KEY POINTS:
Score one for the New Zealand education system. Or maybe it's just that New Zealand's media place far more attention on events in Australia, than the reverse.
Either way, according to UMR research, 77 per cent of Kiwis can name John Howard as the Australian Prime Minister, while only 33 per cent of the Oz respondents can name Helen Clark as New Zealand's PM. Considering, however, that 10 per cent of the Australian electorate usually can't recall the name of their own Prime Minister, it's not a bad result on either side of the Tasman.
This is one of the figures published by the Lowy Institute in its survey of Australian attitudes to the world, focusing on Australian perceptions of the United States, China, Japan, India and other significant strategic and economic players in the Australian future.
But sensibly, Lowy, which is a respected Sydney think tank, has devoted a section to the Australian/New Zealand relationship. This makes for insightful reading as it says a good deal about attitudes "across the ditch".
Virtually all the findings confirm that New Zealand takes Australia far more seriously on a range of issues. To begin, about 82 per cent of Kiwis have been to Australia, compared with a little over a third of Australians having made the trip across the Tasman.
As I write, however, and as mesh fences, helicopters and waterborne police quarantine Sydney's Northern CBD for Apec, these figures are probably being improved by planeloads of Australians heading out for a long weekend in a more relaxed New Zealand environment.
New Zealanders approach Closer Economic Relations (CER) with greater seriousness than Australians. The importance of the 21 million extra consumers in the Australian market has not been lost on New Zealand opinion. It's a pity that far more Australians don't realise the significance of having four million additional customers in easy reach. Nearly a third of New Zealanders are of the view that economic integration between the two countries has not gone far enough. This is about double the Australian figure. Significantly, about the same number - 52 per cent (NZ) and 58 per cent (Australia) - believe integration is about right, reflecting a generally broad satisfaction in the commercial nature of our relationship.
This satisfaction is also evident in a marked increase in the support of New Zealanders for a joint Anzac dollar, to replace the currency of the two countries. Nearly half the Kiwi respondents are in favour, with Australia just edging up to 41 per cent support. What is quite striking about the figure in New Zealand is that, since 2000, support for the joint dollar has grown by about 20 percentage points. New Zealanders are much more relaxed about seeing their national currency subsumed in a greater common initiative.
However, on the subject of political union, a degree of Kiwi scepticism is to the fore.
While a third of Australians believe that a single country would be good for both, the figure is 10 percentage points lower in New Zealand. A remarkable 39 per cent of New Zealanders and 40 per cent of Australians believe such a project would be bad for both. The key finding is that over a fifth of New Zealand answers suggest that such a union would be good for Australia and bad for New Zealand. This is not surprising in a way, for New Zealanders would see themselves in a minority situation, potentially dominated by the Australian Commonwealth.
So economic integration is fine and it's okay to like each other, but the voters don't believe we should be that close politically.
On this point, the Australian invitation to New Zealand to join the federation in 1901 would still be politely declined.
Nonetheless, we do like each other. Quite a lot, actually. According to the Lowy report, about 70 per cent of New Zealanders have either a very positive or positive view of Australia. An identical figure of 70 per cent, although slightly differently weighted, emerges in a positive view in Australia about our New Zealand counterparts. That's a remarkably solid foundation on which to build an even better relationship.
A contrasting figure would be 31 per cent of New Zealanders having a very positive or positive view of the US, as against some 30 per cent of Australians. So, as close neighbours, we think the people next door are all right.
This means that on the question of whether we are competitors or partners, a benign view prevails, with some 62 per cent of New Zealanders viewing Australia as a partner and 85 per cent of Australians thinking of Kiwis as partners rather than competitors.
It means that off the pitch, the football field or the netball court, we work pretty well together. Apparent harmony replaces the perceived challenge of the haka.
Two areas where there is a little concern are in the impact of migration between the two countries and Australian ownership of New Zealand enterprises. About 57 per cent of Kiwis regard their fellow citizens moving permanently to Australia as a loss; 32 per cent of Australians recognise the gain. More than half the New Zealand respondents believe increasing Australian ownership of New Zealand companies is a bad thing.
It clearly means Australian and New Zealand policymakers and business leaders need to be more persuasive on issues of ownership on both sides of the Tasman.
It's hard to think of a more positive or promising outcome. The Lowy research makes it clear that Australians and New Zealanders have high regard for each other, generating little friction and having a great deal in common.
CER has clearly worked and the fact that a conservative Government in Canberra has worked so well with a Labour administration in Wellington shows that the bonds of common interest and friendship are strong and the reservoir of goodwill within both peoples is deep.
Sure, we will always have tall tales and jokes about one another. But that's probably simply another sign of strength. Friends can tell jokes about each other. Good humour is normally absent where a relationship lacks trust or a confident mutual understanding.
* Stephen Loosley, a former federal president of the Labor Party and Australian senator, chairs business advocacy group Committee for Sydney
