Aussies get pat on back for acknowledging NZ

Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie's Conchords humour is replacing sheep jokes. Photo / Wairarapa Times-Age

Australians have been given a silver star from a transtasman-relations expert who says they're "doing better" at acknowledging their Kiwi neighbour.

Professor Philippa Mein Smith, who heads the New Zealand Australia Research Centre at the University of Canterbury, says Australia has become "far more inclusive" of New Zealand in recent times, "no longer pretending we're not really here".

She said that during a recent visit to Canberra, she had been impressed with the increased presence of New Zealand in different forms.

"There's the wine, of course. New Zealand wine was everywhere. But the country was getting a mention in other ways too, on the news, on the street. Australians are just talking and thinking about us more than they were even a few years ago and I think that's great."

In the past, Professor Mein Smith said, she had been frustrated by what she calls Australia's gaze north to the US while virtually ignoring its closest regional counterpart.

The transtasman relationship had a tendency to be superficial, based around sheep jokes, endless sports-related ribbing and petty sibling rivalries.

Professor Mein Smith said NZ was too often viewed as the cousin at the party in the short trousers, to quote Australian TV comedian Rove McManus.

"I'm really getting the impression that things are moving on at last," she said."I'm sure globalisation must be helping and technology is bringing down the barriers, too. It's good stuff."

Professor Mein Smith was heartened to hear SBS would screen the second series of hit HBO show The Flight of the Conchords, starring Kiwi comics Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie.

She said there might be a bigger task in encouraging New Zealanders to drop their transtasman issues.

"We're the littler country, obviously, and Kiwis seem very intent on highlighting the differences rather than accentuating the similarities," Professor Mein Smith said. "We've got a bit of work to do on this."

She cited a NZ motel owner banning a whole town from staying at his premises because of bad behaviour. When it was revealed that the man was a Sydneysider, the story hit the front page, with a high-profile politician weighing in with, "I'm not surprised he's Australian."

Said Professor Mein Smith: "We would never see that kind of kerfuffle in reverse, I suspect."

- AAP