Language

The principal language of both countries is English, New Zealand and Australia have different versions of
English with Australians being far more creative in their use of language, including the use of rhyming
slang, lots of sarcasm, idiomatic and humorous expressions – and of course plenty of swearing.

New Zealanders have difficulty pronouncing 'I' sounds correctly. Another difference is that New Zealand
English lacks the difference in male and female pronunciation that is a feature of Australian English.

A final difference between Australia and New Zealand English is creativity in language use. New Zealanders
do not use rhyming slang, idiomatic expressions, humorous expressions or profanity to the same extent as
Australians.

Pop culture
Australia has four times the population of New Zealand, so it’s hardly surprising that it produces a lot more
in the way of TV, films and music.
When it comes to music, there are tons of Aussie bands and singers. The only Kiwi musician that’s really
made it big outside of NZ is Lorde, who’s like the country’s unofficial mascot.
Surprisingly though, NZ does have a big film industry. The Weta Workshop has been involved in so many
huge movies, including Lord of the Rings, Avatar, and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Sport
Both Australia and New Zealand love to compete internationally in a whole range of sports -both have
strong and proud sporting histories- both countries over-perform at Olympic Games in particular and have
one team sport they are indisputably consistently the best at in the world. (NZ = rugby, Australia = cricket)
The big difference is that Australians have a number of sports of their own.
They share a love of the same sports in cricket, soccer, rugby league, rugby union, hockey and netball

Economy
Australia has a stronger and more robust economy than New Zealand: it’s eighteenth in the International
Monetary Fund’s ranking of GDP per capita whilst New Zealand comes in thirty-first. However, New
Zealand is catching up fast – back in 2004, its GDP per capita was 60% of Australia’s. Now it’s over 75%.
They have an integrated economy under the Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Trade Agreement
(ANZCERTA) and Closer Economic Relations (CER) Investment Protocol.

New Zealand's major trading partners are Australia, the United States and Japan.

Australia has significantly more trade with Asia than New Zealand has. China is Australia's largest trading
partner, followed by Japan, South Korea, and the United States.
Both Australians and New Zealanders have a fondness for living in other people's countries. Out of
Australia's population of 20 million, about five per cent (1,000,000) are living in foreign countries. Out of
New Zealand's population of 4.7 million, around 17.5 per cent (800,000) live in foreign countries.

The New Zealand diaspora is particularly high due to the 1973 Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, which
allows Australian and New Zealand citizens to enter each other's country to live and work, without the
need to apply for authority to enter the other country. Even though New Zealand has superb natural
beauty, the flow of people between the two countries has been very much a one-way street. In 2005, an
estimated 449,000 New Zealand citizens were living in Australia.

Many of the New Zealanders are economic refugees trying to improve their employment prospects. Others
are Asian social refugees trying to escape the racism.

Race relations
New Zealand with its 8% mono-cultural indigenous Maori population having significantly more political
influence (they even have seats specifically reserved for them in Parliament) is far more racially conscious
than Australia with its multi-cultural Australian aboriginals who represent less than 1% of the population.
For example, the New Zealand national anthem is sung in both Maori and English whereas Australia's is
only sung in English. Also, in NZ Māori is an official language – it is taught in schools, used by the
government and broadcast on TV. NZ has also a Maori monarch. And the Māori war dance is performed
before major sporting events.
It is not possible to make Aboriginal an official language of Australia because there is no Aboriginal
language. Instead, there are around 250 languages. Likewise, there are so many cultural differences
between Aboriginal tribes that it is not possible to speak of an Aboriginal monarch or Aboriginal customs.
However, New Zealand is less friendly to Asia. Most Asians who have experienced both nations say that
Australia is inclusive while New Zealand is very racist.

Humour
Australian and New Zealanders both like to insult each other with jokes. Traditionally, when Australians
joked about New Zealanders, they would have some kind of lewd twist on the New Zealander's affection
for sheep or refer to them as South Pacific Poms (English). When New Zealanders joked about Australia,
they would have some kind of twist on Australians being stupid. For example, when former New Zealand
prime minister Robert Muldoon was questioned about increased levels of emigration from New Zealand to
Australia, he responded that these migrants "raised the average IQ of both countries."

Military
A shared military heritage where Australians and New Zealanders have fought side-by-side as brothers-in-
arms in many conflicts with none more meaningful to both countries than the loss of 12,000 men on the
slopes of Gallipoli in 1914, as the united force of the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps)

A difference between Australia and New Zealand can be seen in regards to the ANZUS Treaty. The ANZUS
Treaty is a military alliance which binds Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the
United States, to cooperate on defence matters in the Pacific Ocean. It used to bind New Zealand and the
United States as well, but in 1986 New Zealand banned US nuclear powered war ships from entering New
Zealand waters. In response, the United States suspended its obligations to New Zealand; saying that the
country was 'a friend but not an ally."

British Heritage
An invading British heritage within the last 300 years from the English, Scots and Irish who gave each the
King's English and the governance systems that they took hundreds of years to perfect.
Australia was founded by the British as a penal colony while New Zealand was founded by them as a
religious colony under Samuel Marsden. So while Australians may have a strained relationship with
England, New Zealand is united in its praise for the motherland. e.g. the English national anthem 'God save
the Queen' still remains as one of the two official anthems of New Zealand, the other one is ‘God Defend
New Zealand’. The Australian anthem is ‘Advance Australia Fair’.

The Queen of England is the head of state of both countries.

Political system
Australia uses preferential voting in which candidates are ranked in order of preference. New Zealand does
not. Australia uses a first-past-the-post system that gives the seat to the candidate that gets the most
votes or preferences. This results in two major parties dominating. New Zealand uses a proportional voting
system. This results in some major parties, but also representation from minority nationalist groups,
business lobbies, environmentalists and parties aligned with specific races. Australia has a senate. New
Zealand does not. Australia does not have seats reserved for any racial group. New Zealand has special
seats reserved for Maori.

The major parties of Australia are the Australian Labor Party (which uses American spelling) and the Liberal
Party of Australia. The major parties of New Zealand are the New Zealand Labour Party (which uses British
spelling) and the New Zealand National Party.