Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. When will Australia's free trade agreement with the United Kingdom come into force, and how will it benefit Australia's businesses, Australia's consumers and the Australian economy overall?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lyons for his question. Indeed, in the United Kingdom, along with Prime Minister Sunak, last week I announced that the free trade agreement would come into force on 31 May. That follows the final parliamentary processes being completed in the UK just last week and our processes being completed before parliament rose at the end of last year.

This FTA opens up new opportunities and delivers significant benefits for Australian businesses and consumers, for Australian farmers and for Australian workers and travellers. It will lift our entire economy. It will eliminate tariffs on nearly all exports to the United Kingdom, making an enormous difference. I was at the Bondi Green cafe there in London, one of 14 as part of a business that's been established over the last decade, providing the best food, produce and wine that Australia can produce to UK customers. That is a good thing. What it will do is enable the price of those to be decreased substantially, but it will also make it easier for Australians to work in the UK, raising the working holiday visa age from 30 to 35 and increasing the maximum stay from two years to three years. It will eliminate tariffs on imports from the UK. This will reduce costs to households and businesses and will, therefore, have a deflationary impact on our economy.

Together with the historic AUKUS partnership, we're strengthening our relationship with a longstanding partner and friend. I had the privilege of going with the Defence secretary of state up to Barrow to look at their manufacturing of submarines that occurs there, and that is where I met Australian workers who are already being trained there. The relationships we are building with countries around the world are vital to Australia's strategic interests and to a thriving economy at home. In addition, I met with leaders of the European Union, on the sidelines of the coronation, to see in what way we could advance the Australia-EU free trade agreement. A lot of work is going into that because that has significant potential benefits for Australia into the future.