greggerypeccary wrote on Apr 24
th, 2023 at 5:51pm:
John Smith wrote on Apr 24
th, 2023 at 5:45pm:
New Zealand should just be declared a state of Australia anyway
It almost was.
6. Definitions
The Commonwealth shall mean the Commonwealth of Australia as established under this Act.
The States shall mean such of the colonies of New South Wales,
New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia, including the northern territory of South Australia, as for the time being are parts of the Commonwealth, and such colonies or territories as may be admitted into or established by the Commonwealth as States; and each of such parts of the Commonwealth shall be called a State.
Except for the horror stories that were crossing the Tasman about the convicts and nevermind those convicts who had left/escaped NSW and sailed to NZ between 1788 and the mid-1830s. The Maoris in the north had forged friendships with religious pioneers and missionaries and were angered by the behaviour of those from NSW.
Also, there were the horror stories also crossing the Tasman about the treatment of the native peoples of the Australian colonies.
These were the reasons that prompted the notion of a treaty between the British crown and the Maori people - to ensure that atrocities committed in the Australian colonies would not be repeated in NZ were it to become a British colony.
Terra Nullius and its subsequent disasters were circumvented in NZ by the notion of NZ being governed by the 'Confederation of Maori Chiefs'
NZ joining the Commonwealth of Australia was never, and has never been, seriously considered by kiwis after the Treaty was signed.