Nationalist rhetoric in Australia and New Zealand in the twentieth century: the limits of divergence

Abstract

This thesis analyses the nationalist rhetoric of successive Australian and New Zealand governments over the twentieth century. It uses political rhetoric to analyse the way that ideas about race, Empire and geopolitical identities were invoked, transformed and discarded in Australia and New Zealand. Each chapter in this thesis is a case study of an event that caused the two governments to articulate visions of Australia and New Zealand and their place in the responses to a range of issues -to become even more pronounced. At the same time, an analysis of political rhetoric in the two countries points to important ongoing similarities that iii reflect the fact that governments on both sides of the Tasman were affected by similar processes and concerned with similar issues. They were both coming to terms with Britain's decline and developing post-British national identities that addressed the myriad challenges the two countries faced.iv