New Zealand Ministers Oppose Common Currency With Australia, Citing Euro

New Zealand has no desire for a common currency with Australia even as the two nations seek to forge closer ties in the post-coronavirus world.

That is the view of two senior New Zealand ministers, who were speaking on a webinar Wednesday about prospects for a travel corridor between the neighbors. Asked if the so-called “trans-Tasman bubble” could pave the way for a single currency, Trade Minister David Parker was unequivocal: “No, and I think that would be a terrible outcome for both countries.”

“I’ve always been an opponent of a single currency and I remain increasingly of the view that it is not justified and would be to the disadvantage of both countries,” he said. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters concurred, saying Parker’s view “parallels mine.”