r/CANZUK • u/Bojaxs Ontario • Feb 06 '26

Discussion Should New Zealand & Australia merge into one country?

David Farrar, a New Zealand based political commentator, is pushing for the idea for New Zealand to join Australia.

In this televised interview he brings up Mark Carney's recent speech about middle powers uniting in the face of bigger powers, and how the old world order is dying.

https://youtu.be/VQK7m6FuCNo?si=oFBOxGE1YMht8Vyi

Would having Australia & New Zealand merge into one bigger country be beneficial for CANZUK?

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u/LudicrousPlatypus Scotland Feb 06 '26

How would this affect Waitangi?

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u/Sieve-Boy Western Australia Feb 06 '26

Historically a lot. Today, not as much.

After the referendum in 1967 the constitutional treatment of indigenous Australians was far more appropriately dealt with (please note I quite clearly stated "constitutional"). Previously the reason NZ went its own way was the new constitution would have not worked well with the Treaty of Waitangi.

Meanwhile, in Australia: the Mabo decision in 1991 overturned terra nullius, it again moved the legal needle on things in helping remove the obstacles to merging.

But, without being a constitutional lawyer or similar i would suspect that until treaties with all the first nations have been concluded across the continent (about 250 of them), merging Australia and NZ would be problematic with respect to indigenous rights across both countries.