KEY POINTS:
A new poll says half of New Zealanders want a common transtasman currency.
The UMR poll reveals 49 per cent of New Zealanders favour a shared dollar, against 41 per cent of Australians.
This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.
Warwick
I am against any joint venture with Australia in respect of currency. Cannot see any advantage for anybody.
Stuart Cowan
Even the Brits have (so far) kept their collective heads, and not adopted the Euro but instead kept their own Pound Sterling. Combining our currency with Aussie is the first step down a road we don't want to take. - The next step is globalisation! You think the potential problems of Aussie making decisions that directly affect us is bad? - Well see what happens when the decisions are make in Europe / America by the United Nations!
Harley
From apples to business to sport Australia always plays hardball. I am a New Zealander not the resident of some future Australian backwater.The only people who could possibly support this half baked idea are those who perceive they can make money from it.
Rodney
An Anzac dollar will never eventuate. However there is still provision within the Australian Constitution of 1901 for NZ to become a state of Australia by, I believe, an Act of (NZ & Australian) Parliament. So if you really want to pay up to $600 PA in car registration or 5 per cent of the value of a house purchase as stamp 'duty', put your hand up now.
Jo
NZ better look at ways to protect itself. The country is small and relies on external products and skills to satisfy demand. How long will the current system be supportable? Look at ways to integrate now..as the EU did.
Paul Webby
Having a joint currency with australia will create havoc with economy as noted by many people. Sure it may make travelling between countries a lot easier, but hell we just got new coins! why change it?! Call me patriotic but personally I like having our own currency that remains strong year round without dependency on another major nation.
Scott Joseph
No, I do not think a shared currency would be a good thing, as we would be an afterthought. I actually support the government on this one, which causes me no small amount of angst.
Colin England
Switching to the AU$ will remove our sovereignty and destroy our local economy. Our local economy is what moves our society forward not the world economy. Free trade with the world helps but for that to happen you need prosperous local economies and local economies can only work with local currencies. If NZ changed to the AU$ you would see a decrease of foreign investment in NZ because the value of the exchange would suffer and subsequently a decrease in living standards.
Bob McMurray
Does Australia want to share its dollar with New Zealand? That's the other half of the coin (pardon the pun).
Dale
There's an old saying that an elephant and rabbit stew made in the proportion of one elephant to one rabbit is going to taste a lot like elephant stew. One dollar? One country? Everyone who wants to be treated like Australia's Ozark relatives please raise your right hand - the one with the six fingers...
James
Yeah sure that'll fix everything - lets keep pushing to become Australias second Tasmania..
Denny Morts
Yes. Helen Clark wouldn't no anything good for this country if 'it' tapped her on the back and said "Gidday". The benefits for NZ far outway Australias, which is fine after all the do still owe us for the "underarm" incident.
Barbara Williams
An ANZAC dollar is long overdue. Better still why not go all the way and have an ANZAC country?
Kiwi Teetee
If we adopt the AUS dollar, at least we can then compare prices and wages more fairly. Business won't like this easier comparison as it may drive up wage/salaries. However, borrowers will probably pay less interest, as the AUS dollar is generally more attractive to overseas investors. We actually should be moving to one single currency for the whole world, but that is still decades aware.
Alan Rutherford
If this amalgamation ever happens it will be goodbye to New Zealand. Australia will take over completely and New Zealand will have to bend to Oz. No, thank you.
Keith
This New Zealander doesn't want to get any closer to Australia by sharing their currency or their politics!
John
No way do we want to join with the Aussie currency, we would end up the very poor cousin. They do not rate us business wise yet they themselves are backward in how they do business. We are far more advanced.
Rossnz
The New Zealand standard of living is static while Australia's is booming. An ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Amalgamated Currency) dollar would provide practical and economic benefits to New Zealand. We should be pleading with Australia to take us in.
Shehryar Zaidi
We should have a common currency.
Rewi Kemp
To adopt the Aussie dollar as our currency would rob us of Economic, and therefore Political,Independance. We would lose Sovereignity and become a sneered at province of Australia. In view of the atrocious treatment of Aboriginals, what would happen to Maori? Australian Governments would send us as cannon-fodder, to be killed in American military disasters. No thank you!
Clare Swinney
New Zealand can expect increased pressure to go into a union with Australia, as the New World Order proponents engage in hectic activity to see their one world government come to fruition. "Evolution by stealth," they call it. There is a free e-book at policestateplanning.com by Michael Nield (2005), entitled 'The Police State Road Map' which covers how the globalists managed to get where they have and what the future holds. It is very bad news, unless you are one of the controllers/elite.
Sergio Rodriguez de Lima Souza
Ultimately there is no need for separate currencies: one single global currency would do nicely, with prices set by demand for products and services. On the way to get there, neighbouring countries should team up and combine currencies. For practical reasons, we should also include the Pacific islands in the Australian dollar zone. Later on, we would need an Asian dollar, which would have all of South-East Asia and our region covered. And so forth...
Dirk De Lu (Christchurch)
Yet another business group funds yet another rigged survey supporting their own self interest. The question is not do we want the dubious and meagre benefits of a shared currency; it is do we want our finances ruled by Australia? The answer is a resounding "no." We should not forget that this is yet another one of John Key's "good ideas".
Brian Sparrow
We should definitely have the same currency as Oz. I work as a Banker as well as owning a number of properties. My view is that the advantages well and truly outweigh the disadvantages. The main reason that our politicians will try and slow this process down is that some individuals think that they will lose control.
PD
Makes perfect sense to me. No different to the Euro being adopted as the common currency in Europe. This country's economy is much too small in today's global economy which makes its currency vulnerable as well, as we are currently experiencing first hand. As for this talk of losing some part of our identity, well, got over it and get on with it.
William Burt, Melbourne
I wish NZ would stop raising the subject of any type of union with Australia be it monetary or political. There is no interest in either subject here and to constantly keep raining it demeans you. Australian do not want and sort of union with NZ.
Steve
I'd love to see the wording of the survey. I totally agree with many of the sentiments expressed in the article that if the respondents to the survey knew that that would mean giving up our control of our currently independent monetary policies then the results would be much different. On the surface the idea sounds plausible and positive but not so for Kiwis once you dig a bit deeper... No thanks, although I do welcome closer relations with Australia.
Paul
Yeah right, of course she objection. Who doesnt want stay as PM as long as they can ?
Geoff Ambler
It seems to make perfect sense to me to adopt the Australian Dollar as our currency. In many respects we are already an economic 'colony' of Australia anyway, so adopting their currency just recognises the de facto situation. The politicians are more concerned with the potential loss of their ability to exercise power within NZ, so I largely discount their mutterings.
John Robb
Yes and the sooner the better.
Ashley
While I agree with Clark re the dangers of currency union with Australia - I wish she'd stay out of the debate. The fact that she is opposed to the idea would be enough to encourage right thinking NZers to support the idea!
Paul
Simple and only logical answer is yes. But this will take 10 years to happen as the politicans will procrastinate so we need to start now.
Merlin
Of course Helen doesn't want to join the Aussie dollar. Because if we did it would be all too easy to see how much worse we are off when compared to our Tasman neighbours. No lets keep the difference and lets keep everybody in the dark, eh Helen!
Mick (Brisbane)
Whats in it for Australia?
Ray Eyre
I am not in favor of a trans Tasman currency. I am however in favor of a global currency. It is so simple to go Global. All the world leaders need to do is introduce a global currency valued on the American dollar. Give each Yank a dollar for dollar swap. Give the Aussies a swap at a rate that depicts the dollars value, Give the Kiwis a swap at a rate that depicts our dollars value. Do the same to the rest of the world. Say a American earned $1000 a week, the Aussie would earn $805.41, The Kiwi would earn $661.71. Each country would be able to purchase goods at a global dollar value from any other country. Where is the problem in going global? There is no problem, the answer is so simple.
Simon Godfrey
I am in favour of not only a common currency but becoming a state of Australia and even adopting the A$UD in NZ. This may be a beautiful country but it is fast being destroyed by a political system in turmoil, which is causing not only economic problems but social and moral decay throughout the country at an alarming rate. Whilst Australia is not without its problems, they do have a much more sane political system with 2 houses of parliament, as opposed to NZ's MMP system, with 1 house of Parliament which alows Helen Clark and Co (and subsequent Governments)to arrogantly rush frightening legislation through and dabble inappropriately in social, moral and economic issues in order to serve their own political ends.When some countries get to the point we have arrived at the population rebels, in NZ however we just run away to Australia or further afield and this will only escalate under the current environment. Gradually leaving NZ to immigrants and welfare dependants.One thing I have learnt in life is that if you are not a good steward of what you have been entrusted with, you will ultimately lose it. Guess what, it is happening.
Chris Vooght
Yes I fully support the Anzac dollar.
Brent Russell
Yeah Right!This is another one of those Speights Ads isn't it? 49 per cent in favour? ..I don't think so, love to know where and who they polled.
Jim Stokes
Why not we already have close ties in other areas so why not have the same monetary units, certainly it makes sense.
Rohith Chandra
No. We should keep our entity and control our own economy.
John
A common currency is just another piece of sticky tape on the real cost of imports, oil, the cost of offshore debt servicing, and returns to international shareholders. Anything to push the dollar up, right?
I doubt many New Zealander's understand the real implications of a common dollar, and I think these polls are sampled from a demographic of those more likely to gain from an 'Anzac' dollar, unlikely to include anyone who has any kind of interest in New Zealand exports, which is more majority than minority. Anzac dollar or high dollar, it's all a house of cards ready to collapse .. but, suck it up while the goings good, the storm is a coming.
Raff Dellavaris
An Australian dollar is not necessarily the cure-all some people might believe it is, and sovereignty is the key issue here. New Zealand is benefiting from large scale immigration on its own steam, its own clean-green image, its' perception of being safe, and its independent political sovereignty in an increasingly dangerous global environment. NZers might have cause to feel more unsafe travelling overseas being more identified with Ausralia, because of a shared currency. If we ever do adopt another currency at all, let it be a more fair one - call it an Oceanian Dollar or an AustraNZ Dollar or wait till its time start thinking bigger with a Pan-Asian Dollar. Do we have free trade agreement with America? with China? With Japan? with Europe? In short, no.NZ is still too young to get married, it needs to develop more partnerships first. Just like in the strategic Chinese game of Go - gain broad influence first, specialize later or risk having your castle hemmed in and starved to be gobbled up later by global players with a broader outlook. Let's retain NZ's Jewel of Oceania status, which is more to our advantage than anything.
Nigel Cliffe
The reality is that Australia won't want to lose its dollar, so NZ would have to adopt the Australian Dollar not an ANZAC dollar. This is a very different concept to that of a shared currency. If I wanted to be an Australian in a state of Australia I'd already be living there. No thanks.
Jackie Prichard
I would like to know how can 49 per cent of New Zealanders support it when I wasnt asked about my thoughts. Nearly half of those surveyed sure but come one cant these people get it right and say it correctly. I am sick of this sort of thing using the numbers to suit them selves all they have to do is survey the right area or right sector like those that would benefit from it becoming an Anzac dollar and only a hand full of those that wouldnt so therefore getting the numbers. I dont know enough of the impact of it so have no decision on the matter at this stage but I do know I wasnt asked so it cant be 49 per cent if not all NZ people were asked need to add of people that were surveyed.
VRW
Cullen suggests that we would lose "control" of our local dollar if we gave up sovereignty of our cash. Exactly what "control" is he talking about? Certainly he is not talking about stablity of our dollar against other currencys as we see exporters pushed to the wall, he is not talking about Government issued currency as we see domestic infrastructure disintegrate as motorways choke and hospitals overflow, he is not talking about domestic growth as the new housing industry has been throttled yet again by crude failed RB interest manipulation and he is certainly not talking about the debilitating effects of currency speculation which is rife and about to step up a notch, all apparently completely outside of his so called "control". Ours is a small currency more or less dependent on the volume of domestic activity, of course it is vulnerable to sweeping world trends. Cullen's idea of "control" is like opening and closing a small door in a weir over Henderson Stream, compared with the ebb and flow of the tides that daily fill the Hauraki Gulf. Cullen talks as if our currency is sacrosanct, its as much a myth as Muldoon's attempt to "control" the kiwi leading to his demise.
For years our overseas debt was paid in British pounds sterling, now our major imports such as oil are predominantly paid in US dollars, debt largely dictates our current worth and the value of our currency, what sovereignty I ask derives from this situation where our debt has to be paid in a foreign currency when it is earned and traded in our domestic currency. Perhaps this is just another bankers myth. Sovereignty, is it not a central plank of Cullens Government to abide by every UN whim, to pave the way for One World Government, does not single currency come with One World Government. The Aussie dollar is only of use here if you allow the notion it is desirable to retain the Aussie banks as sole credit controllers of our economy. The two strong major international currencies are US dollar and the Euro, if either one of those was adopted, say US dollars, then we would have the level playing field in currency that would permit investment without currency risk by any US dollar denominated bank or finance company and any fund such as those holding petro dollars, we would have housing at 6 per cent interest rates or less, instead of the ridiculous 10 per cent it is now, we would have lower investment capital costs, greater interest in making investment in NZ with consequential job creation, we could have direct access to Wall street and tiered access such as mortgage aggregation, and a far wider choice of stronger, safer investment vehicles for our super. Although the US dollar has suffered some recent volatility and decline, the value of international access far outweighs the result of those relative effects or any minor gains retained of any such "control".
Unfortunately anything Keys says or does will simply promote the opposite reaction in Cullen and his hand picked bunch of list supporters, the fastest way to obtain consensus is for a major fund to simply offer low fixed rate US dollar transferable mortgages direct to the public. Within a decade the currency would be virtually USD, Cullen can keep his control it may then be worth as much as turning off the shower while the tides of the Hauraki course in and out, but he is welcome to keep his "control", after all it is "political power" is it not.