Is New Zealand part of Australia?
New Zealand is not part of Australia – although it had the chance to be when Australia federated in 1901. Australia and New Zealand are independent nations with close ties.
The most reliably funny way of annoying a New Zealander is pretending that you’ve no idea where the Lord of the Rings films were shot. The second most reliably funny way of annoying a New Zealander is stating that New Zealand is part of Australia.
New Zealand part of Australia?
Is New Zealand part of Australia? No, of course not. It’s a separate, independent country. Just one settled by British colonists at roughly the same time. But enough people lump Australia and New Zealand in the same basket for New Zealanders to get touchy about being called Australian.
It’s a similar reaction to the one you’ll get if you say Canada is part of the United States, or Scotland is a part of England.
History of Australia and New Zealand
But it’s interesting to look at the history of Australia and New Zealand. Because at one point, if you’d asked “Is New Zealand part of Australia?” the answer might have been “yes”.
When the Federal Council of Australia was formed in 1883, New Zealand and Fiji were represented. But New Zealand didn’t join the first Federal Council assembly in 1886.
The Federal Council went on to be the forerunner of the Australian Commonwealth, which the six states of Australia formed in 1901. New Zealand declined to join the Australian Commonwealth, staying as a self-governing colony. In 1907, New Zealand became the Dominion of New Zealand. Strangely, New Zealand has no one single independence day. It just became regarded as independent over time.
Australasia at the Olympics
There have been times when Australia and New Zealand have banded together as one trans-Tasman entity. In the 1908 and 1912 Olympics, the two countries competed under the banner of Australasia. And, perhaps more famously, they fought alongside each other in World War I as the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The Anzac legend is still something that bonds the two nations.
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