Australians and News Zealanders increasingly support shared currency

April 23, 2007

A recent survey has shown that the public support of a shared currency between Australia and New Zealand has risen.

The Australian survey, released at the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum, has shown that the support for a shared currency in New Zealand is at 49%. The Australian support is slightly lower at 41%.

Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand, has said that New Zealand would not have a shared currency, but an Australian currency. She fears that the new dollar would be run by an Australian Reserve Bank, driving interest rates that are unrelated to the state of the New Zealand economy. Miss Clark told the New Zealand Press Association, "The convergence of trying to bring the two [economies] together could be quite rough on the smaller party [New Zealand]."

Opposition National party leader, John Key is supporting an exploration of the idea of a shared currency.