There will be a flurry of trans-Tasman shuttle diplomacy after tomorrow's Australian election but the Government is anticipating there will be little, if any, change in the relationship.Labor and Coalition policies in the areas where the two governments i
There will be a flurry of trans-Tasman shuttle diplomacy after tomorrow's Australian election but the Government is anticipating there will be little, if any, change in the relationship.
Labor and Coalition policies in the areas where the two governments interact are almost identical and it is likely to be "business as usual" with the next administration, sources say.
Ministers will need to get to know each other. If Julia Gillard retains power her new cabinet might not bear much resemblance to the one put together by former prime minister John Howard.
And if the Coalition wins, Tony Abbott's team will be entirely new.
A meeting at prime minister level isn't imminent, because the next Australian leader will need time to put a cabinet together and work on core policies before going into bilateral talks with other governments.
The first opportunity for talks between Prime Minister John Key and tomorrow's winner is expected to be in October at the Asian summit meeting, at which Mr Key is likely to attend.
New Zealand ministers will be looking for assurances that the work on single economic market issues will continue at least at the same pace as they have over the last few years. The would prefer them to move more quickly, but if there is a change of government across the Tasman a new set of ministers will have to get to grips with complex commercial negotiations as well as cross-border regulation and control.
New Zealand hasn't really entered the election campaign, apart from a minor politician suggesting there should be some control over right of entry which surfaced briefly during the immigration debate.
New Zealand government sources say if Labor or the Coalition were even thinking about changing the rules the signals would have reached Wellington, and they haven't.
Successive Australian and New Zealand governments have maintained the special relationship that binds the two countries together, and which has transcended any differences between them.
At the moment there is really only one -- the ban on New Zealand apples, the World Trade Organisation ruling which said it breached international trade law, and Australia's intention to appeal it.
That problem has been around for 90 years and it too is likely to go into the "business as usual" basket.
