CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia and New Zealand may create a new joint military contingent that could deploy to assist in troubled areas of the world, the nations’ leaders said Thursday.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key made the announcement in the Australian capital.

"There are going to be defense and security scenarios in the future where it’s going to make sense for both of us to quickly and jointly deploy," Rudd said.

The contingent potentially would draw on the troops and resources of both countries. Rudd said the defense chiefs of both countries would craft the idea’s details.

"We believe given the bonds that already exist between our armed forces, their common training, the compatibility of so much of their equipment, this is actually a useful thing for us to do together," Rudd said.

A cooperative military arrangement between the two countries is not unique. In World War I, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, or Anzac, was formed and served in the nations’ defeat at the battle of Gallipoli, by Ottoman Turkish forces, in 1915.

In New Zealand, Green Party lawmaker Keith Locke rejected the proposal.