The Australian and New Zealand Governments are slowly making progress on a trans-Tasman single economic market, Commerce Minister Simon Power says.Speaking to Parliament's commerce select committee Mr Power said "reasonable progress" was being m
The Australian and New Zealand Governments are slowly making progress on a trans-Tasman single economic market, Commerce Minister Simon Power says.
Speaking to Parliament's commerce select committee Mr Power said "reasonable progress" was being made despite changes in government on both sides.
Both prime ministers were engaged in the issue and any blockages at official level were "nothing a phone call couldn't solve", he said.
Mr Power said he was in contact with his Australian counterparts regularly.
He has six or seven Australian ministerial counterparts, including his justice portfolio.
"It has been very much a government to government thing, just because the federal government in Australia happens to be Labour and we happen to be National on this side, it actually hasn't made the slightest bit of difference."
Relationships were started by New Zealand's previous Labour government and National had managed to "easily replicate" that, at least on a policy if not friendship level, Mr Power said.
Additional priorities had been included in single economic market discussions, including intellectual property and 27 frameworks were in place and deadlines imposed to create specified outcomes.
"I share your view that we could do better. There must be some boxes for prime ministers to have ticked each time they meet rather than just meeting and saying 'this is a good relationship'," Mr Power said.
In many areas Australia needed to sort out inter-state discrepancies before agreement could be made with New Zealand.
