[tcheard]

I'm a kiwi, who lived in the US from the age of 8 to 13 (1998 - 2003).

I remember getting into a massive argument with an Elementary school teacher who tried to tell me I was wrong when I told her that my country was not in fact part of the country of Australia (not just continent, but she was adamant it was part of the Australian country).

[batiudrami]

Bad news mate, much like we claim anyone famous from NZ, we also claim the entire land mass:

Australian constitution, premable [corrected]:

"The States shall mean such of the colonies of New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia, including the northern territory of South Australia [...] and each of such parts of the Commonwealth shall be called a State."

[femto]

Apparently those words mean NZ is "pre-approved" to join the Commonwealth of Australia and she can unilaterally join at a time of her choosing [1]. If true, it would make for an interesting scenario if acted upon.

[1] http://www.diskiller.net/nzstatehood/

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The words are actually in section 6 (definitions) of the preamble, not section 6 in the main body of the constitution.

[batiudrami]

Hah, yeah I wasn't really suggesting it. Just one of those quirks. I am no lawyer but I suspect we couldn't write up some paperwork to claim a country without them agreeing to it anyway.

[xupybd]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_6_of_the_Constitution_...