A
Celebration of Trans-Tasman Relations
20 Years of Closer Economic Relations
between Australia and New Zealand
Case Studies in Trans-Tasman Business
Trans-Tasman expansion has been a key international strategy of many Australian and New Zealand companies, often the first step. Here are some examples of companies large and small who reached across "The Ditch" to grow their international business.
ANZLAW
Trans-Tasman transactions typically give rise to issues under both Australian and New Zealand law. The ANZLAW initiative is designed to increase efficiencies for business organisations who want to take advantage of new markets arising from the removal of trade and investment barriers.
ANZLAW is an initiative of leading law firms Rudd Watt and Stone in New Zealand and the Minter Ellison Legal Group in Australia. It commenced in 1989 and was the first trans-Tasman association between major law firms in New Zealand and Australia.
The Minter Ellison Legal Group comprises Minter Ellison; Baker O'Loughlin; McCulloch Robertson; and Northmore Hale Davy & Leake. It has more than 440 lawyers working in the firms' offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, London, Beijing and Hong Kong.
Rudd, Watts and Stone in New Zealand has more than 130 lawyers working in its Auckland, Wellington and New Plymouth offices.
Digisport International, Brisbane
A sporting injury saw Barry Honan, Director of Brisbane-based DigiSport International, change from playing rugby union to building a successful multimedia sports training business. Mr Honan played with the Wallabies from 1967 until 1970 when a leg injury prompted him to switch to coaching. Mr Honan started DigiSport in 1992 using books and videos, moving later to CD-ROMs.
"Australia has international credibility as a sporting nation with many of the world's best sports people. I've used Ian Healy who's been proclaimed as Wicket Keeper of the Century'; Joyce Brown, who's been awarded the title Netball Coach of the Century'; and beach volley ball Olympic gold medallist, Natalie Cook, in our programs," he said.
Using Austrade's Export Access Program, DigiSport selected New Zealand as its first market, where the Company won a distribution arrangement with Roadshow NZ. Digisport now exports to more than 30 countries.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances in Australia
Fisher & Paykel, a New Zealand based international company, commenced business in 1934 as an importer of refrigerators and washing machines. In 1938, Fisher & Paykel started manufacturing under licence to several major international appliance companies. Driven by a desire to export in the mid-1960s the company moved to manufacturing products using in-house technology.
In 1990, Fisher & Paykel expanded its operations into Australia when its production plant opened in Cleveland, Queensland. Originally employing 78 people, Cleveland now
employs more than 400 people. Products from Cleveland are part of Fisher & Paykel's successful export push into the United States, the UK and other markets.
Australia is Fisher & Paykel Appliances' strongest individual market, where it is positioned at the high end of the mass market. The market accounted for 48% of the company's total appliance sales for 2002. An important sales milestone was also achieved in 2002 with 512,000 units.
In 2002 Fisher & Paykel won a number of Australian industry and government awards for smart environmental and energy design. These included, in September, the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (AEEMA) Award for Excellence in Product Stewardship, for recognising the environment throughout the product life cycle.
Heinz Wattie's Australasia
This Trans-Tasman food manufacturer was formed in 1998 by the union of two leading brands Heinz Australia and Wattie's of New Zealand. Behind each of these companies is close to seven decades of food innovation, customer service and corporate heritage.
This merger created an even greater force in the Asia Pacific market, strengthened further by close ties with Heinz Japan.
The company currently employs some 2400 people across 20 sites Melbourne head office, manufacturing facilities in Wagga NSW, Girgarre and Echuca Vic, plus sales offices in each State. In New Zealand, the corporate office is in Parnell, and the manufacturing facilities are in Hastings and Christchurch.
Exports have grown markedly in recent years via key customers in Japan, Taiwan and Korea and the company continues to build markets in the Pacific Rim.
Ducats Food Products, Shepparton Vic
Ducats, a small Shepparton (regional Victoria) milk processor, for 85 years, has since mid 2002, done the equivalent of selling ice to Eskimos selling dairy products into Dunedin, New Zealand.
"Austrade in Auckland put me in contact with a New Zealand broker the broker's distributor in Dunedin had been supplying a version of Milky Freeze to the area and due to supply problems was looking for a replacement" she said.
Milky Freeze is a low fat, flavoured milk, frozen into 100ml tubes.
Ducats' Sales and Marketing Manager, Linda Mintern, said it was a great thrill to see their first export order.
"The success of the New Zealand dairy export industry is legendary and I must say selling to them brought great pride and excitement to all 50 of our staff."
Montana Wines Pty Limited in Australia
From vineyards and wineries in all three major grape growing areas of New Zealand, Montana Wines exports wine to Australia, UK/Europe, US and Asia.
Montana's history in Australia goes back to 1980, when some of the Company's wines were available through other distributors. In 1994, Montana opened its own office in Sydney. Today Montana has a staff of 52 in Australia.
By going from an Agency arrangement to having its own sales force in Australia, Montana ensured that it controlled its own destiny and achieved growth far in excess of the market.
FAL
Foodland Associated Limited in New Zealand
Foodland Associated Limited is one of Australia's largest public companies and conducts operations in Western Australia, Queensland, northern New South Wales, and the North and South islands of New Zealand. FAL comprises 5 operating divisions, with combined annual sales exceeding $6 billion, providing employment to over 31,100 staff throughout Australia and New Zealand.
FAL has a major stake in New Zealand's retail and consumer finance sectors through Farmers Holdings, which operates New Zealand's only nationwide department
store chain with 71 stores. Farmers consumer finance business services over 415,000 customers operating over 500,000 accounts.
Through Progressive Enterprises FAL operates 151 supermarkets trading under the Countdown, Foodtown, Woolworths, Big Fresh, Price Chopper and 3 Guys banners. Progressive is also the franchise co-ordinator for the FreshChoice and SupaValue groups.
: 
BHP Steel: New Zealand Steel
BHP Steel produces a diverse range of products and delivers a myriad of steel services and solutions from its steel manufacturing plants in Australia and New Zealand. The company employs more than 12,000 people around the world, across a diverse range of occupations.
New Zealand Steel was founded in 1968 to convert the rich iron sands of Waikato North Head, near Auckland, into modern steel products for the New Zealand and export markets. It became a part of BHP Steel in 1989.
New Zealand Steel, the only flat products producer in New Zealand, operates BHP's fully integrated Glenbrook Steelworks. The plant employs 1,300 people and produces 600,000 tonnes of steel a year, 40 per cent of which is sold domestically and 60 per cent exported.
Ullrich Aluminium Company Limited
Ullrich Aluminium, an Auckland-based manufacturer of aluminium building products and extrusions, has expanded its business by opening an Australian operation and using it to expand to other markets.
"In our industry you need to build a trans-Tasman operation to get the business to a level which is sufficient to make an economical operation" said Mr Ullrich.
After first exporting to Australia, Ullrich Aluminium opened an Australian operation in 1987, which is now the base for its exports to the Indian Ocean, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Guam and Micronesia.
Attach Software Australia Pty Ltd
Attach Software Australia was founded in Sydney in 1981 and has firmly established itself at the forefront of innovation and application in accounting software.
Attach's head office is located in Sydney and the Company also has branches in New Zealand. The company employs over 70 staff with over half of these people being dedicated to ongoing product development and support, and utilises a network of over 300 independent local accounting software experts.頠
With experienced consultants in most major cities and regional areas in both Australia and New Zealand, Attach offers customers access to dedicated local support with on-site training and troubleshooting services.
Attach 's accounting software has also been installed in thousands of sites across the Asia-Pacific.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) is one of Australia's leading banking and financial services groups and, by assets, one of the top 100 banks in the world.
ANZ has been operating as a trans-Tasman business for 167 years. ANZ offers a full trans-Tasman banking and investment service for corporate and personal customers, as well as to Asia and the Pacific.
Banking is a service industry and business growth is directly related to the quality of the people within the organisation. The CER provides for the mutually beneficial free movement of people between Australia and New Zealand. In this way ANZ can ensure it has the right people in the right place, can provide challenging professional opportunities for its staff and encourage the free flow of ideas, business developments and customer service advances between the two countries.
The Commonwealth Bank in New Zealand
The Commonwealth Bank is one of Australia's leading providers of integrated financial services.
In February 1989, the Bank acquired a 75 per cent share in the New Zealand based ASB Bank Ltd, moving to 100 per cent ownership in October 2000. ASB Bank is a full service, national bank offering a broad range of products. Through Sovereign Insurance the ASB Group also offers a complete range of life, health insurance and investment products.
The Commonwealth Bank's trans-Tasman expansion has resulted in significant shareholder benefits. The ASB Bank has performed strongly, with earnings growth averaging 24% per annum for the past three years. In addition, key experience from
ASB Group's customer service culture is being shared both in Australia and throughout the Commonwealth Bank's overseas subsidiaries.
JBWere in New Zealand
During the past 162 years, JBWere has earned a solid reputation as a leading investment house. It is the oldest and only privately Australian-owned investment company in Australia, and employs a team of 1,400 people worldwide.
New Zealand became a keystone of JBWere's international presence when offices were established in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in 1992. In 1999, JBWere opened its fourth New Zealand office in Dunedin.
In 2001, to keep pace with investment globalisation, an office was opened in Singapore, and expansion of global institutional operations saw the opening of a new branch in Frankfurt, Germany in 2002.
