If Australia and New Zealand could receive British ships discarded under the Washington Naval Treaty, who would take what?
Short answerAustralia would favor battlecruisers, while New Zealand would more likely choose destroyers and perhaps older armoured cruisers that it could crew and support.
NotesAustralia would take as many battlecruisers as it could support. New Zealand's smaller crewing base makes a group of destroyers and perhaps older armoured cruisers more plausible than another large capital ship. Australia, New Zealand, Lion, and Tiger were still in reasonably good condition after the First World War, yet the treaty system removed them. Retaining those ships would create a later replacement problem rather than a permanent solution. By the 1930s Britain would prioritize replacing the older R-class battleships over transferring modernized Renown or Repulse, so new Dominion orders could matter more than another hand-me-down.