In aviation, he had offered Air NZ the chance to buy Ansett at a time when the purchase "could have been far more advantageous to NZ than now".
"Instead, the NZ government seemed to believe that New Zealand's interests were the same as those of Brierley Investments."
Mr Keating said economic integration with Australia was far more important for NZ than "free trade agreements with Singapore, Hong Kong or Chile or chasing the illusion of Nafta (North American Free Trade Area) membership."
"New Zealand needs to take every opportunity to integrate its markets, including its capital markets, with the Australian market; to embrace, unilaterally if necessary, opportunities to merge its regulatory regimes and standards."
He said both countries should then look to Asia - "the fastest growing area in the world" - for economic success. That meant not just trade, but also regional cooperation arrangements and "opening ourselves to immigration and investment".
He also urged New Zealand to change the Reserve Bank Act, which requires monetary policy to be run with the sole objective of price stability.
"New Zealand's narrow legislative mandate to your Central Bank Governor is a hard taskmaster for someone interested in seeing the economy grow faster," he said.
"I believe that New Zealand should be making every effort to focus on activity as well as price stability."
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