Convergence and Divergence: Notes On Comparing Australia and New Zealand Experiences of Industrial Relations

Abstract

This paper attempts to explain the divergence of paths in the field of industrial relations between Australia and New Zealand under Labour in the eighties. Key themes in the paper concern stale autonomy, the relationship between the union movement and the Labour party in each country, and the different strategic contexts within which policies were formulated and pursued. This paper has its origins in a joint project undertaken by Mark Bray and myself, which will eventually come out as a chapter of a book comparing Australia and New Zealand under Labour governments in the eighties. The chapter attempts to explain why there has been increasing divergence between Australian and New Zealand industrial relations regimes in the eighties and nineties. This paper takes up some themes of divergence and convergence which arose while working on the chapter but could not be developed in that forum.