May, 2005

The Challenge of China: transforming New Zealand

I welcome the opportunity to speak to such an eminent group of business , professional and public service leaders. Some of you may recall that I last spoke here quite a few years ago on the initiative of my late friend Bernie Knowles who was then a member of the Club.

CTU president Ross Wilsons speech to the Australia-New Zealand Leadership Forum, 29-30 April 2005.

The starting point for what I want to say is to put labour market issues in the context of the fact that Australia and New Zealand have a closer economic partnership, have been exploring a range of harmonisation proposals, and are both involved in significant FTA negotiations with China and in an ASEAN-plus context.