Gogarty wrote:

Why? One wonders. Surely that's not what the average Ozzie wanted. New
Zealanders seem to be more level headed about foreign entanglements. But
then, they are quite different countries despite being lumped as The
Antipodies or Anzacs.

Not sure, but if in Australia they use the first-past-the-post electoral model, un-representative,
un-Democratic anomalies can occur, such as we see in Canada where a dimwit Republican wannabe gets to
be Prime Minister with 30-35% of the popular vote. Polls done by conservative newspapers show 70% of
Canadians NOT in support of our soldiers being in Afghanistan fighting Bush's mythical "war on
terror", yet our PM keeps us there. But whether this rightard swing in Australia explains a Customs
regime that seems to be out of control is an open question.