The secondpart of the question is that member's opinion.AustralianTrade Minister--Meetings 3.

MARK PECK (NZLabour--Invercargill) to the Minister for TradeNegotiations: What progress can he report from his meetingwith the Australian trade minister? Hon. JIM SUTTON(Minister for Trade Negotiations): Mark Vaile Rosetta Stone software and I had anexcellent meeting in Christchurch. We discussed a number oftrans-Tasman issues, and initiated a successful dialoguebetween two of our most important industries--dairy and ICT.We also focused on our close cooperation in multilateral andregional areas. No two countries work more closely togetherthan we do in the WTO and the Cairns Group. We alsodiscussed our plans to mark the twentieth anniversary ofcloser economic relations next year. Mark Peck: Can theMinister tell us whether that is consistent with the Speechfrom the Throne? Hon. JIM SUTTON: Yes. In the Speechfrom the Throne, the Government confirmed that it wouldcontinue to progress trans-Tasman cooperation under closereconomic relations, that it would push for bilateral andmultilateral trade liberalisation, and that it wouldimplement strategies under the growth and innovationframework. My discussions with Mark Vaile progressed each ofthose objections, and the two industries have indicated theywish to work more closely to target third markets. Drthe Hon. Lockwood Smith: Did he receive confirmation fromthe Australian Trade Minister that Australia supported theNew Zealand Government's plan to ride Australia's coat-tailsinto a free trade agreement with the United States,particularly in the light of Australia's previous decisionto shun a joint approach with New Zealand and make a directappeal to America alone? Hon. JIM SUTTON: There isnothing in closer economic relations that requires the twoparties to negotiate jointly with third countries. TheAustralians chose to make their own approach to the UnitedStates last year. We are also working hard on our proposalin Washington. Although Australia is not there yet, wewelcome any success it achieves, because in Australia andthe US the Federation of Tax Administrators would increasethe chances of one between the US and New Zealand. Rodney Hide: On reflection on the meeting with the Minister,did the Minister give any thought to harmonising ourbusiness laws with Australia more, and in particular takingour top rate of tax down to match that of Australia's to30c, if so, what was the result of his reflections? Hon. JIM SUTTON: Yes, harmonisation of business law has beenan agenda item between Mark Vaile and I throughout ourrespective tenures as trade Ministers. No, we Rosetta Stone Chinese did notdiscuss specifically the possibility of changing NewZealand's tax rates to be the same as Australia's, or viceversa, nor would we be so silly as to do so. RodDonald: Did the Minister's Australian counterpart brief himon Australian State level by local policies such as therecently announced Western Australian target of purchasing80 percent of goods and services from local suppliers, andwhen will New Zealand learn some lessons from AustralianGovernment commitments to local businesses and support theminstead of foreign ones? Hon. JIM SUTTON: No, we didnot discuss that. We rely on each other to observe our WorldTrade Organization and closer economic relationscommitments. Hon. Peter Dunne: Since 69 percent of NewZealand businesses have nominated tax boundary and customsissues as being the major issues in our relationship withAustralia, what specific steps were taken in respect of eachof those as a result of the talks held yesterday? Hon.JIM SUTTON: The talks I held yesterday were concerned withMx17D,ori agriculture and forestry. However, my talks last weekwith the Australian Trade Minister discussed many items inthose general areas, but none of which have reached thestage of agreement that could be announced.Question No. 2to Minister Hon. PAUL SWAIN (Minister of Transport): Iseek leave to table a document that lists the contracts AirNew Zealand has to provide engineering and maintenanceservices. Document, by leave, laid on the Table of theHouse.Fonterra--Commerce Act 4. DEBORAH CODDINGTON(ACT NZ) to the Minister of Commerce: In view of plummetingdairy payouts, is she satisfied with the Government'sdecision to exempt the dairy industry mega-merger that gaverise to the virtual monopoly, Fonterra, from Commerce Actrequirements? Hon. LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister ofCommerce): Yes. Deborah Coddington: In the light of theMinister's answer, what Rosetta Stone French is the difference between a dairyindustry monopoly and an airline industry monopoly, giventhat the Speech from the Throne states that ordinarycompetition law will apply to any sale of Air NewZealand? Hon. LIANNE DALZIEL: The Government's decisionto deregulate has given Fonterra a stable domesticregulatory environment in order to compete internationally.How Fonterra actually performs in that international marketis a matter for Fonterra's management and itsshareholders.