Government take on Anzec 'visionless'

By KEVIN TAYLOR

Businesses are disappointed at what they see as the Government's lack of vision in rejecting a push to expand New Zealand's economic relationship with Australia.

In April, Parliament's foreign affairs, defence and trade committee proposed a transtasman economic community, Anzec, as a way of advancing the relationship.

But the Government has rejected the idea in its official response, saying the costs and benefits of an economic community had not yet been sufficiently demonstrated. A "Minister for Australia" was also rejected.

The chairman of the Australia-New Zealand Business Council, David Truscott, said he was disappointed at the lack of vision in the response.

"It really needed some visionary leadership to take the thing a giant step forward.

"We wanted to take the relationship up to a different plane, and get the two Governments to agree to virtually a complete common market."

The council had warned the committee that CER could stagnate and wither, depending on decisions made over the next year or so.

Former committee chairman Labour MP Graham Kelly was also disappointed with the Government's response.

The committee spent two years on a wide-ranging inquiry into the economic and trade relationship with Australia.

It made 17 major recommendations, the main one being that the two Governments establish a single economic community.

This would include resolving hard issues relating to tax harmonisation, the aviation market, immigration, insolvency, broadcasting, quarantine and investment.

The Government's response, written by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials, welcomed the Anzec proposal as a contribution to public debate about the future of transtasman policy and how far New Zealanders wanted to go with integration.

But there was already a high degree of economic integration, joint agencies were formed or coming, and moves were already being made to extend harmonisation of business laws, standards and regulations.

"A substantial part of what might constitute a transtasman economic community already exists or is being actively pursued," the response said.

A marked increase in integration could affect NZ's ability to make decisions for itself.