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Story: United States and New Zealand

Britain sidelined

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Britain sidelined

This cartoon reflects Britain's unhappiness that the United States had rejected its request to send an observer to an ANZUS council meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1952. The previous year New Zealand had joined Australia and the United States in the tripartite ANZUS security treaty. This represented a significant shift in New Zealand's relationships – hence the look of dismay on the face of a matronly Britannia as Uncle Sam (the US) walks away from Commonwealth Hall arm-in-arm with two young women (Australia and New Zealand).

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: A-311-4-001

by Sid Scales

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Robert Ayson and Jock Phillips, United States and New Zealand – Allies, 1939–1984, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/32894/britain-sidelined (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Robert Ayson and Jock Phillips, published 14 March 2012.