Although New Zealand and Australia eventually signed a Free...

Although New Zealand and Australia eventually signed a Free Trade Agreement in 1965, and the two economies have become closely integrated, political union is no closer today than it was in 1901.

Revealed: The real reason New Zealand didn't become part of Australia

Kiwis value their independence, but 118 years ago, the decision could have been made to throw away that independence in favour of becoming a state of Australia

The Aussies certainly used to claim us as their own. Up until 1835, the colony of New South Wales actually governed us, until a group of Māori chiefs signed a Declaration of Independence (He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni).

Our separate identity was further enhanced with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and although there was a protracted and bloody armed struggle between some Māori iwi and British Imperial forces after that,

At the end of the 19th century, all six Australian colonies voted unanimously to form a federated nation and asked New Zealand if we'd like to join. So why didn't we?

The 'King Dick' theory
Dr Barnes says New Zealand prime ministers had shown little enthusiasm for joining Australia since it was first suggested and Seddon's ego alone was not the only explanation."There was some concern at losing influence, at becoming just one of seven states - bigger than Tasmania, but certainly less important than New South Wales or Victoria.


The fear Māori would be treated the same as Australia's indigenous peoples
While New Zealand continued its bloody road to independence in the mid-1800s, blood was also flowing in the Australian colonies, where 90 percent of the entire indigenous population was killed by either violence or disease.

There were quite a significant number of Australians recruited to serve as military settlers, so they would serve for three years and then receive grants of land themselves," historian and New Zealand Wars scholar Vincent O'Malley told Newshub."They are involved in some of the real contentious incidents in the Waikato War, such as the attack on the main center of commerce for Māori in the Waikato, which was filled with women, children and the elderly.

Dr Barnes believes New Zealanders considered themselves better at 'race relations' than their trans-Tasman counterparts.

But being better is not the same as being good," she says. "They also considered Māori to be a better 'class' of 'native' than indigenous Australians. "Nor was racial thinking limited to self-congratulatory attitudes towards Māori. New Zealanders worried federation with Australia would bring the 'yellow peril' closer to their own doorstep.............................................

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/12/revealed-the-real-reason-new-zealand-didn-t-become-part-


indigenous Australians in chains - most weren't allowed to vote until 1962. Photo credit: Battye Library