Dan Tehan is losing face in UK free trade talk

Trade Minister Dan Tehan faces an uncomfortable grilling by his British counterpart for ‘glacially slow’ progress on a trade deal.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan and his UK counterpart Liz Truss.

Australia’s Trade Minister Dan Tehan faces an uncomfortable grilling by his UK counterpart for Australia’s “glacially slow’’ progress on a free-trade deal that has been paralysed for much of this year.

Sources close to British Trade Minister Liz Truss have ridiculed Mr Tehan’s inexperience just hours before they are due to meet in Whitehall. Mr Tehan has been labelled a minnow in the talks and challenged to “show us the colour of your money’’.

The British Telegraph reported that a source close to Ms Truss said: “She plans to sit him down in the Locarno Room [in the Foreign Office] in an uncomfortable chair, so he has to deal with her directly for nine hours.”

In a personal attack, the source added: “He is inexperienced compared to Liz. He needs to show that he can play at this level.

“Australia need to show us the colour of their money. They’re great friends of ours and talk a good game about free trade and wanting a deal, but they need to match those words with action.”

Mr Tehan has deigned not to reply. “No comment,’’ his spokesman said.

This week Mr Tehan has been in Brussels trying to move the European Union-Australian free trade deal along, also moving at a slow pace. It had always been expected that while Australia had started talks with the EU well before the UK, the UK deal would be much easier to sort out.

As one of the few Australians allowed to leave the country despite closed borders, Mr Tehan is also battling to secure ongoing shipments of vaccines from European hubs.

In Brussels, Mr Tehan told the European Union trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis he was looking forward to concluding an ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreement to bring mutual benefits and support the COVID-19 recovery. Mr Dombrovskis, bumping elbows with a masked Mr Tehan, said of the meeting: ‘’We took stock of our FTA negotiations – which we’re eager to advance – and global co-operation on vaccines.’’

But Mr Tehan’s bruising negotiations on this trip appear to have only just begun.

The stalling of any progress comes despite Australia’s desire to be the first country to sign a new trade pact with the UK after Brexit. While there had been preparations before the UK’s official departure from the EU in January 2020, Australia and the UK only started formal talks in June last year.

British sources say initial talks under the former trade minister Simon Birmingham progressed well, but that Australia has been glacially slow this year with Mr Tehan in charge.