CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Sunday she wants to further harmonize her country’s laws with Australia’s — but a common currency and stock exchange were not on her government’s agenda.
Clark, who visits Australia Friday for talks with Prime Minister John Howard, said many measures could still be taken to improve the already close ties between the neighbor countries, short of a common currency and stock exchange.
“We’re actually looking now at legislative harmonization,” Clark told Australia’s Nine Network television.
“The way the two countries are going, there’s going to be very close compatibility, I believe, across a whole range of law (and) customs areas,” she said.
Australia and New Zealand 19 years ago negotiated a free-trade agreement known as Closer Economic Relations, and have already aligned their respective laws and regulations in areas such as commerce and food standards.
Clark said her visit this week would demonstrate the willingness of her government and the New Zealand business community to continue the harmonization process.
In the past two years, Australia’s government has shown no interest in suggestions by some New Zealand legislators and business people that the two countries should adopt a shared currency. Plans last year for a merger of their stock exchanges foundered.
Separated by about 1,200 miles of ocean, the two countries share a common British heritage in their culture and language, as well as their legal and political systems.
Australia, with 20 million people, is a major market for New Zealand, which has a population of only 3 million.
