"I do worry that people are starting to imagine that a trade deal with Australia is somehow a substitute for being on the doorstep of a market with 500 million people, it's not" says former Australian PM Julia Gillard.
UK-Australia trade deal after Brexit 'is not a substitute for the EU', warns former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull
22/01/2020
Malcolm Turnbull said a UK trade deal with Australia would not replace the benefits of being inside the world's largest trading bloc.
The Morrison government has baulked at expanding a new post-Brexit trade pact to include visa-free work and travel between Australia and the United Kingdom, arguing any special deal that circumvented existing immigration caps could be deeply unpopular in both countries.
The government has promised to push for an end to tariffs on UK-made ice cream vans during trade negotiations with the US, Australia and Japan.
Australia’s ABC News said the comments were greeted “with a mixture of disbelief and laughter” in Canberra.
Allies of UK trade secretary Liz Truss accused of launching an ‘unprovoked attack’ on Dan Tehan on the eve of their meeting.
Dave Sharma says ‘megaphone diplomacy’ was behind British government suggesting Dan Tehan was a novice.
George Eustice and Liz Truss have reportedly rowed over a proposed trade deal between the UK and Australia.
SNP warn Brexit trade deal will sacrifice Scottish farming for zero tariff deal on Australian meat imports
18/05/2021
A UK cabinet row on allowing tariff free imports from Australia has exposed fears that a trade deal will destroy Scottish farming and open up another front in the independence debate.
British farming will struggle to compete if zero-tariff trade on lamb and beef goes ahead with a post-Brexit trade deal with Australia, the president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said.
NFU says British cattle and sheep farmers will lose out if Australian producers are given tariff-free access.
Ian Blackford claims Australia Brexit trade deal could see farmers and families 'driven off the land'
19/05/2021
Ian Blackford has claimed the proposed trade deal with Australia could see farmers and families “driven off the land”.
Boris Johnson has laughed off claims that he's planning “planning to throw our farmers and crofters under the Brexit bus” over trade negotiations with Australia.
Ian Blackford suggested that the UK's proposed trade deal with Australia would send 'farmers down under'.
Australia trade deal would cause cruelty not tolerated in UK and betray the public, warns RSPCA
19/05/2021
Agreement would undermine major overhaul of animal-welfare laws announced to fanfare last week, campaigners say.
UK has handed Australia whip hand in trade deal talks by being ‘desperate’, Boris Johnson warned
20/05/2021
‘It gives the Australians the ability to say, ‘we’ll dig in – here are our terms, but we’re not going to budge’.
Boris Johnson has been warned his prospective free trade deal with Australia could “decimate” the British farming industry, as opposition parties unite against a zero-tariff agreement.
A UK-Australia trade deal would be the “final nail in the coffin" for Scottish crofters, Ian Blackford has said.
Wales' cultural identity is at stake in the row over an Australian trade deal being finalised by the UK government, the first minister has warned.
Fears for future of UK beef farming as Australians eye up tenfold increase in exports after trade deal
20/05/2021
Boris Johnson has been warned that his prospective trade deal with Australia could spell “a slow painful death” for Britain’s beef farming industry, after one of Australia’s biggest producers said a zero-tariff agreement could increase exports to the UK tenfold.
The UK is expected to offer Australia a trade deal later on Friday, under which both countries would phase out taxes on imports over 15 years.
THE SNP have slammed Boris Johnson for “betraying” Scottish farmers over plans to go ahead with a tariff-free trade deal with Australia.
Sam Bright summarises the key issues with the UK’s attempts to forge new economic alliances after leaving the world’s largest trading bloc.