School of Government

States of Mind: Australia and New Zealand 1901-2001

States of Mind: Australia and New Zealand 1901-2001

States of Mind is the result of an interdisciplinary conference of the same name that was hosted by the Stout Research Centre and the Institute of Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, and supported by the Australian High Commission and the National Council for the Centenary of Federation, 25-27 October 2001.

The twenty-one chapters in the book range across many topics that are relevant to Australia and New Zealand both as separate entities and also as part of the amorphous presence we know as Australasia. And they are presented from several points of view. For instance, the book analyses the efforts of white Australia and white New Zealand as they each attempted to assert political hegemony over Aborigines and Maori in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also presents a convincing ‘last word’ on pavlova and its origins. It deals in depth with the Tasman currencies and the nature of their relationship, as well as constitutional, defence, immigration, legal, taxation, trade and other issues. It presents an account of New Zealand and Australian history by examining cartoons produced in each country about the other, and it discusses the ANZAC memorial in Canberra as a way of interpreting the shared history and the relationship of the two countries.
The authors are Australians and New Zealanders. They include historians, political scientists, a member of parliament, lawyers, economists, consultants and commentators.

ISBN: 0-908935-68-4
Published in 2002

Paperback: $40.90 (add to basket)