27 April 2000

Greens say no to ANZAC dollar

The Green Party says it would take a lot of convincing before it would support the demise of the Kiwi dollar.

The propsal for joint monetary union with Australia has come from the Wellington based Institute of Policy Studies following a survey of businesses.

"Based on all the information available we would give monetary union a big thumbs down," said Green Party co-leader Rod Donald.

"The end of the Kiwi dollar would mean the end of the Reserve Bank, no monetary policy of our own and a significant loss of economic sovereignty," he said.

"Monetary union is being promoted as the next step in closer economic relations with Australia. It looks more like a poorly thought out 'get rich quick' scheme. Quite frankly CER has been a disaster for New Zealand.

"Since it took effect in 1983 we have had a trans-Tasman trade deficit for 17 years and it has been significantly worse in the last five years, with the deficit totalling $4.2 billion," said Mr Donald.

Ends

Rod Donald MP: 025 507 183 Jonathan Hill (press secretary): 04 470 6719, 021 110 1133

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