The Adam Smith Institute’s latest paper, by Australian Senator James Paterson, makes the case for free trade and movement between Australia and the United Kingdom and a broader CANZUK agreement:
This is a pivotal time in Britain’s history. The decision to leave the EU allows the UK to redefine its role in the world: to re-emerge as a global champion of free trade and a defender of the rules-based international order. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that not all trading partners are as reliable as long-term friends and allies.
Australia will welcome the return of a global Britain. Australia and the UK share unparalleled historical, cultural, legal and familial ties dating back to 1788. These ties have been strengthened through friendly rivalries on the sporting field and shared adversity on the battlefield.
There is now an opportunity to strengthen these ties in the short term through a comprehensive free trade agreement that will remove barriers to trade, in the medium term provide the basis for greater economic integration, and in the longer term provide the foundation for an ambitious wider CANZUK agreement involving the commonwealth countries of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
An Australia-UK free trade agreement will mean cheaper goods for consumers and better market access for producers. It will mean more Australian wine being sold in the UK and an end to the Tim Tam tax. And it will mean reduced non-tariff barriers to trade, which will boost services and digital trade.
The Australia-UK free trade agreement should contain mutual recognition of standards and occupations. This would allow goods to be sold in our respective countries regardless of variations in standards and regulations; and individuals to practice an equivalent occupation without undertaking further testing or acquiring new qualifications.
The deal should also include generous provisions to allow Australian and UK citizens to live and work in both countries. This would help revive the tradition of Australians spending a few years in the UK during their 20s – this was once a rite-of-passage, but numbers have plummeted by 73 per cent since 2001.
The UK-Australia relationship should be modelled on the Australia-New Zealand agreements: the Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement that provides a deep economic relationship through mutual recognition and the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (TTTA) that provides the ability to work, live and study across countries.
A full TTTA-style agreement may not be possible in the short term. If so, then an Australia-UK agreement should at least grant visa access to people with job offers in line with the E3 visas Australians can access in the United States as a result of the Australia-United States FTA (AUSFTA).
A CER-style agreement between Australia and the UK would be the perfect foundation, in the longer-term, for a wider agreement between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Strengthening the ties between these countries would create a powerful force for free trade and liberal values across the globe.
CANZUK is incredibly popular: support is highest in New Zealand (82%), followed by Canada (76%) and Australia (72%) followed by the UK (68%).
Neither an Australia-UK agreement nor a CANZUK agreement would require the UK to sacrifice its newly reclaimed sovereignty. There would be no ‘ever closer union’, no supranational bureaucracy, and no international courts able to override democratically elected governments.
Further, like the Common Travel Area for Ireland, the UK, and the Channel Islands or TTTA for Australia and New Zealand, relaxation of travel and work rights would be between independent nation states who would retain sovereign control over immigration and border protection.