Progress steady on transtasman market, says Power

The Australian and New Zealand Governments are slowly making progress on a transtasman single economic market, Commerce Minister Simon Power says.

Speaking to Parliament's commerce select committee Mr Power said "reasonable progress" was being made despite changes in government on both sides.

Both prime ministers were engaged in the issue and any blockages at official level were "nothing a phone call couldn't solve", he said.

Mr Power said he was in contact with his Australian counterparts regularly.

"Just because the federal Government in Australia happens to be Labour and we happen to be National, it actually hasn't made the slightest difference."

Relationships were started by New Zealand's previous Labour Government and National had managed to "easily replicate" that, at least on a policy if not friendship level, Mr Power said.

Additional priorities had been included in single economic market discussions, including intellectual property, and 27 frameworks were in place and deadlines imposed to create specified outcomes.

- NZPA