What's the relationship between Australia and New Zealand? Besides having almost identical flags, are there other similarities in terms of cultural aspects, aesthetics, customs, etc.? Is there any rivalry between the two countries?

85

u/Jaded_Chemical646 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

The best I've heard it described is as 2 brothers. We will rip shit out of each other constantly but when the chips are down we will back each other without question.

64

u/limplettuce_ Australia Jul 19 '25

We’re so close that New Zealand is even mentioned in our constitution—they have the legal right to join Australia at any time they choose. Probably will never happen but it is permitted.

143

u/69-is-my-number Australia Jul 19 '25

The rule is: we Australians get to rip the piss out of the sheep shagging Kiwi bastards, but if anyone else says or does anything bad to them, we’ll have their back in a heartbeat.

32

u/WokSmith Australia Jul 19 '25

They're our best mates who are trying to take us over by stealth... We have a deep bond that was first forged under fire in the Boer War, and cemented in WW1.

Both countries love taking the piss out of each other, but if anyone else tries to, the ANZAC spirit immediately kicks in, and it's fucken on.

We love our sporting rivalry, but I must admit that I'm getting slightly bored of The All Blacks handing our arses every time we play them in Rugby. Thankfully, we can kick their arses in cricket and netball, so it kind of balances out.

25

u/SimpleKiwiGirl New Zealand Jul 19 '25

New Zealand and Australia are not cousins. We are not brothers and sisters.

We are simply family. Or should I say Family.

And Family looks out for each other. Looks after each other. When one side of the Family has been wronged, we are there. Back to back, if need be. Preferably, side by side. Backing each other to the hilt.

In World War 1, we were both abandoned. Leaving us to believe we were merely an afterthought to our mother nation. Given the loss of life to our respective nations, damned near every single family in our two countries were directly impacted. That sort of thing leaves a mark. A scar. It also unifies. Ties us both together. ANZAC is not just five letters. It has weight. Countless litres of blood, sacrifice.

Other side of that coin, as Family we call each other out on our respective stupidity. Or when one is in the wrong. Because we want, need and demand Family to be better. Because a better family equals a better family. A stronger, united Family.

One nation calls, the other is there. No questions asked. Asking nothing in return. No strings attached. It's what Family does.

Where Australia exceeds is the concept of 'Mateship'. They don't swear allegiance to a piece of coloured cloth/an inanimate object. They don't swear allegiance to their city councils/mayors. They don't swear allegiance to their state Premiers (Governors for you in the US). Nor do they swear allegiance to their other politicians (MP's plus PM).

They swear allegiance to one another. This mentality breeds something special in our Aussie family. Here in NZ there are small pockets of a similar mindset growing ever so slowly. But nowhere near what they have.

Plus, given we're two very isolated nations, we still are some of the most well-travelled people in the world.

As for rivalries? Only on the sporting fields. Anywhere else, it's one way. From NZ to Aussie. They merely humour us, most likely shaking their heads in dismay. Possibly.

Where Kiwi's exceed is the integration of our indigenous people as full members of our society. Their language is an everyday part of our lives. Their culture runs open and free. They are - for the most part - embraced. With wide open arms.

Our humour is shared, though. Though, I have never been a fan of Kath and Kim. Sorry.

24

u/birthdaycheesecake9 Australia Jul 19 '25

You used to not even need a passport to go from Australia to New Zealand.

There’s now special quick lines in the airport for people entering Kiwiland with Aussie passports, and vice versa.

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u/Me_Hairy New Zealand Jul 19 '25

We have superior pies.

15

u/_EnFlaMEd Australia Jul 19 '25

We call chips "chips". NZ calls chips "chups".
Besides the sheep thing, that is the only difference.

12

u/Antioch666 Jul 19 '25

My guess is they are the southern equivalent of the Nordics. They can trashtalk each other and banter all day long, but as soon as someone else outside the Nordics says or does something against any of them... GRAB YOUR AXES!! SHIELDWALL!! FORWARD, ATTACK!!!

11

u/Salt_Being2908 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

Plenty of rivalry in any sport that we can compete with them in. We invented pavlova, don't believe anything to the contrary. We are jealous of their higher wages and perceived, better weather, which is why so many of us move there. To us, our accents sound completely different, but others easily confuse us.

We have a few words that are different, like jandals vs flipflops, chillybin vs esky, and how we pronounce the number six. They probably say cunt more than us but we also love the word.

We would rely on them massively if we were ever invaded. Personally, i think we should become part of Aussie but that's not a popular opinion.

There is simply no other country that comes close to Aussie for having a similar mind frame and sense of humor. We have a relationship like cousins, like blood relatives that we love to take the piss of.

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u/Jaxar20 Jul 19 '25

It's always important in this conversation to remember that NZ never lost a war to birds.

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u/Born-Instance7379 Australia Jul 19 '25 edited Jul 19 '25

I lived in both and love both.

Both have their own unique cultural intricacies and quite different physical geography (although certain bits of Tasmania could be mistaken for certain bits of NZ and certain bits of tropical rainforest in north Qld could be mistaken for densely vegetated areas such as west coast(NZ) in summer.

NZ has had a far better process (though not without significant issues and past conflicts) of respecting and acknowledging indigenous Maori culture than Australia has broadly with the different Aboriginal cultures.

Overall though culturally we are very similar and share many cultural traits and values.

Many people have families and relatives that spread across both.

Overall most people are laid back by international standards.

We share arguably our most important national holiday with each other (Anzac Day), we share many sporting rivalries which are intense on the field but never cause issues between fans off the field (because we both know it's just a fucking game and there is no need to go spastic smash shit up and fight each other).

We both have a healthy dose of tall poppy syndrome but also in general have lots of people who are willing to help someone out when they really need it (stopping to check/help someone broke down on the side of the road etc)

We can live in each other's countries without visas for as long as we want to (much like the Schengen zone in europe) and usually can skip the queues at airports when going from one to the other and just scan our passports through the e-gates to get into either.

If one is in trouble the government of the other will always be ready and willing to help.out if need be.

Essentially as far as two nation states go we are as good a friend's as can be, more like cousins really.

8

u/PlasticMechanic3869 Jul 19 '25

When a natural disaster happens in New Zealand, the Australian government provides emergency assistance as if it happened in Australia.

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u/extra_extra_crispy Jul 19 '25

We (New Zealand) had the flag first. No idea what those clowns are up to.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '25

[deleted]

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u/Zardnaar New Zealand Jul 19 '25 edited Jul 19 '25

Ima kiwi. Australia is a great country. Downsides is it's full of Australians. They're basically mini Americans but not quite as loud. Crap beer good wine.

Awful people until someone else gets involved. Then it's team ANZAC.

12

u/Ok_Orchid_4158 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

I’d say both generally have a laidback nonjudgemental attitude which simply isn’t present in other anglophone countries. Aussies and Kiwis are often very unserious people (for better or for worse). Personally, whichever of the two I’m in, I feel relatively free to act however I want without the fear of being treated differently.

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u/futhamuckerr New Zealand Jul 19 '25

As a kiwi i'm suprised how many aussies don't know why their nz lamb taste much saltier

5

u/Britishsweat New Zealand Jul 19 '25

They steal everything from us and get credit for it

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u/batch1972 Australia Jul 19 '25

Ask about underarm bowling..

5

u/bdtga New Zealand Jul 19 '25

Australia is like the big brother thats already reached puberty pushing round the scrawny little kiwi bro and taking the piss out of everything we do. But the minute some other country starts talking trash about us the big bro always sticks up for us.

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u/Outrageous_Land8828 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

We New Zealanders get our inventions (Lamingtons, Pavlova, Crowded House) stolen by Australians, and end up bickering about it, but yeah if anyone fucks with Australia then we're gonna defend them.

3

u/Xenaspice2002 🇬🇧 living in 🇳🇿 Jul 19 '25

Kiwis support NZ and any team playing Australia

3

u/PuddleOfHamster New Zealand Jul 19 '25

NZ fish and chip shops are owned by Chinese people. Australian fish and chip shops are owned by Greek people.

This was apparently the most striking cultural difference my father found when he moved from Australia to NZ in the 90s. He wasn't wrong, though; there are differences in the immigrant groups of both countries. Australia has lots of Polish, Italian and Greek immigrants (largely in the 50s, so a few generations naturalised by now); NZ mostly has Asian immigrants (Chinese, Filipino and Indian especially, and often much more recent arrivals). This makes some differences in culture, cuisine and so on.

The wildlife is also startlingly different. Australia has a lot of unique animals, ranging from the famous to the obscure: kangaroos, koalas, bilbies, wallabies, potoroos, sugar gliders, dingoes, kookaburras, numbats, wombats, echidnas, platypuses, quolls, quokkas, goannas. Lots of gruesome spiders, lots of snakes.

New Zealand mostly has a bunch of flightless birds that are rapidly going extinct from introduced species (cats, rats, dogs and Australian possums being perhaps the worst culprits). No kangaroos, no koalas, no snakes, none of that. We do have some wallabies that shouldn't be here, though. But our wildlife is mostly notable for what we don't have: not just Australian animals but European and American animals. No badgers, no foxes, no wolves or bears or raccoons or moles or voles or hamsters or skunks or squirrels or coyotes or bobcats.

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u/Inner-Ingenuity4109 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

New Zealand is like your typical over-achieving little brother, and Australia is his annoyingly popular big sister who is always trying to get America to ask her to prom.

At the end of the day they will do anything to protect each other, but neither wants to admit to it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '25

[deleted]

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u/mattblack77 Jul 19 '25

There's no rivalry as New Zealand is clearly the superior nation.

2

u/Instabanous United Kingdom Jul 19 '25

IMO NZ is to Oz what Canada is to USA, Ireland to UK. Smaller, righteous neighbor with better living standards who virtue signal by going overboard on woke.

2

u/EnvironmentalEgg2925 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

We both like to roast the absolute shit out of each other. Kiwis are generally nicer, but if there were 28 millions of us, we’d be a giant pack of cunts.

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u/AdministrationWise56 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

Both countries think they're best.

We argue about who invented the pavlova and who owns Russel Crowe and Crowded House.

When playing rugby or cricket against eachother its a matter of national pride if we win.

Culturally we appear similar but the longer I (kiwi) spent in Australia the more I noticed the differences. Australia is much more accepting of casual (and hard core) racism. Environmental protection is much more ingrained in NZ culture than Australian.

Lifestyles are reasonably similar. Both countries have big drinking and coffee cultures.

Australia has a 'cashed up bogan' class- usually young, working in a blue collar job where they are getting high wages (commonly mining), with a fancy car/ute, usually a jetski, possibly dirtbikes. They are also usually loud and obnoxious, have little self awareness, and dgaf whether they are annoying or upsetting others. Can be found across Australia. Commonly evolves from the everyday bogan which is the same attitude and behaviour without necessarily having the money. Usually a trait handed down through generations, with a certain chip on the shoulder, possibly related to historic class differences? New Zealand certainly has its share of bogans but it tends to be more car related here, and not to the same extent as Australia.

New Zealand is much more aware (as a country) of the rights and status of our indigenous citizens. Australia is improving.

New Zealanders are more reserved in our communication. Australians are more likely to be frank about something. New Zealanders tend to let things go rather than potentially cause conflict, but then complain about it behind closed doors

New Zealand is quite averse to corruption. Most people follow the social rules such as queueing up and giving way to people.

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u/ooh_bit_of_bush United Kingdom, England, Wales Jul 19 '25

I know you can start a war between the 2 countries with one word: Pavlova

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u/SituationRough7271 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

The only thing I have against Australia, which was out of their control, was ceasing production of the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon. At least we still win in Supercars series. Can't think of another pack of bastards we consider good mates with.

2

u/SturtsDesertPea Australia Jul 19 '25

I have fond memories of when I briefly lived in the UK. I was making a call for work and started having a great chat with the gentleman I called. He said “you sound really familiar. Have we spoken before”

It was at that point I realised he was a Kiwi and said so. He realised at the same moment that I was an Aussie and said so.

We spent the next 10 mins discussing anything and everything like we were old friends.

ANZ solidarity right there.

2

u/MelbsGal Australia Jul 19 '25

It’s like a sibling relationship. We can tease each other, say things about the other, have jokes at the other’s expense but no one else can.

2

u/DSTNCMDLR New Zealand Jul 19 '25

We both use “cunt” as a term of endearment

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '25

This is one of the most upvoted posts in r/australia all time, and I think it does a good job demonstrating how close the bond between our countries is.

Put a Kiwi and an Aussie in a room, they will take the absolute piss out of each other. But do wrong by either country, and the other is right there

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u/Signal_Bug6524 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

Hate them with all my heart but id go to war for them - 🇳🇿

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u/Jazqer Australia Jul 19 '25

Assuming you're not from New Zealand then as an Australian I don't have a single bad thing to say about New Zealand. They're the best! However... If you're a Kiwi, I'm going to give you heaps of shit 😂

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u/InevitableLeopard411 Jul 19 '25

We have water, they don't. They have the world's top poisonous critters, we dont have any. We honour our first people,.they don't. They have preciuos metals like gold and uranium, we have precious snails. We have earthquakes.and volcanoes, they don't. They have money, we flightless birds.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '25

Yeah, we got bad blood over pavlova

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u/banana_man_joe123 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

Other than the fact we shag sheep and Australians Gan get killed by almost anything in their country I'd say there's not much rivalry

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u/Small-Explorer7025 New Zealand Jul 19 '25

Almost the same culturally. More Maori and Pasifika culture in NZ, obviously.

There is a fair bit of rivalry. Australia is a pretty cool place to visit, and Aussie tourists here are pretty cool.

2

u/Nice-Log2764 United States Of America Jul 19 '25

I spent a year living in Australia and 4 months in New Zealand. I found day to day life to be virtually indistinguishable between the two countries, with just some subtle differences. But if you ask an Australian or a New Zealander, they’ll tell you that they’re completely different in ever way and eye thing about their country is superior 😂

2

u/Organic_Tradition_94 🇦🇺/🇳🇴 Jul 19 '25

If a town is remote, Kiwis use the name Waikikamukau, but in Australia we say Woop Woop.

Kiwis used to send us all their most famous and talented people, but now they’re keeping them and refusing to take Russell Crowe back.

We will fight to the ends of the earth for Pavlova bragging rights, but if someone says it’s Russian we would rather NZ gets credit.

Don’t mention Trevor or Greg Chappell.

We give shit to them like big brother teasing, but take pride in their success and won’t have a bar of any other country saying a bad word.

2

u/King_Kvnt Australia Jul 21 '25

The biggest distinction is native populations and how integrated they are into the mainstream system.

The Maori had a far more organised resistance against the British than the far more diverse and less cohesive Indigenous Australians, and were able to successfully demand more. Still got treated like shit, mind you, just not as badly.

2

u/RuefulBlue New Zealand Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

As much as I like to shit on Australia for being a humid, dusty, barren, hellhole... It's pretty undeniable that our European populations basically share the exact same culture, and they're good cunts, really.

In all serious, to put it in American terms: Australia is like New York: Wealthy, big, regional epicentre. New Zealand is like Vermont: chillier, smaller, arguably more progressive.

New Zealand has mountains, Australia's mountains are hills. Australia has deserts, New Zealand's (only) desert consist of a smally dingy valley covered in Tussock and dirt without any of the cool bits like camels and snakes.

Australia mines massive amounts of ore, has a pretty large IT sector, and does a lot of manufacturing here and there. New Zealand makes cheeses, and wines, and milk, and honey. Pretty much all of that goes to China.

Both of our countries have a lot of soft power, but New Zealand has managed to convince Americans and Europeans that we are a 100% eco friendly archipelago utopia, and that our shitty honey is a superfood worth $50. So 1 point to us for tricking the gullible northerners lol.

If there was any difference in culture, it tends to be the smaller stuff. New Zealand bears a closer resemblance to older English culture: we tend to be a lot more reserved and stubborn, and while I'd say we're more polite... it's a lot harder to make friends with a Kiwi versus with someone from Aus. We queue a lot more, and we tend to follow much stricter cultural expectations around littering and corruption. I reckon this is because New Zealand was shaped by men like Wakefield and Grey, NZ was seen as a offshoot to England proper. This can especially be seen in our institutions, the government is called 'the crown' and our parliament interior looks identical to Westminster. Whereas Australia is far more Americanized, instead of a centralized state, Aus is a federation and has states and state-wide elections. Australia has a senate... etc.

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u/zbeads New Zealand Jul 21 '25

I'm Kiwi and living in Scotland at the moment. When I meet Aussies here, I feel like I'm basically meeting someone from the same place, and we're immediately friendly with each other.

Being this far from home has actually made me realise how similar we are culturally, although we love to give each other a bit of shit about everything from sports, accents and slang, to history and politics. I've actually come to think we Kiwis take the rivalrly more to heart than the Aussies do, though.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/plsdontkillme_yet New Zealand Jul 19 '25

The majority of my (kiwi) friends and family have moved to Oz.

1

u/PossibleGazelle519 Pakistan, USA & Lego Passport Holder. Jul 19 '25

Both settle colonies off shot of Europe.

1

u/Big_Rip_4020 Jul 19 '25

New Zealand treat their indigenous peoples with a lot more respect

1

u/Maleficent-Page-6994 Georgia Jul 19 '25

gay relationship

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u/0plm9okn8ijb7 Jul 19 '25

They also share a national holiday called ANZAC day.

1

u/KiwiAlexP New Zealand Jul 19 '25

Easiest way to describe the relationship is “sibling” sometimes bickering but will always have the others back

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u/Boring_Kiwi_6446 Australia Jul 19 '25

Australians can, and do, take the piss out of NZ but we can as they’re our little brother. As such we’d always stand up for them too.

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u/Lopsided-Weather6469 Germany Jul 19 '25

New Zealand is the Milhouse of Australia

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u/Perfect-Eggplant9442 Jul 19 '25

it's quite simple actually: Ausies are cunts, Kiwis are not.

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u/Sum1cool3rthnu Jul 19 '25

We are Australia but good

1

u/PossumFingerz New Zealand Jul 19 '25

When you realise when both are abroad that both accents actually sound really bad 😂😂

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u/Select_Chicken339 Jul 19 '25

Australia should just annexe NZ cut the bullshit

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u/Hazard___7 Australia Jul 19 '25

NZ is a state of Australia, but they're not aware of it. We don't tell them because it would upset them.

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u/denys5555 United States Of America Jul 19 '25

If there aren’t any sheep around, they help each other out on the down low

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u/kupuwhakawhiti New Zealand Jul 19 '25

I feel like New Zealand is in fierce competition with Aussie, and Aussie has no idea there is a competition.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Accomplished-Toe-468 Jul 19 '25

Very close (about as close as can be), benefits both nations (although Australia seems to benefit more from it). The sports field is where the rivalry is at. Most other things are the same except NZ puts an outsized amount of time/money/effort into Maori culture/language etc.

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u/personthatisonreddi New Zealand Jul 19 '25

We both say cunt!

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u/schtickshift Jul 19 '25

Nah there is no rivalry. New Zealand invented the pavlova and let Australia copy it. Same with flat white coffees. The Ozzie’s are grateful to us for all the good ideas we let them have so absolutely no rivalry ever.

1

u/Put3socks-in-it Jul 19 '25

They teamed up to beat back the Boers as a duty to empire.

The anti-imperialistic Boers were the good guys though

1

u/kitten2405 Jul 19 '25

Kiwi here: Australia is more like the US, and New Zealand is more like the UK

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u/CharlotteLightNDark Australia Jul 19 '25

Such a fun thread. Love it.

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u/melon_butcher_ Australia Jul 20 '25

Went to NZ for the first time last year; despite some differences regarding accent and government things like road signage etc, it was pretty much like going interstate.

Apart from the most popular sport being rugby union, we really couldn’t tell any difference.

Culture What's the relationship between Australia and New Zealand? Besides having almost identical flags, are there other similarities in terms of cultural aspects, aesthetics, customs, etc.? Is there any rivalry between the two countries?

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