After the Veto : Australasian Commercial Policy in the Mid-Sixties

The failure of Britain's application to join the EEC in 1961-3 did not eliminate the commercial uncertainty facing Australia and New Zealand. It was expected that Britain would apply again later, and in the meantime strike a hard commercial bargain with the dominions. This article shows how policy-makers in Australia and New Zealand fought to preserve their access to the British market after 1963, and to respond to the challenges posed by Japan's proposals for Pacific economic cooperation. External uncertainty brought Australia and New Zealand much closer together during the 1960s. The most enduring legacy of this period was the NAFTA agreement of 1965, which was the first step towards trans-Tasman economic integration