Grim message from free trade survey

By Greg Ansley

CANBERRA - As New Zealand gears up for September's crucial Apec summit, an Australian study confirms that the country has yet to be sold on the benefits of free trade.

A comparison of attitudes to foreign trade in 16 nations, conducted in major cities, shows that free trade is supported by fewer than half of the people of Auckland.

On a points system designed to rate the level of support, free trade in New Zealand's largest city gained only 47 points out of 100.

Perhaps ominously for negotiators as they prepare for a new WTO round against a backdrop of rising protectionism, Aucklanders were among the strongest advocates of open markets. Support was stronger only in Tokyo, where it reached a peak of 61 points, and in Oslo, Prague and Stockholm.

In Australia and the US, both key trade allies, public acceptance of open borders dived well below Auckland's. In the US, support for free trade won only 37 points.

And the study by the Australian National University's Research School of Social Sciences indicates Canberra's aggressive advocacy of free trade is out of step with broad public opinion.

Published in the Australian Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research's Australian Social Monitor, the study showed support of just 27 points in mainland state capitals for lower trade barriers.