Monday, May 31, 2021
Australia versus New Zealand wine exports
There has long been a rivalry between Australia and New Zealand. This dates at least back to when Australia was federated, on 1 January 1901. At that time, the New Zealanders were offered the opportunity to become a state of Australia, but inexplicably declined. Since then, the rivalry has continued in sporting events, economics, and politics.
In the latter case, the New Zealanders were responsible for the demise of the ANZUS treaty, by which the Australians and New Zealanders died in large numbers in Vietnam in the 1960s, alongside an even larger number of Americans. Some time later, the New Zealanders decided on an explicit non-nuclear policy, which meant that the Americans lost interest in them, because they could no longer re-stock their nuclear submarines in the South Pacific (see the map below).