Australia and the UK set to sign Free Trade Agreement after breakthrough talks

Australia is set to sign a big deal with the UK after Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson held breakthrough talks over dinner.

Australia and the UK will sign a free-trade agreement after breakthrough talks between Scott Morrison and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The deal was struck during a three-hour working dinner between the pair at Number 10 Downing Street on Monday.

A government spokesman said the “positive meeting” had “resolved outstanding issues” hindering an agreement, which was expected to commence in July next year.

“Their agreement is a win for jobs, businesses, free trade and highlights what two liberal democracies can achieve while working together,” the spokesman said.

A formal announcement will be made after the pair meet for breakfast on Tuesday morning, London time, before Mr Morrison meets Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle.

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Scott Morrison will confirm details of a free-trade agreement on Tuesday, after breakthrough talks with Boris Johnson in London. Picture: Tolga Akmen / AFP

The prime minister said the UK leaving the Common Market in the 1970s was a “devastating blow” on Australian producers, but Britain’s decision to leave the European Union provided an opportunity to reset the trade relationship.

“The Brexit that has occurred is an opportunity for us to pick up where we left off all those many years ago, and to once again realise the scale of the trading relationship that we once had. And who better to do it than with Australia at this time?” he told the Australia-UK Chamber of Commerce on Monday.

In a thinly veiled reference to China’s increasingly assertive posture in the Indo-Pacific, Mr Morrison stressed shared intelligence and co-operation with the UK as vital to the region’s stability.

Scott Morrison, pictured here in 2019, will meet with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle. Picture: Dominic Lipinski / AFP

“We have to tend that garden of the liberal democracies of the world, and we have to stand up for them in a way that ensures that we demonstrate that they work, that they do bring peace, they do bring prosperity, and they do improve the wellbeing of people all around the world,” he said.

During his trip to the G7 summit via Asia, Mr Morrison announced hydrogen partnerships with Germany and Japan as Australia sought to reduce its isolation over climate change on the international stage.

A separate announcement on climate change, over which the UK and Australia were at loggerheads, was expected to continue Australia’s focus on clean-energy technologies.

The UK has joined all other G7 countries in committing to net zero by 2050, a target Australia has avoided.

But Mr Johnson in April went further by committing to slash emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 compared to 1990s levels.