A six month data sharing trial is to be carried out by the New Zealand, Australian and Queensland governments to ensure people's criminal backgrounds are revealed.
The trial was announced by Prime Minister John Key who is in Australia for talks.
Pressure from Australia for data sharing between the two governments arose following the case of Joel Morehu-Barlow, charged with a $21.5 million fraud in Queensland, and who had a criminal history in New Zealand.
Key says that a lot of data is already shared but the new measures will go one step further.
He said New Zealand laws need to reflect that there is effectively an Australasian employment market.
Queensland premier Anna Bligh says the new arrangement will give Queenslanders access to New Zealand's criminal data before any other state.
"The pilot project would not only help to resolve the technical and legislative questions that will arise from this sharing of information, it would mean Queensland can access New Zealand records before any other state," Bligh said.
Targeting Asia
Speaking at a press conference with his Australian counterpart
Julia Gillard, Key also said the two countries need to work
together to make the most of Asia's economic boom, by marketing
Australia and New Zealand together.
"When Australia does well, New Zealand does well," Key told
reporters in Melbourne.
"It's plain for everyone to see the strength that's emerging in
the Asia region.
"That's not just China, it's a very powerful seismic shift.
"That presents a lot of opportunities, I think, to both Australia
and New Zealand.
"There are some real opportunities, I think, for us to market New
Zealand and Australia together and to do some things
together."
Key also thanked the Australian government for the help and
resources that were provided to New Zealand during last year's
earthquakes in Christchurch and the Pike River mine disaster.
He had hoped Gillard would move towards making it easier for New Zealanders to get long term residency, after many kiwis weren't able to access government grants following the Queensland floods.
But Gillard was unwilling to commit to the proposal, saying she is continuing to look at it.
The meeting today was the second ever joint cabinet meeting between New Zealand and Australian ministers, the first was held in Sydney in 2009.
The two prime ministers were joined by by seven ministers from each country covering portfolios including justice, health and commerce.
New defense framework
A new platform to increase defence co-operation and streamline military operations between Australia and New Zealand was also announced today following the meeting.
It could see the two defence forces buying equipment together in
the future.
Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman and his Australian counterpart,
Stephen Smith, announced the Australia-New Zealand Defence
Relationship Framework, which they say builds on the Anzac
tradition of trans-Tasman military collaboration.
The framework includes closer co-operation to develop and buy
military hardware and services and to share the defence burden in
the region.
It follows a 2011 review to shape future strategic co-operation and
set priorities for the defence relationship.
Under the new framework, both nations will have regular discussions
on strategy between senior civilian and military personnel.
Speaking today, Coleman said the two nations had to work more
co-operatively on defence services.
"In a more complex and expensive strategic operating environment,
New Zealand and Australia have to find ways of working more closely
together, so that we complement each other's effectiveness," he
said.
A new memorandum of arrangement on co-operation in the fields of
defence research and development was also signed by the defence
ministers.
This will include collaborative research in future naval
helicopters and counter-IED (improvised explosive device)
measures.
