Trans-Tasman PMs target APEC meeting for extended TPP

Trans-Tasman PMs target APEC meeting for extended TPP

By Paul McBeth

Feb. 15 (BusinessDesk) – The leaders of Australia and New Zealand will work towards securing an extended Trans-Pacific Partnership by November’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting as they take another step towards a single economic market.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard told a business audience in Auckland she and her New Zealand counterpart, John Key, are working to “make the expanded partnership a reality by the time of APEC this year” in what would be a “major development” for the region.

That comes after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in November the TPP is a “priority” for President Barack Obama’s administration as it seeks to double exports over the next several years. The proposed agreement aims to create a free-trade block spanning the Asia-Pacific region, and has grown from New Zealand’s P4 deal with Chile, Brunei and Singapore.

Gillard’s trip to New Zealand culminates in tomorrow’s signing of the Closer Economic Relationship Investment Protocol. The deal will lift the threshold required by firms wanting to invest across the Tasman, and is part of the push towards a single economic market.

It means mean New Zealanders can invest more than A$1 billion before requiring screening from the current A$231 million. Australian investors won’t face scrutiny until they get near $500 million, from the $100 million cap at present.

“This puts New Zealand on par with the United States in enjoying the most liberalised access possible to the Australian investment market,” Gillard said in speech notes. “The progress of a single economic agenda will forge even greater business cooperation and investment across the Tasman is a perfect example of how we will keep breathing life into this agreement.”

New Zealand’s government back-tracked on freeing up foreign investment last year after a Chinese bid to buy large tracts of farmland sparked widespread opposition.

Gillard said Australia will follow New Zealand in putting a price on carbon to help meet the nation’s environmental needs and to “drive decades of innovation and investment that will fundamentally redraw the shape of the Australian economy.”

Last year, then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd dumped Australia’s proposed emissions trading scheme after it was blocked by the Senate twice. The failure to get it over the line led to a collapse in the Australian Labor Party’s support, and Rudd was ultimately rolled as leader when he tried to implement a super-mining tax.

(BusinessDesk)

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