Comparing election outcomes in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Abstract It has been claimed that Australian and New Zealand voters have followed parallel paths since the Second World War. A comparison of the patterns of net vote movement at contemporaneous Australian and New Zealand elections since 1965 reveals that most have not been alike, although there were some remarkably similar patterns in the 1970s. Most Australian elections have been dominated by movement to the Opposition, but this is not true of New Zealand elections. At New Zealand elections, movements to minor parties have been as common.