Don

Federation was mooted a few years ago, I remember reading - does anyone remember anything about it? Is the idea still current or likely to be resurrected?

I seem to remember it was a federation along Spanish lines, ie common currency and fiscal/monetary/general taxation policy, common defence and foreign policies,

but

autonomy as regards implementation of social policies (schools, hospitals etc)

Cheers - Don

Robert Edwards

Are you speaking of "Republic" which was voted on in Australia a few years
ago and rejected, it comes up now and then with various models and although
many of us believe it will happen we also don't think it is that high a
priority right now.

Rob Edwards
www.australianaustralia.com.au

"pleasancefamily" wrote in message
news:431713.1033572310@britishexpats-
.com...
    > Federation was mooted a few years ago, I remember reading - does anyone
    > remember anything about it? Is the idea still current or likely to be
    > resurrected?
    > I seem to remember it was a federation along Spanish lines, ie common
    > currency and fiscal/monetary/general taxation policy, common defence and
    > foreign policies,
    > but
    > autonomy as regards implementation of social policies (schools,
    > hospitals etc)
    > Cheers - Don
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Jaj

The only Federation model that would be acceptable to Australia would
involve New Zealand becoming a state of Australia. NZ would have the
same level of autonomy as NSW or WA in that case.

NZ was involved in the early Federation negotiations and gets a
mention in section 6 of the Australian constitution. But these days
I'm not sure if there's much real support for the idea of NZ becoming
part of Australia on either side of the Tasman.

There is regular talk of a common Aus/NZ dollar, but again Australia
won't accept any supranational central bank. On the other hand, if NZ
decides to unilaterally adopt the Australian dollar as its currency,
it will be welcome to do so.

Jeremy

    >On Wed, 02 Oct 2002 15:25:10 +0000, pleasancefamily wrote:
    >Federation was mooted a few years ago, I remember reading - does anyone
    >remember anything about it? Is the idea still current or likely to be
    >resurrected?
    >I seem to remember it was a federation along Spanish lines, ie common
    >currency and fiscal/monetary/general taxation policy, common defence and
    >foreign policies,
    >but
    >autonomy as regards implementation of social policies (schools,
    >hospitals etc)
    >Cheers - Don
    >--
    >Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Don

I found lots of history (ie when NZ decided not to join the Aus federation a century ago) but nothing very recent except on currency union with Aus, eg http://www.financewise.com/public/ed...d/currency.htm

'The debate over currency union will not go away. New Zealand is the smallest industrialised country in the world to pursue an independent monetary policy (the currencies of most small countries are pegged to a larger currency). But the issue tends to crop up whenever the Australian economy is performing better than New Zealand’s, and was last seriously discussed a decade ago. At that time, business leaders concluded that currency union would be inappropriate.


But according to Lesley Haines, director of policy co-ordination and development at the New Zealand treasury, the debate has moved on. “The benefits of having our own currency from an economic point of view are less than we had thought a decade ago,� she says.


Another option would be for New Zealand to adopt the US dollar. This clearly would entail losing all influence over monetary policy, but that might not be a bad thing. The IPS study concluded that currency union with the US could bring greater economic gains to New Zealand than union with Australia. One of the biggest advantages would be for interest rates. New Zealand’s interest rates averaged 4.3% higher than in the US from 1990 to 1997, and the IPS suggests that joining a US-centred currency bloc would reduce both the level and volatility of New Zealand’s interest rates. “Were we to link up with the US, we would probably knock one or two percentage points off our interest rates,� says the IPS’s Bowden, one of the study’s authors. Basic savings in forex transaction costs for New Zealand if it linked with the Australian dollar have been estimated at NZ$130 million a year. Currency union with the US would create greater savings still, as the US currency dominates international trade. etc'