It's a love affair, but with limits

TALKING POLITICS - BY GORDON CAMPBELL

OPINION: We love Australians - they're richer, more extroverted, and usually better than us on the sports field. And, wonder of wonders, they seem to love us, too.

Last year's poll by the Lowy Institute think-tank in Sydney found that 83 per cent of Australians thought "warmly" of New Zealand, a record for their feelings about any country, topping the 81 per cent positive rating we had in the previous Lowy poll.

Similarly, the recent Asia New Zealand Foundation poll found that if Kiwis were asked to rate their near neighbours on an important-to-us scale of one to five, more than 60 per cent rated Australians as being a five. They're that important to us.

Not only that, but in both polls we appear to think much the same about everyone else. We both rate Japan as our favourite Asian state, followed by Thailand and India, with China and Korea virtually tied next, and then Indonesia. Given how often our politicians bang on about a deal with the United States being the Holy Grail of our trade policy, the interesting thing is that we regard Asia as the next most important region to Australia, with only a quarter of us rating North America as the most important.

The Australians feel similarly. In the Lowy poll, 63 per cent of the respondents regarded China as the most important economy to Australia at the moment, compared with only 27 per cent picking the United States. Looking ahead, 72 per cent also said China would be more powerful after the global economic crisis than before, while nearly a third said the United States would be less powerful. What does this mean – or should it mean – in policy terms?

Last week, the New Zealand Government postponed for six months the issuing of our White Paper on defence, a blueprint that had been due on March 31. Among its main provisions was expected to be the formation of a joint Rapid Reaction Force with the Australians, to police and assist the Pacific region. The creation of the force had been flagged by John Key and Kevin Rudd at their meeting in Canberra last August.

Unfortunately, defence is the most conservative strand in Australia's foreign policy. Last year, the Aussies' own White Paper on defence was widely perceived as being fixated on a maritime threat emanating from China.

If, in an excess of Anzac togetherness, we choose to cozy up to Canberra on defence, we could well jeopardise the trade and security advantages New Zealand has gained during the last decade by pursuing a relatively independent (and United Nations-focused) stance on foreign policy.

By declining to follow our traditional allies into Iraq, New Zealand has been spared from jihadi terrorist threats. By not embracing Australia's defence mindset, we could happily pursue our own trade interests with China, and reap the full advantage from our recent trade deal with Beijing.

In any relationship, it requires a tricky balance between expressing the love, while keeping one's sense of independence.

Love Australians as we do. We don't want to be like them. And bless them, they love us for being feisty little mavericks.

We can co-operate. Yet arguably it might well be in our best economic interests to maintain clear daylight from Canberra on defence, security and foreign policy issues.

- The Wellingtonian