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A COMMON currency and corporate tax rate in a single Australasian market are strongly backed by business in New Zealand, according to a Sunday Star-Times poll.
Both measures have been discounted by Finance Minister Michael Cullen - although he qualified his rejection of a shared currency.
He told the Star-Times a common currency could be considered, but not now.
"It may raise its head when we achieve a single Australasian market and the level of integration between our two economies is such that a common currency may seem a natural move," said Mr Cullen.
He also acknowledged a common currency would mean New Zealand adopted the Australian dollar.
"That's one of the reasons 1 remain very sceptical about it," he said.
But New Zealand's small and medium-sized businesses think otherwise.
A poll on a common currency, corporate tax rate, business regulatory framework and sharemarket was conducted among nearly 1000 businesses for the Star-Times by the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern) and the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce.
Around three-quarters of the 200 responses strongly backed the first three ideas. Opinions were divided on a common sharemarket.
Canterbury Chamber chief executive Peter Townsend said the strong support for a common currency was no surprise.
"Many Canterbury manufacturers do a lot of business in the Australian market, and having to deal in just one currency would be hugely advantageous," he said.
But, surprisingly, support for a common currency was not as strong in the North Island areas polled.
Economist Sir Frank Holmes, of the New Zealand Institute of Policy Studies, said he wanted common currency discussed as a "serious proposition".
It made sense for the two countries to work more closely together on common issues, he said.
The desire from business for a common corporate tax rate with Australia won strong support from PricewaterhouseCoopers chairman and leading New Zealand tax expert John Shewan. He said New Zealand's 33 per cent corporate tax rate compared with Australia's 30 per cent. put New Zealand at a distinct disadvantage when it came to attracting new investment.
But Mr Cullen ruled out a common corporate tax rate, citing the complexity of the differences between New Zealand's and Australia's tax systems.
"Headline corporate tax rates are increasingly an important factor investors use to weigh up places for investment," Mr Shewan said.
Competition for foreign investment was intensifying around the world and the global trend was to drop these tax rates.