Formally delimited the maritime boundary between Australia and New Zealand, converting decades of de facto recognition into binding international law.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 25 July 2004
- Date in force
- 25 January 2006
- Northern boundary segments
- 27 straight-line segments, 28 coordinate points
- Southern boundary segments
- 9 straight-line segments, 10 coordinate points
- Boundaries defined
- 2 separate, non-connected maritime boundaries
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Since the early 1980s, when the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was established, Australia and New Zealand had informally recognised approximate median-line ocean borders between their respective territories, but no formal legal instrument existed to codify these boundaries.
On 25 July 2004, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff signed the treaty in Adelaide, defining two separate maritime boundaries—one separating Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island from the New Zealand North Island, and another separating Macquarie Island from Auckland and Campbell Islands—through precise coordinate points.
After ratification by both governments, the treaty entered into force on 25 January 2006, providing a legally binding delimitation of exclusive economic zones and continental shelf claims between the two countries, replacing informal arrangements with enforceable international obligations.
Political Outcome
Maritime boundary formally delimited between Australia and New Zealand; treaty entered into force 25 January 2006.