Abstract
ABSTRACT Arguably no two neighbours are as deeply intermeshed as Australia and New Zealand. Both have a mutually reinforcing and non-discretionary stake in the Pacific’s prosperity and security—the region of greatest strategic intersection and overlapping national interests. Although strategically aligned, New Zealand is not a ‘mini-Australia’. Australia is an Indo-Pacific middle power with equities to balance with its US ally and regional partners like Japan, Indonesia, and India. New Zealand is a small state with a Pacific identity. Despite asymmetries, New Zealand offers strategic value to Australia through Pasifika demographics, niche capabilities, and by adding another voice to shared objectives. Due to scale and culture differences, New Zealand can credibly and authentically engage with Pacific partners in a different way from Australia. The ANZUS military alliance remains the backbone of the strategic relationship. However, as the inaugural Australia-New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministerial meeting (ANZMIN) in February 2024 affirmed, increasingly all ‘tools of statecraft’ need to be applied to the compounding challenges ahead. Further, both countries should leverage their comparative advantages as part of collective efforts. A modernised understanding of the alliance might start by re-examining each country’s geopolitical mindset and the respective strategic value each provides the other.
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