Looking across the Tasman: New Zealand Exemplars in Australian Indigenous Affairs, 1920s–1970s

Abstract

This article explores some ways in which those Australians who sought to advance Aboriginal interests looked to New Zealand for guidance and inspiration during the half-century from the 1920s to the 1970s. I consider this trans-Tasman interaction under three headings: parliamentary representation, respect and recognition, and land rights. These, according to Australian activists, Maori possessed and Aborigines lacked. Making up the deficiency, they claimed, would promote Aboriginal well-being. I also look at how and why the prominence of New Zealand exemplars, relative to those from other countries, changed over these fifty years.