retain no family or other connections in New Zealand.

Since the early 1970s there has been a formal agreement – the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement – that allows Australian and New Zealand citizens to freely live and work within the two countries. The agreement also initially allowed access to both countries’ social services, effectively bestowing de facto citizenship on each other’s citizens, with only the ability to vote being withheld. Currently around half a million New Zealanders live in Australia, and around 60,000 Australians live in New Zealand.

However, in recent decades Australia has progressively eroded the rights of New Zealanders living in Australia. In 1994 Australia introduced the Special Category Visa (SCV) for New Zealanders. The SCV is automatically granted to New Zealanders upon arrival in Australia without requiring any application. Yet its introduction created a major shift in the power dynamic, from a compact between two states, to one between a state and an individual. It gave the Australian government something they could alter or cancel more easily than an agreement with Wellington.

In 2001, other major changes were made: removing the automatic pathway to citizenship for New Zealanders and placing them in the same queue as all other nationalities; and withdrawing their ability to obtain unemployment benefits. In 2005, access to Australia’s student loan scheme was also denied. Although New Zealanders are still classed as domestic students – offering them subsidized education – they are now required to pay fees upfront.

Meanwhile, New Zealand has resisted enacting reciprocal measures, maintaining the commitment to the spirit of the original agreement. Despite the freedom of movement between the two countries being an overwhelming advantage to Australia – as it vacuums skilled workers out of New Zealand – Wellington has decided that there are also strong benefits to the arrangement, through either being able to attract Australians to New Zealand, or allowing New Zealanders to gain greater skills and capital which they can utilize upon returning.

But most importantly it has been an arrangement that was designed to build and maintain trust, to consolidate and enhance the considerable existing bonds between the two countries. As Australia continues to undermine the arrangement it also undermines these bonds and trust. On a visit to Australia in early 2020 Ardern described the issue of deporting criminals to New Zealand as “corrosive” to the relationship.

The Trans-Tasman relationship is solid enough to withstand this corrosion, yet any decay should be deemed as serious to Australia as it is to New Zealand. The advantages of the freedom of movement between the two countries require each country to carry the occasional burden. Canberra is now proving unwilling to submit itself to these risks, instead taking advantage of both the goodwill and mutual interests it has with its closest partner.

Australia may very well be New Zealand’s best friend, but a friendship should be built on courtesy, respect, and responsibility, not just on a shared reality.