Meetings of the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF) are a regular fixture in the calendars of Australian and New Zealand business leaders and politicians. But their content has also become regular – which is to say, repetitive.
As a frequent attendee over the past decade, this week’s gathering in Wellington had a certain Groundhog Day feel to me.
Year after year, ANZLF delegates gather in the spirit of our two countries’ Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement. CER was a groundbreaking free trade agreement when it was signed in 1983. Even today, it is regarded as one of the best such agreements in the world.
Yet, as pathbreaking as CER was 40 years ago, today we find ourselves circling the same minor issues every single year. These are the few bits and pieces of unfinished business which would lift the Australia-New Zealand relationship from good to great.
One of them is the simplification of Trans-Tasman travel.
Why can a flight from Sydney to Auckland not be as seamless as a domestic flight on either side of the Tasman?
Important biosecurity issues can be managed with modern technology. Integrated IT systems should allow luggage to be scanned on just one side of the Tasman, namely at departure.
Yet, there we were again this week, at another ANZLF meeting, discussing the same issue with no tangible progress. It felt like 2014, 2016 or 2022. I have lost count of the number of occasions on which we have been told that integrated travel across the Tasman is just around the corner.
The Schengen Agreement among European countries stands as a beacon of what is possible. It is hard to fathom why Australia and New Zealand, with our shared history and robust relationship, cannot emulate this.
There was a time when passport-free travel between our countries was the norm. A return to such simplicity, coupled with a free travel zone with joint tourist visas, could even boost regional tourism.
The spirit of innovation and cooperation that led to the signing of the CER seems to have waned. If we cannot make granular improvements like simplifying Trans-Tasman travel, one must question where that spirit has gone.
We can only hope that, at the next ANZLF, we can celebrate progress rather than rehashing the same discussions.
After all, even Groundhog Day eventually ended with a change. It is high time we scripted a new chapter in our CER story.