It’s done: Trade deal to make travel to Britain easier

It will be easier for young Australians, farm workers and business travellers to visit and work in the UK under a historic free-trade agreement. Find out what is in deal for you.

IT will be easier for young Australians, farm workers and business travellers to visit and work in the UK under a historic free-trade agreement, signed in-principle on Tuesday night.

Tariffs, or import taxes, on billions of dollars of Queensland exports, including beef, sugar, cheese and car parts, will be wiped to zero, making it easier for our products to hit their shelves.

There will also be cheaper British whiskies, cheese, chocolates and cars available in Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison meets with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at No. 10 Downing Street for a working dinner. Picture: Adam Taylor/PMO

It was last night being promoted as a “genuine gold-standard” trade deal.

Travel entry rules will be eased between Australia and the UK. This includes:

– Increasing the working holiday visa age limit from 30 to 35 and increasing its duration from two years to three years, both ways.

– Creating an agricultural visa to allow British farmer workers, such as shearers, to come the Australia in their off season and vice versa.

– Both countries have committed to a “temporary entry” provision for easier business travel, but the final details for what this would look like are still being negotiated.

UK tariffs on many Australian products will drop to zero over the next 15 years, from when the deal officially begins from July 1 next year.

It includes wiping tariffs of 12 per cent plus up to £254/100kg off Queensland beef, four per cent tariff on car parts, tariffs of up to 20 per cent on cheese and of £28/100kg on raw sugar cane.

Queensland already trades about $18 million in beef and $17 million in vegetables with the UK, while lead the state’s largest export by far worth $508 million.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the deal was being entered into “boldly and confidently” and would benefit both countries.

“Whether it is on beef and sugar, and sheep meat for Australia … we appreciate what has been very constructive discussions we have had in these negotiations to complete what is the right deal,” Mr Morrison said.

Mr Johnson joked it would make it easier for “British rent-a-Poms and Australian campaign managers” to work more easily in each others’ countries.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan had been speaking to his British counterpart Liz Truss almost nightly in a bid to get the FTA squared away in time for the two Prime Minister’s to meet on this trip.

The final details were reported to be sorted out between Mr Morrison and Mr Johnson over dinner.

A provision requiring British working holiday makers to do 88 days of farm work in regional Australia to extend the visa for a second year was dropped.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

But Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the National party had negotiated a “mechanism” with Mr Morrison to ensure farmers weren’t left without sufficient workers.

“(The mechanism) would rectify that, in fact, not just rectify it, but actually build on the need for further overseas workers to do this work because unfortunately Australians have not just wanted to do this,” Mr Littleproud said.

It has taken about a year for the official trade talks to result in the in-principle agreements, though there had been unofficial discussions taking place from 2016 as the UK prepared for Brexit.

Australian beef farmers will be gaining free access to UK supermarket shelves for the first time since the 1970s.