Poking fun at Australians has been something of a national sport for decades, but now New Zealand's tourism bosses want less teasing and more visitors.

The plea, which may astonish patriotic Kiwis, is a serious one and comes as New Zealand tourism agencies take the bold step of adopting Australia's national colours as a marketing tactic.


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This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.


Grant
I am all for a Be-Nice-To-Australians month. And from the 1st of April, I will be looking forward 1000 years or more to the next one.

Dick Martin
How can you be nice to people whom 90 per cent of do not know where NZ is or even that it exists? To the average Australian, New Zealand means zilch.

KC
It just shows how petty and pathetic and small minded many people in NZ are. Its all about jealousy and envy that Australia is now a better place to live than NZ. What does NZ have to be proud of? The child abuse, the youth gangs, the crumbling education sector, the so called public health system, the crime rate, the pathetic infrastructure ,the lack of vision, the ineffective self serving politicians, the joke that is the treaty of Waitangi?

Justus Tonks
We New Zealanders have long suffer from little brother syndrome, but I do not think it is such a big deal, really. We love to make fun about the Aussies and, presumably, they do the same to us. There’s nothing wrong about it. In fact, it might be the thing that builds our bond stronger. In most parts, except in sports, Australia has always been our closest ally. I enjoy my Australian jokes, but after all they are just jokes; I never really mean to insult them in any way. We are all adults, and we know the limit. Really, it would not discourage the Australians to come at all. But by writing an article with such a title on the most-read NZ daily paper, we might have insulted them and therefore hinder them from visiting our little heaven.

Trish de Thierry
We could send Australia back its possums. They are a protected species in Australia and children love making pets out of them.

Paul Brooks
My impression of New Zealand will always be tainted by the sight of our Sevens rugby team being pelted with bottles and other objects at the opening march past a few years ago. Security just looked on amused and the NZRU thought it a great joke. And please spare us the boring rugby jibes. Do no’t you know it is a very minor sport over here? A lot of Aussies do not even know the difference with the other rugby code.

B Herbert
Things would be truly rotten if we treated Aussies the way they treat us. That poor big dusty island is surrounded by sharks and inhabited by dingos and experience has taught us that neither species can pay their bills. I could not possibly be rude to a little Aussie. It is beneath my dignity to insult the useless.