Social policy responses to globalisation in Australia and New Zealand, 1980–2005

Abstract

This paper examines the changing nature of social policy and social inequality in Australia and New Zealand from the 1980s to the mid-2000s. In response to pressures of globalisation both countries pursued neo-liberal economic policies as they opened up their markets during terms of both conservative and Labor governments. However, poverty and inequality increased more in New Zealand than in Australia. The use of market-oriented policies and the pace of their introduction in New Zealand were more aggressive than in Australia, as was the way in which social policy was used to reinforce rather than ameliorate increased inequality and poverty. By the mid-2000s there were signs that Australia was catching up on both fronts, but in the meantime New Zealand's hardline position had softened. This may suggest that pressures from globalisation are difficult to resist in the long run, but there may be lessons to be learned from the New Zealand experience if more negative outcomes are to be avoided.