Australian Senator calls for free movement with UK & CANZUK

• UK and Australia should allow free movement for those with an offer of study or work says Senator James Paterson.

• Australia-UK free trade agreement should contain mutual recognition of standards and occupational qualifications.

• Base UK agreement on Australia’s existing CER and TTTA with New Zealand

• Should commit to a broader CANZUK deal between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

• 80% more Brits live in CANZUK states than across the whole of the neighbouring EU. 1.2 million Brits live in Australia alone. 

• High support across all four states with recent polling showing majority support in New Zealand (82%) Canada (76%) and Australia (73%), with 68% support in the UK.

Senator James Paterson argues, in a new report released by the Adam Smith Institute today, that the UK and Australia should commit to removing barriers to working and living in each other’s countries as part of the ongoing Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

Australia will welcome the return of a global Britain, the senator says, noting that 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.”

The Australian senator, writing for the think tank named after the British ‘apostle of free trade’ Adam Smith, says that the Australia-UK free trade agreement should contain mutual recognition of standards and occupations. Mutual recognition would allow goods to be sold in our respective countries regardless of differences in standards and regulations based on a presumption of trust and similar goals of safety and quality for consumers in each country. Recognition of qualifications would allow individuals to practice an equivalent occupation such as nursing or teaching without undertaking costly new exams or spending years acquiring duplicate qualifications.

Australia already has an agreement like this in place with its nearest neighbour. The free market think tank says that the forthcoming UK-Australia relationship should be modelled on the existing 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 the antipodean countries. The free market think tanks says that that the UK-Australia free trade agreement should allow Australian and UK citizens to easily obtain visas when they have job offers to match this existing liberal arrangement.

Australia is certainly a popular destination for Brits. In fact, the country has been the top destination for British citizens to migrate to for 40 of the past 43 years. At the time of the 2016 Census, there were over 1.2 million Australian residents born in the UK – almost 5 per cent of the Australian population. More Britons live down under than in the entirety of the EU. 

In return, there were 142,000 Australian-born residents in the UK in 2018, although the popularity of the UK as a destination for Australians has been in decline since extra visa fees, caps on employer sponsored visas, salary thresholds, more restrictions on unskilled migrant workers, and the NHS surcharge were introduced.As a result the number Australians allowed to stay in the UK indefinitely has declined markedly, falling by 71 per cent between 2013 and 2016.

The UK is currently Australia’s seventh largest two-way trading partner, with trade in goods and services of AU $30.3 billion. And as Australia’s second largest source of foreign investment, the UK contributes 18 per cent of Australia’s total foreign investment. A third of all Australian wine ends up in the UK market, making up one in five bottles sold in Britain.

Senator Paterson and the Adam Smith Institute say that by replicating the CER and Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement for the future trading relationship with the UK could provide the basis for a broader CANZUK agreement in future involving the commonwealth countries of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. The four modern diverse liberal democracies are united by a shared head of state, history, common values, and institutional ties of unparalleled strength.

Australia, New Zealand and Canada are all preparing to sign free trade agreements with the UK once the EU-transition period ends and the free market think tank says that the four developed-world liberal diverse modern democracies’ shared commitment to liberal values and the rules-based international order make them perfect candidates for a high-trust mutual recognition agreement. 

CANZUK has been growing in popularity in recent years across the four territories with it official policy of the opposition Canadian Conservatives, supported by New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and the Opposition National Party, previously backed by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (who spoke in praise of the idea at the launch of a paper at the Henry Jackson Society advocating the policy), and senior politicians like Senator Paterson in Australia. 

Polls have consistently shown the idea is very favourably received in each of the states, with a recent poll for CANZUK International (based in Canada) showing support is highest in New Zealand, with 82 per cent in favour of the proposal, Canada and

Australia follow with 76 per cent and 73 per cent support, and 68 per cent support the proposal in the UK. Over 300,000 people from the four states have signed a joint petition to encourage governments to commit to the idea. 

Senator James Paterson, and author of the report, said:

“The Australia-UK free trade agreement should eliminate barriers to trade like tariffs and quotas, and include generous provisions for visa-free travel. 

“But it should also provide the long term basis for stronger economic cooperation between like-minded nations in uncertain times. 

“Countries like Australia and the UK which share values and unmatched historical, legal and cultural ties can help secure each other’s freedom and prosperity by working closer together. 

“In the long term, a free trade, free movement block consisting of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK is an attractive idea in a dangerous world.”

Matt Kilcoyne, Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute, said:

"Four years after voting to the leave the EU, control of trade policy has returned to Britain. It’s only right that we use that power to bring down barriers with our closest friends. No matter the geographic distance, the links between the Australian and British peoples could not be closer. We have an historic chance to make it cheaper and easier to study, conduct business, and live our lives between our states. 

“Britain would do well to seize the chance to work with the modern diverse liberal democracies of Australia, Canada and New Zealand, to set a new global gold standard of trade deal based on high trust, mutual recognition and respect. 

Despite being separated by oceans we’re kith and kin, and we need an arrangement that recognises how close we really are."

Notes to editors:  

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Matt Kilcoyne: matt@adamsmith.org | 07904 099599.

The Adam Smith Institute is a free market, neoliberal think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.