OPINION: ANZAC Day is coming - and this year more than ever we can learn from that special legacy.
Let's not just remember the sacrifice, but instead build on it for the next 105 years with a modern ANZAC spirit.
We have made a different kind of sacrifice with the lockdown and are beating COVID-19 with Kiwi power. It is something to celebrate.
But Australia is beating COVID-19 as well, albeit in a slightly different way, and that is great too.
Instead of constantly comparing what each country is doing we should celebrate the successes on both sides of the Tasman.
Both countries need to work together more than ever before because as we move on from the health challenge, we face the economic challenge. It is just as scary in my view.
So much has changed. For instance, we have no tourists for the foreseeable future and neither does Australia.
We feel cut off from the world and so does Australia.
But we do have each other. On tourism alone, we need to work towards what I call an "ANZAC bubble" as soon as we can.
As soon as Australia looks truly safe, we need to get travel going each way - perhaps using pre-flight testing. We must start working out the details now.
Then we can have Australian tourists here again - they are worth heaps.
Australia can have Kiwi tourists over there - a five million person market is a fiscal dream right now.
Both of us are island nations with our own moats. We have a shared history.
The "ANZAC bubble" will allow us to see our families again. We can holiday there again and play sports again.
Both countries can open up and help the South Pacific. On trade and diplomacy, we can look at opening up to the world again.
The "ANZAC bubble" has to be the big move for both New Zealand and Australia to look forward to.
There is no better time to start the work towards it than this ANZAC Day.
Patrick Gower is Newshub's national correspondent.
