Press & Media

CNZRIAS was founded in 2019 by Sir Nigel Pemberton-Lowe following an epiphany he has described publicly as "one too many flat whites in Wellington making it abundantly clear that this was all one country anyway." Since that date, the Council has assembled a multidisciplinary team and produced what it describes as the definitive evidence-based case for the formal integration of New Zealand as the Eighth State of the Commonwealth of Australia.

The Council notes that Section 121 of the Australian Constitution explicitly provides for the admission of new territories and states. The Council further notes that this provision has not been used. The Council considers this an oversight of some administrative significance.

The Council's decision to accelerate its public-launch timeline was prompted, in part, by the emergence of an opposition campaign known as the West Island Initiative — a New Zealand-based effort proposing, in apparent seriousness, that Australia should be annexed as a territory of New Zealand.

The Council's response to this development is one of warmth.

"We welcome the West Island Initiative as evidence that both sides of the Tasman have arrived, independently, at the same conclusion: that the current administrative arrangement between our two nations is suboptimal. The West Island Initiative agrees with us that we constitute a single coherent geographic and cultural unit. We simply differ on the org chart. They are future citizens of the Eighth State, and we look forward to welcoming them. In the meantime, we encourage them to join the waitlist."

The Council has dedicated an entire section of its website to the West Island Initiative — a measured, evidence-based rebuttal addressing each of the opposition's central claims in turn. The Council describes this section as "patient," "thorough," and "slightly disappointed."

Dr. Aroha Chen-Williams, PhD, Chief Economist of CNZRIAS and inventor of the Trans-Tasman Integration Index (TTII), presented the Council's flagship economic finding at today's announcement.

"A combined Australian and New Zealand economy would constitute approximately $1.95 trillion AUD in GDP — the world's 12th largest. I prefer to think of this as the world's 12th largest reason. The arithmetic is not complicated. The only complicated part is explaining why we are not already doing this."

Dr. Chen-Williams further noted that the proposed elimination of redundant Trans-Tasman bureaucracy — including separate agricultural inspection regimes, competing wool standards bodies, and duplicated ministerial functions — is projected to increase combined lamb export revenue by 34.7%. The Council notes this figure is directionally sound and the methodology is proprietary.

Bruce "Bruiser" McTavish, Cultural Attaché of CNZRIAS and former rugby league coach from Penrith, NSW, offered the Council's position on the cultural dimensions of integration.

"Look, here's the thing. Culture is basically food, sport, and what you call your mates. On all three counts, we are already the same country. The only thing standing between us and the Eighth State is paperwork, and I've never met a Kiwi or an Aussie who liked paperwork. So let's just get it done. We'll sort the details over a pie. A New Zealand pie — which, I will say, is excellent. Pavlova's ours, obviously. But the pie thing, we're open to."

McTavish confirmed that the Council's position on pavlova remains unchanged and is not subject to negotiation, mediation, or review.

Effective immediately, members of the public — Australian, New Zealand, and otherwise — are invited to register their interest via the CNZRIAS Waitlist at cnzrias.org.

The Waitlist is not a petition. The Council is clear on this point. Petitions imply uncertainty. The Waitlist is for citizens who wish to be formally associated with an outcome the Council regards as certain, and who would prefer to receive notification when the moment arrives rather than reading about it in the newspaper.

"You are not signing anything. You are reserving your place in history."

Upon registration, waitlist members receive a welcome message and a map. The map is produced by Meredith van der Kolk, Chief Cartographer of CNZRIAS, and depicts Australia and New Zealand as a unified territorial region. The Tasman Sea is rendered at accurate bathymetric scale and presented, in the Council's view, as the connective body of water it has always been.