NZ and Aus to work on Anzac force

CANBERRA - New Zealand and Australia are working on linking their defence forces to create a new Anzac contingent, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said today.

The group would potentially draw on the troops and resources of both the Australian and New Zealand governments, although the details were yet to be worked out.

Mr Rudd and his New Zealand counterpart John Key announced the plan today at Canberra's Parliament House, one of several stops in Mr Key's five-day Australian tour.

"We're both willing to explore the possibility of forming, over time, an Anzac contingent...which might be commonly deployed to various security environments in the future," Mr Rudd told reporters.

"We believe given the bonds that already exist between our armed forces, their common training, the compatibility of so much of their equipment (that) this is actually a useful thing for us to do together."

Defence chiefs of both countries would to work on the detail.

- AAP

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