Have a banana, mate

New Zealand has ended a decade-old ban on importing Australian bananas, restoring Australia's sole export market for the fruit.

The ban had been in place since a 1995 outbreak of papaya fruit fly. The outbreak was eradicated in 1999, but New Zealand maintained the ban because it was believed green bananas acted as a host for the flies.

Australian Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran said recent research showed that was not the case.