Visiting Australia Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has lavished praise on New Zealand's "global best practice" relationship with its Indigenous people.
The defence minister was in Wellington on Thursday, meeting with a suite of ministers including New Zealand counterpart Andrew Little.
As Australia readies to consider its voice referendum, Mr Marles said the place of Maori in modern New Zealand "stands as an example not just for us, but the whole world".
"When I look at relationships with First Nations peoples around the world, New Zealand stands at the forefront," he said.
"We certainly look to New Zealand to learn lessons in terms of how those relationships can be better.
"When we look here at the way in which that relationship is given expression, making sure that our First Nations people are recognised in our constitution is profoundly important."
Australia does not recognise its Indigenous people in the constitution, which is the purpose of the voice referendum, quite apart from New Zealand's foundational document, the Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 between the British Crown and Maori chiefs.
That agreement, which gives Maori rights over lands, forests, fisheries and more, has been abused and overlooked for much of the 183 years since.
In recent times it has formed the basis of the Waitangi Tribunal and treaty settlement process, another of Mr Little's responsibilities.
The treaty settlement process, which began more than three decades ago, has now settled dozens of claims, with apologies, financial redress and the returning of culturally important sites.
Mr Little, who has travelled to Australia to advise Queensland and Victoria on their Indigenous recognition pathways, said "Australians are paying close attention to what we do here".
"I don't for one moment say we've got it perfect. We still have a long way to go. But I think there are things that we're doing here that could be of use to Australia," he said.
The pair of defence ministers also held informal talks ahead of a formal defence and foreign minister bilateral meeting in June.
Mr Little, who previously said New Zealand was open to conversations about joining the non-nuclear second pillar of AUKUS, said that wasn't discussed specifically on Thursday.
Mr Marles looked to counter Kiwi criticism of the pact, arguing the acquisition of nuclear submarines "contributes to regional security" and "is at the heart of why we've taken the step that we have".
Australia is New Zealand's only military ally, and there has been much concern in New Zealand that the AUKUS agreement could see Canberra drift its focus away from Wellington.
Mr Marles refuted those concerns by saying Australia wanted to expand its trans-Tasman defence relationship amid a changing geopolitical environment.
"There is obviously a greater alignment between Australia and New Zealand that Australia has with any other country on the planet," he said.
"We are kind of in, whatever we're in, together.
The Geelong-based MP also suggested New Zealand would be welcome pillar two members.
"AUKUS is about the sharing of technology. We're open to expanding that in the future," he said.
While in Wellington, Mr Little and Mr Marles walked to question time, where the visiting Australian took part in the Kiwi tradition of 'bridge run', when journalists descend upon ministers as they walk from their offices to parliament.
The pair are great friends, first meeting in 1989 when they were trans-Tasman student leaders.
"It worries both of our bureaucracies deeply that we actually know each other much more than we the people that advise us," Mr Marles said.
"We're scaring everyone half to death."
