New Zealand Crisis

**Supported by:**

* Republic of New Zealand

**Supported by:**

* United Nations
	+ Czechsolovakia
	+ Cuba
	+ Libya
	+ France
	+ Algeria (from 1964)
	+ West Germany (from 1964)

The **New Zealand Crisis** also known as the **Australian War Scare** was a 3 and a half year (July 1962 - January 1963) international diplomatic crisis that nearly escalated into a NATO invasion of Australia. The crisis began in July 1962 when Australia invaded New Zealand. In a resolution opposed only by Australia itself, the United Nations formally condemned the invasion in 1963, and following the repeated refusal of Australia to withdraw imposed an embargo in 1965. The crisis escalated after Australia unilaterally declared itself and New Zealand republics and instated a military government in New Zealand, leading the United States and United Kingdom to prepare a joint invasion of Australia. Unwilling to go to war over New Zealand, Australia sued for peace before any shots were fired and signed the Treaty of Moresby, which established an independent New Zealand.

Throughout the 1950s, Australia had been drifting away from the rest of the British Commonwealth. Though an Australian, Rudolph Bierwith, had commanded Commonwealth (mostly British) forces in the Korean War, Australia remained largely uninvolved in the Cold War, providing only occasional diplomatic support to the Western Bloc as a voting member of the United Nations.

The Anglo-Australian Split began in earnest with Australia's 1962 invasion of New Zealand, a move that was immediately condemened by the United States and United Kingdom. When questioned by US diplomats about the purpose of the invasion, the Australian government under Arthur Calwell claimed that it was for the purpose of "stabilizing the region" and that the "integration" of New Zealand into Australia had begun. Refusing to recognize the annexation, the United Kingdom brought the issue to the United Nations and motioned that Australia be ordered to withdraw from New Zealand, a resolution that was passed in January 1963 with opposition only from Australia itself. Australia initially declared that it would comply with the resolution only if Australia was allowed to withdraw from the Commonwealth and become a republic, a condition that neither the British government nor the Crown were at any point opposed to.

After the first UN resolution passed, Australia promised to withdraw from the New Zealand "soon." The matter was mostly ignored for the rest of the year and the first half of 1964 as global attention turned to the Algerian War. During a related UN deliberation in which Australia defended France from condemnation for war crimes, Australia claimed that its intervention in New Zealand had been for the purpose of crushing a communist insurgency; an insurgency that, as the United Kingdom pointed out, did not exist. Australia enacted no steps to end its occupation of New Zealand, leading the United States and United Kingdom to demand Australian withdrawal a second time in July 1964. Australia again refused, once again claiming it was cracking down on a (in reality non-existent) communist insurgency. When the United Kingdom rebuked this claim, Australia demanded financial compensation for withdrawing from New Zealand, provoking the United Kingdom into introducing second motion demanding the *immediate* withdrawal of Australian forces from New Zealand to the UN. The resolution was passed, again mostly unopposed, in October 1964. Australia responded by again demanding compensation, and the United Nations responded by issuing a universal embargo against Australia, which went into effect in January, 1965. Following this, the United Kingdom and United States declared that it would be willing to move for the ejection of Australia from the UN and a possible military intervention if Australia did not withdraw from New Zealand by the end of the year.

Australia responded to the embargo by leaving the Commonwealth and establishing a Republic of Australia and an "independent" Republic of New Zealand. As most of New Zealand's electorate wished to preserve the monarchy, Australia could only enforce New Zealand's exit from the Commonwealth by instating a military dictatorship with New Zealand Army Chief of Staff Leonard Thornton as President. As part of the arrangement, 10% of New Zealand's national budget was diverted to Australia. The United Kingdom considered this an unacceptable response to the UN's order, and motioned for the removal of Australia from the United Nations for refusal to cooperate with UN resolutions and illegal regime change. Australia pledged to end any influence in New Zealand after 5 years, but this was rejected out of hand by the United Kingdom. Angered and according to some sources drunk, the Australian ambassador to the UN motioned for forced abidcation of Elizabeth II, something the UN did not even have the power to enact, but the motion was not seconded.

Though a vote was held on Australia's ejection, British Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home feared that the deliberations required for a UN intervention would give the Australians too much time to prepare for war. Douglas-Home had considered escalation likely, and in cooperation the French had stationed large numbers of air craft in the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia in July 1964 in preparation for a possible war with Australia. Following the confrontation between the Australian and British ambassadors in the UN, Douglas-Home contacted U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who agreed to immediately invade Australia to force a withdrawal from New Zealand. This "police action" was declared publicly the next morning, leading newly elected Australian President Harold Hold to request a ceasefire and hold peace talks in Port Moresby, a request that was accepted just minutes before the U.S. Navy was scheduled to begin an assault on Melbourne.

At Port Moresby, the United Kingdom presented its demands: that Australia end any military or polticial involvement in New Zealand, that New Zealand's military government be dissolved, and that a referendum be held in New Zealand allowing its people to decide whether or not to remain in the Commonwealth. Initially, Australia agreed on the condition that Hold be allowed a vote in the referendum, a demand that the British declared absurd. When rebuked, Australia claimed that British agents would rig the referendum and accused the British of warmongering. Australia then declared that it would not agree to the terms unless New Zealand remained a republic, even when the United States gave assurances that the referendum would be monitored internationally. Australia conceded to all of the demands only when the British ambassador was about to report Australia's refusal to London and Washington, a move that most certainly would've triggered a U.S. attack on Melbourne.

When the prescribed referendum was held, 74% of New Zealanders voted in favor of the monarchy. New Zealand was restored as a member of the Commonwealth, and its relations with Australia were forever damaged. Though war had been averted, the crisis solidified the Anglo-Australian Split; a dramatic shift in global politics as it had long been assumed that Australia was a core member of the Western bloc. Australia's invasion of New Zealand destablizied diplomatic relations in the entire Pacific region, leading Korea, South Vietnam, and New Zealand to establish the West Pacific Treaty Organization to increase defensive military cooperation while remaining in association with the United States and NATO.