This was published 7 years ago
Why Kiwis take offence when they are mistaken for Aussies
Girls write traditional Kiwi greetings on their hands in New Zealand.Credit: Getty Images
You can understand why the Canadians do it. They have such similar accents to Americans, such similar cultural mannerisms, that it's very easy to mistake a Canadian traveller for one of their southern neighbours.
That's why a lot of Canadian backpackers sport those telltale red and white flags stuck to their luggage, as a way of broadcasting to the world that they're not American. No, they didn't vote for Donald Trump. No, they're not the world police. No, they're not responsible for Britney Spears. (Though with that flag they are admitting liability for Justin Bieber and Shania Twain, so it's an awkward trade-off.)
Canadians don't like being asked if they're American. I suppose that's understandable. There are even some American tourists who sport the maple leaf as a way of avoiding painful questions about gun laws and anti-terror wars and all those other topics people like to bail Americans up to talk about when they're travelling. It's easier to just pretend you're one of Justin Trudeau's shiny happy people.
This practice by both Canadians and Americans is well known throughout the travelling world. What's not so often mentioned, however, is there might just be a southern hemisphere equivalent – there might be another nation of people that really doesn't like being mistaken for one of its close neighbours.
You've already figured it out, haven't you? A recent survey by the travel insurance company 1Cover found that only 4 per cent of Australian travellers have ever been mistaken for a Kiwi and been offended by that suggestion. Fair enough, right?
Meanwhile, however, it found that a fairly whopping 22 per cent of travellers from New Zealand had been mistaken for Australians and had really not enjoyed the experience. That's more than one in five Kiwis who, at some point in their travelling lives, have been asked if they're Australian and been offended by the suggestion.
What gives, New Zealanders? Why don't you like being mistaken for Aussies? Why does this error bother you so much more than it does us the other way around?
The reasons are actually pretty obvious. There are plenty of parallels between the relationship Canadians have with Americans and the way New Zealanders probably feel about their Australian brethren.
For each there's a little brother-big brother thing going on, and both Kiwis and Canadians are probably pretty happy, for any number of reasons you care to mention, to separate themselves from their older siblings. Kiwis, after all, are fiercely proud of many things, but one of the most important of those is not being from Australia.
New Zealanders are similar to us, but they're also very different. Everyone likes Kiwis. No one has a bad word to say about them. It's the same as everyone liking Canadians. The good people of New Zealand are friendly, they're kind, and they're not currently engaged in international warfare with anyone.
Australians and Americans can't quite claim the same thing. We Aussies used to be universally loved, but the sheen might be wearing off slightly. There have been too many drunken chantings of "Aussie Aussie Aussie", too many tour groups of boozy gap-year students, too many blokes in their budgie smugglers in south-east Asia, too many impromptu renditions of the national anthem in crowded bars for us to pass ourselves off as harmless larrikins any more.
The term "Australian" comes with baggage these days. We've got Pauline Hanson strolling the corridors of power. We've got people locked up on faraway islands in our name. We've got petulant sports stars – hi, Nick Kyrgios – throwing tantrums. You can see why other countries' citizens would want to distance themselves from that.
So does it work the other way around? In the same way as some Americans would claim to be Canadian just to avoid the hassles, would Australians ever claim to be Kiwis?
I don't think that's the case just yet. And besides, you'd never get away with the charade. The first Kiwi you bumped into would call your bluff.
However, here's the thing: if someone mistook me for a New Zealander, I wouldn't be offended. I don't know whether I'd go to the extent of then pretending to be one, but still, I wouldn't be offended. If anything it would be a compliment.
I'd take that to mean I seemed like a friendly, unassuming sort of person. I'd take that to mean I wasn't making too much of an arse of myself.
You'll never catch me with a New Zealand flag on my backpack, or wearing an All Blacks rugby jersey. In fact you'd never see me with my own country's flag on my luggage. But you can understand why the Kiwis would do it.
See also: The eight countries you'll always want to go back to
See also: 20 things that will shock first time visitors to New Zealand
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