Tightening the Anzac link: Ian McGibbon notes the 80th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Australia.

• Author: McGibbon, Ian

New Zealand and Australia have had close ties going back to 1840 and before. But it was not until 17 March 1943 that the two countries became diplomatically connected. On that day New Zealand's first high commissioner to Australia, Australian-born Carl Berendsen, arrived in Sydney. Because this was a diplomatic connection of two Commonwealth countries with the same sovereign, there was no presentation of credentials. On arrival he maintained that

We in New Zealand believe the problems of Australia are in essence the same problems as those of the Dominion. We believe everything is to be gained by the closest consultation and collaboration. Relations between the two countries have always been harmonious. This was diplomatic but not true. Relations had been anything but harmonious on many occasions in the past two decades. A general lack of liaison in the late 1930s had left each learning of the other's defence plans through London. At the beginning of the Second World War, New Zealand's lack of consultation and unilateral actions regarding despatch of its expeditionary force had angered Canberra. Relations were further roiled by New Zealand's refusal, following Japan's entry to the war in December 1941, to bring back its division from the Middle East to bolster home defences, as Australia had done in later 1942 with the last of its three divisions that had been fighting in the same theatre. Australia had, however, been an increasingly important source of supplies since the war began, and a supply office had been opened in Sydney.

For the government in Wellington an improvement in relations with Australia seemed imperative. Surprisingly, it opted to send a public servant, Carl Berendsen, head of the Prime Minister's Department and long-time adviser on international relations, to Canberra as representative. With the nervous strain incurred by him in working with Prime Minister Peter Fraser becoming intolerable there was a need to find a new billet for him.

Because there had been no prior planning, Berendsen had to start from scratch upon arrival. Politically, his immediate goal was to improve relations between the two countries, though Prime Minister John Curtin's dismissive attitude at first did not augur well for this task. At the same time, he faced the practical issues of not only setting up the high commission but also finding accommodation befitting his status as high commissioner. As to the former, he insisted on having his former...