Throughout history, Australia and New Zealand have developed a special relationship due to their close geographic proximity and their similar cultural and colonial backgrounds. Ever since 1986, when New Zealand was suspended from the trilateral Security Treaty Between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States of America (ANZUS), Australia has been New Zealand's closest ally. As a result, the thesis specifically focuses on trans-Tasman defence relations after 1986, with a particular emphasis on attitude trends towards the bilateral defence relationship. Overall, the thesis aims to find out whether there has been a drift in the bilateral defence relationship between Australia and New Zealand since 1986. In this regard, it examines two main questions: first, is the Australian-New Zealand defence relationship is less close today than it was in 1986? The thesis findings show that there has indeed been a visible drift in trans-Tasman defence relations. In both countries, the relationship is much less talked about today than it was in 1986. Second, do Australians and New Zealanders view the bilateral defence relationship any more negatively today than they did in 1986? As the results show, the disagreement over defence spending, New Zealand's decision to restructure the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) as well as the ANZUS split were the main factors that have brought about some distance between both countries' defence policies and priorities. However, beside the downs in the bilateral defence relationship, there have also been ups embodied by the sometimes rather elusive Anzac spirit, the optimism that surrounded the creation of Closer Defence Relations (CDR) in the 1990s and, most notably, enhanced trans-Tasman cooperation in peacekeeping, primarily in the immediate regional neighbourhood. Importantly, Australians and New Zealanders do not see the defence relationship any more negatively today than they did in 1986. Indeed, opinion trends at all societal levels have been remarkably constant over the last two decades. Based on these findings, the thesis concludes that the bilateral defence relationship may well become closer again in the future, especially if both countries continue their close cooperation in regional peacekeeping. This appears to be the most promising way ahead for the Anzac defence relationship in the 21st century.

Through a theoretical framework of myth in genesis, operation and review, this thesis evaluates the relationship between Australian society and the myth of the digger, a tradition of Australian military manhood which originated in the First World War. The digger in genesis was a product of early twentieth century Australia???s need to establish for itself a distinct national identity. Deriving strongly from existing mythology of the bushman/pioneer and foster by the work of CEW Bean, it was quickly adopted by both governments and citizens anxious to promote the contributions of the Australian soldiers and to understand the relationships that these had with the emerging Australian society. The digger in operation from the First World War to the end of the Second World War to the early 1960s demonstrates the way in which Australian (enamoured of its simple and seemingly enduring qualities) Embedded the myth at the core of orthodox thinking about national Identity, despite its exclusivity and prescriptive, authoritarian control by conservative institutions. The era of the Vietnam War acted as a key review phase for the myth as its relevance was questioned significantly. Despite temporary rejection from many and fragmentation into a variety of icons, Australia???s brief flirtation with radical thinking did not last beyond the mid-1970s. A return to conservative values in the 1980s-1990s coincided with political reconciliation over the Vietnam War ??? by the mid-1990s, the digger myth had retained its position of relevance and importance within Australian culture, demonstrating its capacity to become adapted and appropriated to reflect an increasingly democratic and pluralistic society. The current prevailing version of the digger, the &quotnew professional&quot, demonstrates the parallel transition of Australian military culture. It co-exist with other representations, providing a scaffold through which individuals interact with it to develop their own understanding of the application of the digger myth to both their own lives and Australian society.

In contemporary New Zealand discourses the 1950s, 1960s and the early 1970s are seen as the era of the ‘Golden Weather’. This time came to an end when social change on an unprecedented scale took place from the end of the 1960s onwards. During the 1980s and 1990s the changes became very rapid due to transformations as part of the neoliberal reforms. Neoliberalism established new ways of governing the self through discourses of personal reflection, flexibility and choice as well notions of uncertainty, instability and risk. Risk discourses can be found at different junctures in New Zealand’s history, but contemporary discourses surrounding the self and childhood have shifted risk discourses in new ways. This has led to new regimes of rationality and practices of childhood and an increased governance of children and their families. This research documents the contexts and the interrelationships which influenced the new regimes of rationality and governance of childhoods in New Zealand. It also discusses the way a range of contradictory and conflictual cultural repertoires are negotiated and reproduced in the middle classes. In the last decades Pakeha and Dutch middle-class families in New Zealand have faced the prospect of declining fortunes. They have therefore adopted a cultural logic of childrearing which stresses the concerted cultivation of children. These regimes of concerted cultivation include risk discourses which affect everyday relationships and practices. This more global middle-class regime coexists with a local regime based on the New Zealand narrative of the time of the ‘Golden Weather’. Within this local repertoire a ‘typical’ New Zealand childhood is seen as safe and quite relaxed. This perceived childhood space is filled with beaches and other activities associated with nature which give children the opportunity and freedom to explore and develop a distinct Kiwi self. This local figuration is in contradiction with the often hectic pace of concerted cultivation and the anxieties surrounding risk discourses. Dutch middle-class parents in New Zealand also use concerted cultivation and they have adopted some of their host country’s figurations surrounding childhood and the outdoors. However, there is a difference in emphasis as Dutch parental narratives of self are more focussed on relationships with people rather than nature. / The Ministry of Social Development, Building Research Capacity in the Social Sciences Doctoral Research Award, The New Zealand-Netherlands Foundation, The Anthropology Department,University of Auckland.

In contemporary New Zealand discourses the 1950s, 1960s and the early 1970s are seen as the era of the ‘Golden Weather’. This time came to an end when social change on an unprecedented scale took place from the end of the 1960s onwards. During the 1980s and 1990s the changes became very rapid due to transformations as part of the neoliberal reforms. Neoliberalism established new ways of governing the self through discourses of personal reflection, flexibility and choice as well notions of uncertainty, instability and risk. Risk discourses can be found at different junctures in New Zealand’s history, but contemporary discourses surrounding the self and childhood have shifted risk discourses in new ways. This has led to new regimes of rationality and practices of childhood and an increased governance of children and their families. This research documents the contexts and the interrelationships which influenced the new regimes of rationality and governance of childhoods in New Zealand. It also discusses the way a range of contradictory and conflictual cultural repertoires are negotiated and reproduced in the middle classes. In the last decades Pakeha and Dutch middle-class families in New Zealand have faced the prospect of declining fortunes. They have therefore adopted a cultural logic of childrearing which stresses the concerted cultivation of children. These regimes of concerted cultivation include risk discourses which affect everyday relationships and practices. This more global middle-class regime coexists with a local regime based on the New Zealand narrative of the time of the ‘Golden Weather’. Within this local repertoire a ‘typical’ New Zealand childhood is seen as safe and quite relaxed. This perceived childhood space is filled with beaches and other activities associated with nature which give children the opportunity and freedom to explore and develop a distinct Kiwi self. This local figuration is in contradiction with the often hectic pace of concerted cultivation and the anxieties surrounding risk discourses. Dutch middle-class parents in New Zealand also use concerted cultivation and they have adopted some of their host country’s figurations surrounding childhood and the outdoors. However, there is a difference in emphasis as Dutch parental narratives of self are more focussed on relationships with people rather than nature. / The Ministry of Social Development, Building Research Capacity in the Social Sciences Doctoral Research Award, The New Zealand-Netherlands Foundation, The Anthropology Department,University of Auckland.

Capacity building is now mentioned synonymously with school improvement in much of the literature. However, research on the topic is limited (Hadfield, Chapman, Curryer and Barrett, 2004) and generally undertaken at the micro level of school functioning. There is an absence of debate on political, economic and social trends with implications for capacity building (Muijs, Harris, Chapman, Stoll & Russ, 2004; Thrupp & Willmott, 2003; Gray, 2000). Hopkins, Beresford and West (1998) claim the concept lacks clear articulation and definition. This inquiry explores capacity building for school improvement in one low decile, multicultural, New Zealand primary school. This research is framed by four aims: to undertake an investigation on processes that enhance improvement, namely, capacity building for school improvement; to define capacity building; to conduct an in-depth study of influences (external and internal) on capacity building for school improvement; and to record the journey of one school in building capacity for improvement. The inquiry is positioned within an interpretivist paradigm, employs a case study approach and grounded theory methods for data analysis and interpretation. Research questions that guide this investigation are: How is capacity for school improvement defined - what are its features? How do internal school factors - vision, stakeholder activity, culture and professional development - evolve capacity? In what ways do external wider societal factors influence the development of capacity? What links exist between capacity building and improvement as evidenced in this school setting? Data suggests that capacity building for school improvement is time and context dependent. Its conceptualisation is unique to setting. Capacity building for school improvement is a response to meeting individual, collective and systemic needs in ways that sustain equilibrium while moving in the direction of improvement. Attributes inherent in its construction are vision, stakeholders as change agents, school culture and professional development. The main practices are: knowledge production and utilisation; switching-on mentality; and division of labour: roles and responsibilities. From attributes and practices emerge four themes: situated activity; connectedness; leadership, governance and management; and outcomes. Attributes, practices and themes explain capacity building for school improvement in one setting. The capacity of an organisation, to manage tensions and address need, ensures individual, collective and systemic equilibrium while moving in the direction of improvement

The study of organisational development is central to the discipline of management. Despite an array of models, our systematic knowledge of how organisations grow remains limited, with the dominant models of organisational development offering, at best, partial explanations of firm growth. The dominant schools of organisational development generally emphasise one source of change drivers (e.g., internal vs. external), as opposed to providing a more holistic and complete account of organisational development. There is also a lack of focus in the organisational development literature on the phenomena of continuous change. The literature remains dominated by examinations of radical, second order or discontinuous change, which often provides useful information on how firms deal with crises, but provides little by way of advice on how to avoid such crises in the first place. / PhD Doctorate

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Bdellovibrionaceae (BD) are unique, predatory, endoparasitic, Gram-negative bacteria. As the world's smallest living hunter they prey on other Gram-negative bacteria giving them potential as biological control agents. Prior to this study, however, there were no reports of BD in New Zealand. The overall aim of this research was to isolate BD from New Zealand sources, characterise them and investigate their potential role as a biological control agent. The history, characteristics, life cycle and mechanism of predation of this organism are reviewed and the possibility of the industrial applications of BD, are discussed. In this study, a halophilic species of BD was isolated from fourteen coastal sea water sites around New Zealand. Thirteen isolates were characterised using proven characterisation techniques including general, microscopic and molecular techniques. It was found that the isolates were taxonomically identical or very closely related to each other and belong to the genus Bacteriovorax. The predation pattern of BD isolates was examined against a group of Gram negative bacteria in solid and liquid media. The predation patterns and efficiencies of the different BD isolates were similar, which confirms that the BD isolates are closely related, are selective in their predation, and prey on some Gram-negative bacteria but not all. The rapid loss of culture viability of BD is well known, but no studies have been reported to date on the survival of pure cultures of BD at different temperatures. The survival rate of BD in dense suspensions at different temperatures without host bacteria was investigated and it was observed that pure BD cultures can be stored with minimal reduction in numbers at temperatures ranging from 4°C to 20°C. However, significant reductions in numbers were observed at -1 8"C, 30°C and 37°C after 13 to 16 days. The effects of the 13 New Zealand BD isolates on the growth of a population of Photobacterium phosphoreum were examined to select the best isolate for in vitro application. All of the isolates tested had considerable reduction effect against P. phosphoreum. Some isolates were more effective than others, despite their taxonomic similarity to each other. The isolate OT2 was selected for further studies based on these results. The in vitro efficacy of BD was assessed against late exponential cultures of a seafood spoilage bacterium, P. phosphoreum, originally isolated from Cod fillets from Denmark. Loglo reductions of P. phosphoreum and some other Gram-negative bacteria ranged from 4.5 to 4.8 after 9 h of incubation at 25OC. BD was effective in reducing the numbers of P. phosphoreum at pH 5.5 to 8.5 and salinity 0.9 to 4.5% (wlv). A significant interaction was observed between the prey and predator concentrations and nutrient concentration. Prey concentrations were observed to be the most vital factor in predation and the most favourable predation conditions were at a prey concentration of -8 loglo colony forming units (CFU)/mL, together with a predator concentration of 3 - 7 loglo plaque forming units (PFU)/mL and a prey : predator ratio of >5.0. The thresholds of the prey and predator concentrations for predation were observed to be 3.7 loglo CFUImL and 3.9 loglo PFUImL, respectively. The trials carried out in this study focused on the efficiency of BD on a pure culture of one organism, P. phosphoreum and not on mixed cultures of Gramnegative spoilage bacteria, the normal condition observed in saltwater fish. There has been very little research in this field and the results of these trials suggest further investigation into the effect of BD on mixed cultures of Gram-negative spoilage organisms is warranted. Since only one isolate of BD (OT2) was examined against only one spoilage bacterium (P. phosphoreum) in liquid medium, the evidence of these findings must be restricted to these particular conditions. Future studies, using a range of BD isolates against a mixture of spoilage and pathogenic organisms in solid medium are warranted. The biopreservation capability of BD in extending the shelf life of king salmon was evaluated. A significant effect was observed at 20°C but not at 10°C. At 20°C the shelf life was extended through extension of the lag phase of growth of the prey bacteria and a reduction in total numbers attained. Sensory evaluation of the salmon product being tested confirmed that the shelf life was extended. However, at 10°C there was no reduction in prey organisms, which suggested that the strain of BD used is ineffective at refrigeration temperatures.

Bdellovibrionaceae (BD) are unique, predatory, endoparasitic, Gram-negative bacteria. As the world's smallest living hunter they prey on other Gram-negative bacteria giving them potential as biological control agents. Prior to this study, however, there were no reports of BD in New Zealand. The overall aim of this research was to isolate BD from New Zealand sources, characterise them and investigate their potential role as a biological control agent. The history, characteristics, life cycle and mechanism of predation of this organism are reviewed and the possibility of the industrial applications of BD, are discussed. In this study, a halophilic species of BD was isolated from fourteen coastal sea water sites around New Zealand. Thirteen isolates were characterised using proven characterisation techniques including general, microscopic and molecular techniques. It was found that the isolates were taxonomically identical or very closely related to each other and belong to the genus Bacteriovorax. The predation pattern of BD isolates was examined against a group of Gram negative bacteria in solid and liquid media. The predation patterns and efficiencies of the different BD isolates were similar, which confirms that the BD isolates are closely related, are selective in their predation, and prey on some Gram-negative bacteria but not all. The rapid loss of culture viability of BD is well known, but no studies have been reported to date on the survival of pure cultures of BD at different temperatures. The survival rate of BD in dense suspensions at different temperatures without host bacteria was investigated and it was observed that pure BD cultures can be stored with minimal reduction in numbers at temperatures ranging from 4°C to 20°C. However, significant reductions in numbers were observed at -1 8"C, 30°C and 37°C after 13 to 16 days. The effects of the 13 New Zealand BD isolates on the growth of a population of Photobacterium phosphoreum were examined to select the best isolate for in vitro application. All of the isolates tested had considerable reduction effect against P. phosphoreum. Some isolates were more effective than others, despite their taxonomic similarity to each other. The isolate OT2 was selected for further studies based on these results. The in vitro efficacy of BD was assessed against late exponential cultures of a seafood spoilage bacterium, P. phosphoreum, originally isolated from Cod fillets from Denmark. Loglo reductions of P. phosphoreum and some other Gram-negative bacteria ranged from 4.5 to 4.8 after 9 h of incubation at 25OC. BD was effective in reducing the numbers of P. phosphoreum at pH 5.5 to 8.5 and salinity 0.9 to 4.5% (wlv). A significant interaction was observed between the prey and predator concentrations and nutrient concentration. Prey concentrations were observed to be the most vital factor in predation and the most favourable predation conditions were at a prey concentration of -8 loglo colony forming units (CFU)/mL, together with a predator concentration of 3 - 7 loglo plaque forming units (PFU)/mL and a prey : predator ratio of >5.0. The thresholds of the prey and predator concentrations for predation were observed to be 3.7 loglo CFUImL and 3.9 loglo PFUImL, respectively. The trials carried out in this study focused on the efficiency of BD on a pure culture of one organism, P. phosphoreum and not on mixed cultures of Gramnegative spoilage bacteria, the normal condition observed in saltwater fish. There has been very little research in this field and the results of these trials suggest further investigation into the effect of BD on mixed cultures of Gram-negative spoilage organisms is warranted. Since only one isolate of BD (OT2) was examined against only one spoilage bacterium (P. phosphoreum) in liquid medium, the evidence of these findings must be restricted to these particular conditions. Future studies, using a range of BD isolates against a mixture of spoilage and pathogenic organisms in solid medium are warranted. The biopreservation capability of BD in extending the shelf life of king salmon was evaluated. A significant effect was observed at 20°C but not at 10°C. At 20°C the shelf life was extended through extension of the lag phase of growth of the prey bacteria and a reduction in total numbers attained. Sensory evaluation of the salmon product being tested confirmed that the shelf life was extended. However, at 10°C there was no reduction in prey organisms, which suggested that the strain of BD used is ineffective at refrigeration temperatures.