Bills Digest No. 40, 2022–23
PDF version [459 KB]
Ian Zhou
Economic Policy Section
18
November 2022
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Key points
- The two Bills are implementing legislation for the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Australia-UK FTA), their passage is required before the FTA can come into effect.
- The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties supports the Australia-UK FTA and recommends that binding treaty action be taken.
- The UK Government has introduced equivalent Bills in the UK Parliament to give effect to the FTA.
- If the Australian Parliament and the UK Parliament pass their respective domestic legislation to enable the FTA’s entry into force, then the FTA will progressively eliminate tariffs on approximately 99% of the goods (by value) traded between the two nations.
- There are concerns that the recent UK leadership changes and the resulting political instability may delay the FTA’s entry into force.
- Australian farmers have welcomed the FTA in lowering tariffs and improving market access for Australian exports to the UK. On the other hand, several trade unions have criticised the potential negative impact of the FTA on Australian jobs and denounced the trade deal as ‘anti-worker’.
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Contents
Abbreviations
Purpose of the Bills
Background
Committee consideration
Policy position of non-government
parties
Position of major interest groups
Financial implications
Statement of Compatibility with Human
Right
Key issues and provisions
Commencement dates
Concluding comments
Date introduced: 27
October 2022
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Home
Affairs
Commencement: As
set out in the body of this Bills Digest.
Links: The links to the Bills,
their Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speeches can be found on the
home page for the Customs
Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill
2022 and the Customs
Tariff Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement
Implementation) Bill 2022, or through the Australian
Parliament website.
When Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent,
they become Acts, which can be found at the Federal Register of Legislation
website.
All hyperlinks in this Bills Digest are correct as
at November 2022.
Abbreviations
Purpose of the Bills
This Bills Digest relates to two Bills comprising:
The purpose of the two Bills is to implement the customs
and tariff commitments made in the Free
Trade Agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland (Australia-UK FTA or
the FTA) by making relevant amendments to the Customs Act 1901
and the Customs
Tariff Act 1995.
Two separate Bills are needed in order to comply with the
Australian constitutional requirement that ‘laws imposing duties of customs
shall deal with duties of customs only’,[1]
and provisions regarding other matters must be dealt with separately.[2]
As such, the Customs Act sets out the administrative rules and relevant
penalties regarding the export and import of goods, while the Customs Tariff
Act focuses exclusively on the tariff rates applicable to imported goods.
Background
What is the
Australia-UK FTA?
Due to Brexit, the European Union’s trade agreements no
longer apply to the UK as of 1 January 2021.[3]
Consequently, Australia and the UK began
formal negotiations for a bilateral FTA in June 2020. Following the
conclusion of an ‘Agreement in Principle’ in June 2021, the Australian
Government and the UK Government officially signed the Australia-UK
Free Trade Agreement on 17 December 2021.[4]
The FTA is the UK’s first ‘new’ trade agreement since
Brexit.[5]
Some commentators argue that in the wake of Brexit, the UK’s lack of progress
in trade talks with the United States has made a trade deal with Australia
‘more appealing than ever’.[6]
In July 2020, the UK Government said:
A free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia is part of
delivering the government’s top strategic trade priority of using our
voice as a new independent trading nation to champion free trade, fight
protectionism and remove barriers at every opportunity.[7]
[emphasis added]
The FTA aims to reduce trade and investment barriers
between the two countries. It contains 32 chapters covering a wide range of
issues, including trade in goods, trade in services, investment, digital trade,
intellectual property, government procurement, competition policy, state-owned
enterprises, labour, environment, innovation, development, animal welfare, and
small and medium sized enterprises.[8]
Notably, the FTA does not contain provisions on the controversial investor-state
dispute settlement.
If it enters into force, the FTA will remove tariffs on
the vast majority of goods traded between Australia and the UK.[9]
Many economists believe lower tariffs and fewer trade barriers between
countries will promote economic growth.[10]
The UK is Australia’s fifth largest trading partner, with
two-way trade (in goods and services) valued at $36.7 billion in 2019–20.[11]
Some commentators argue that Australian agricultural and food exports to the UK
have been low due to high UK tariffs and other trade barriers.[12]
According to former Trade Minister Dan Tehan, the FTA is a
gold standard trade agreement that will bring many benefits to Australian
businesses. In particular, Mr Tehan argued:
This deal will lead to growth in Australian agricultural
exports, which will make Australian farm produce more competitive in a market
of more than 65 million [British] consumers.[13]
Some stakeholders disagree with this assessment and argue
the FTA will harm Australian workers (discussed below in the ‘Position of major
interest groups’ section).
When will
the FTA come into effect?
Will the
recent political instability in the UK affect the FTA’s entry into force?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has expressed concerns
that the recent UK leadership changes and the resulting political instability may
delay the FTA’s entry into force.[14]
For a bilateral treaty (for example, the Australia-UK
FTA) to come into effect, there is usually an exchange of diplomatic notes
that confirms both sides have completed all necessary domestic procedures to
enable entry into force.[15]
Although the Australian Government and the UK Government signed the FTA in
December 2021, Parliaments in both countries still need to pass their
respective domestic legislation to enable the FTA’s entry into force.[16]
In other words, the tariff reduction process outlined in the FTA will only come
into effect when the trade deal is ratified by both countries.
In May 2022, the UK Government (led by Boris Johnson) introduced
a Bill aiming to implement the Australia-UK FTA.[17]
It remains to be seen whether the UK Parliament will prioritise passing the Bill.
Recent British Prime Ministers Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak have
had diverging views on the FTA.
Some British parliamentarians warned their government
against ‘overselling benefits of Australia trade deal’, and they called for the
UK Parliament to scrutinise the FTA further.[18]
Rishi Sunak, prior to becoming the British Prime Minister, criticised the FTA
as a ‘one sided deal’ that could harm British farmers.[19]
He said the UK Government ‘shouldn’t be rushing to sign trade deals as quickly
as possible’.[20]
However, Mr Sunak also said he would not seek to renegotiate the trade deal because
it would be wrong to renege on an international treaty.[21]
As a Chinese proverb goes: ‘A long night is fraught with
nightmares.’ If there is further political instability in the UK that causes
the FTA ratification process to drag on, then it could be subject to more
unforeseen interruptions.
On the other hand, if the Australian Parliament passes the
Customs Bill and the Tariff Bill, then it may signal Australia’s commitment to
the FTA and prompt the UK to ratify the deal.
Why does it
matter when the FTA enters into force?
The timing of the FTA’s entry into force determines the
exact tariff rate that importers must pay for goods traded between Australia
and the UK. A delay in the treaty ratification process could cause Australian importers
to miss out on preferential (lower) tariff rates.
For example, currently cheese imported into Australia is
subject to a tariff rate of $1.22/kg.[22]
In other words, Australian importers buying cheese from the UK could be paying
$1.22 per kilogram in tariff or import duty to the Australian Government.
If both Australia and the UK pass their relevant domestic
legislation to enable the FTA to come into effect in November 2022, then for
the remainder of the year 2022, UK originating cheese imported to Australia will
be subject to a preferential (lower) tariff rate of 1.02/kg. From 1 January
2023, the tariff rate for UK originating cheese will be reduced again to
$0.81/kg. A new, lower tariff rate will be applied from 1 January of each new
year, until the rate reaches ‘Free’ (zero).[23]
Table 1 below indicates the tariff schedule on
British cheese as outlined in the FTA.[24]
It shows that if the FTA can be ratified quickly and comes into effect before
the end of 2022, then it will give effect to an immediate tariff reduction,
followed by a phased tariff reduction process. This is colloquially known as a ‘double
tariff cut’, because it enables two tariff reductions to occur in a
relatively short period of time.
Table 1: Tariff rates for UK originating cheese if the FTA enters into force
Source: Explanatory
Memorandum to the Tariff Bill, 6.
On the other hand, if there is a delay that means the Australia-UK
FTA does not enter into force until 2023, then the next phased reduction
will not occur until 1 January 2024. This potential delay could affect the
profitability of importing businesses as they may not be able to enjoy the
‘double tariff cut’ immediately.
Committee
consideration
Joint
Standing Committee on Treaties
The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) published
its report
on the Australia-UK FTA on 16 November 2022 and recommends that
binding treaty action be taken.[25]
While the Committee is supportive of the FTA, the
Committee has also expressed concerns that there is a lack of independent
economic analysis and genuine consultation regarding the impact of the FTA:
The Committee, relevant stakeholders, and the Australian community
as a whole are restricted in their ability to examine the potential economic
and broader impacts of trade agreements, and cannot subsequently judge their
achievements because they are not accompanied by independent economic
modelling. This is a long-running concern of the Committee and the subject
of a recommendation in this report, as are its concerns about the mechanics and
substance of the consultation process during negotiation.[26]
[emphasis added]
Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
At the time of writing the Scrutiny of Bills Committee has
not yet considered the Bills.[27]
Policy
position of non-government parties
Liberal
Party of Australia
The Australia-UK FTA was signed by the Morrison
Government in December 2021.
In October 2022, Shadow Trade Minister Kevin Hogan said the
Coalition in Government did the ‘heavy lifting’ to negotiate the trade deals
with the UK and India, and now it is up to the Labor Government to ratify the
FTAs as a matter of priority:
The Coalition backs these agreements 100% and we will do
whatever is needed, including sitting extended hours, to ensure passage through
both Houses of Parliament as quickly as possible.[28]
Australian
Greens
The Australian Greens have called on the Government to
ensure the Australia-UK FTA upholds
environmental standards, labour rights, human rights and includes a First
Nations trade chapter. The Greens’ spokesperson for trade, Senator Dorinda Cox,
has said:
For too long, we have witnessed dodgy trade deals that
undermine workers rights and trash our planet. This must stop. It is essential
that the UK-Australia free trade agreement includes measures that address the
climate crisis…
Securing a First Nations trade chapter as part of this
agreement would be a game changer for First Nations businesses across the
country. It has the potential to unlock significant capital, create jobs and
offer careers on Country…
The Greens are disappointed that the text of the agreement
was not released to the community before it was finalised. It is clear we need
a more transparent and democratic process for negotiating treaties that enables
community engagement going forwards.[29]
The positions of other parties and Independents could not
be identified at the time of writing this Digest.
Position of
major interest groups
Business
Council of Australia
The Business Council of Australia (BCA) welcomes the FTA
and recommends that the Australian Parliament support the FTA’s ratification,
and that this ratification occurs as soon as possible.[30]
The BCA argues:
The early entry into force of AUKFTA will give Australian
businesses an advantage as trade competitors seek to negotiate preferential
access to the UK market through bilateral FTAs and the UK’s potential accession
to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
(CPTPP). It will also enhance the opportunities for labour mobility between our
two countries, further strengthening people-to-people links and knowledge
exchange.[31]
The BCA believes the FTA will help further boost trade
through tariff removal, more efficient customs processes, and greater mobility
for workers.[32]
Aside from the potential economic benefit of the FTA, the
BCA also argues that perhaps the most important aspect of the FTA is that it
signals ‘the enduring partnership [between Australia and the UK] in the context
of increasing geopolitical uncertainty.’[33]
The BCA says:
The UK is expanding its engagement in the Indo-Pacific
region, including through a greater diplomatic and military presence, as well
as through new trade and investment links….
The Business Council wishes to see concrete outcomes from
AUKFTA and AUKUS [alliance] supporting the development of future industries for
the Australian economy, leading to significant new commercial opportunities for
Australian businesses…
The UK can make an important contribution to the stability
and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, to the benefit of Australia and our
regional partners.[34]
The Group of Eight
The Group of Eight, a peak body representing Australia’s
leading research-intensive universities, is supportive of the FTA and its
ratification.[35]
The Group of Eight has said:
The AU-UK FTA contains measures intended to, for example,
allow Australian professionals to compete on an equal footing with EU nationals
in the UK for the first time in 40 years. It also includes a dedicated
innovation chapter, facilitating bilateral engagement on innovative
technologies; and clauses encouraging the mobility of workers, including
researchers, to facilitate professional engagement across both countries…
The Go8 would welcome a dialogue with Government to clarify
how research-intensive universities could use the provisions of this chapter to
advance and deepen collaborations with UK partners in advancing innovation
goals, particularly in the area of emerging technologies.[36]
National
Farmers’ Federation
The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) is broadly supportive
of the FTA.[37]
The NFF has said:
This agreement will provide options for a range of Australian
producers to diversify their market access by removing tariffs and reducing red
tape on Australian agricultural exports.
The proposed Trade Agreement will see the immediate removal
of tariffs on a range of Australian produce including wine, rice, certain
seafoods, honey and most horticultural products. Furthermore, tariffs in place
on beef, sheep meat, dairy products, sugar, and cereals will be phased out over
several years, with most of these exports gaining immediate access to duty free
quotas.[38]
While broadly supportive of the FTA, the NFF is opposed to
the FTA’s changes to the Working Holiday visa arrangements (commonly known as
the backpacker visa).[39]
Under the Department of Home Affairs’ current
visa requirements, all working holidaymakers are required to undertake 88
days of specified
work in regional Australia in order to satisfy the eligibility criteria for
a second Working Holiday visa, and 179 days of specified work to be eligible
for a third visa. In practice, this means that many British backpackers choose
to work on Australian farms to satisfy the visa eligibility criteria.
If the Australia-UK FTA comes into effect, then
British backpackers will no longer be required to do specified work to be able
to stay in Australia for up to 3 years on second and third Working Holiday
visas.[40]
Abul Rizvi, a commentator on immigration matters and a
former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration, says backpackers will
avoid farm work if they have other options:
If you’ve got the option of waiting at a table instead of
picking fruit, you’re going to choose that, because picking fruit is really
hard [work].[41]
The NFF argues the changes will reduce the availability of
farm labour from British backpackers, when Australian farmers are struggling to
recruit workers.[42]
Trade
unions
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Construction,
Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (Construction Union), and the Australian
Education Union (AEU) have criticised several aspects of the FTA.[43]
In particular, the ACTU has denounced the FTA as an ‘anti-worker’ deal and opposes its ratification.[44]
The Construction Union and the AEU have argued that should
the JSCOT supports the FTA’s ratification, then the Committee should also require
amendments to the text of the FTA.[45]
Criticism
of the FTA regarding its wavier of labour market testing
The trade unions criticise the FTA for undermining
employment opportunities for Australians by waiving labour market testing.
For some work visas, if an Australian sponsor/employer
wishes to hire an overseas worker, the sponsor/employer must first demonstrate
that they are unable to find a suitable Australian worker to fill the role.
Only after the employer demonstrates that they are unable to find a suitable
local worker, will the Department of Home Affairs grant a work visa to an
overseas worker to fill the role. This is known as labour market testing.[46]
The Australian Government can choose to waive labour
market testing for some overseas workers under FTAs. This is known as labour
market testing waiver or exemption.
The Australia-UK FTA aims to promote the temporary
movement of workers between Australia and the UK via its Chapter 11 on Temporary
Entry for Business Persons. For example, if an Australian sponsor/employer
wishes to hire certain UK workers (for example, an UK contractual service
supplier), the sponsor does not need to demonstrate that they are unable
to find suitable Australian workers.
The ACTU says:
Labour market testing is an important measure to ensure that
employers properly advertise available positions locally to provide local
workers with opportunities and to ensure that employers are not building their
business model on exploiting short-term visa workers.[47]
The Construction Union highlights that the labour market
testing waiver will have a particularly harmful effect on the Australian
construction industry:
The propensity of employers to
exploit temporary visa workers by way of wage theft and sham contracting is
widespread, notorious and ongoing, particularly in the construction industry.
Further, the increase of temporary visa workers will put
downward pressure on wages for Australian residents and citizens, the same
people who expect their elected parliamentary representatives to protect their
interests, not undermine them.[48]
[emphasis added]
Consequently, the trade unions have recommended that the
Government should remove Chapter
11 (Temporary Entry for Business Persons) from the FTA, or ‘restrict its
scope by removing the provisions that facilitate increased numbers of temporary
workers who are vulnerable to exploitation and remove the provisions waiving
labour market testing’.[49]
The Australian Labor Party previously stated in its Labor’s
2021 National Platform:
Labor will prohibit through legislation the Commonwealth
signing trade agreements that… waive labour market testing… [50]
Labor also said:
If prior to the election of a Labor government, trade
agreements are signed which are not consistent with the above, Labor in
government will seek the renegotiation of the agreement to ensure it is
consistent with the above points before bringing any enabling legislation
before the Parliament.[51]
Criticism
of the FTA regarding the government procurement preference
Government procurement is the procurement of goods and services
on behalf of a public authority. Chapter
16 of the Australia-UK FTA specifies the scope of government
procurement open to UK suppliers. The general objective of Chapter 16 of the
FTA is that Australian Government purchases of goods and services above a
certain value must be subject to a competitive tendering process that is open
to UK bidders.[52]
The ACTU has criticised the FTA for ‘opening up government
procurement markets further, meaning local businesses have to compete with UK
suppliers.’[53]
The trade unions say all levels of government in Australia should actively
preference Australian businesses where possible to support local jobs.[54]
Consequently, the unions have recommended that the Government
should review Chapter 16 of the FTA to ensure it does not restrict the ability
of the Government to preference local suppliers.[55]
Criticism
of the FTA regarding labour rights and labour protection provisions
The ACTU has criticised the FTA for containing inadequate
labour rights and labour protection provisions. For instance, the ACTU says the
labour dispute settlement process outlined in the FTA is long and convoluted,
rendering the mechanism very weak.[56]
Furthermore, the trade unions argue that although the Labour
Chapter (Chapter
21 of the FTA) does contain statements on the mutual ambition of the
Parties to tackle forced labour and modern slavery, there are no substantive
commitments in this regard. The Australian and the UK Governments will merely ‘strive
to ensure’ that private and public entities operating in its territory take
appropriate steps to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains and will ‘to
the extent it considers appropriate adopt or maintain measures to this effect.’[57]
The trade unions have recommended that the Government should
renegotiate the labour chapter to contain ‘an effective, timely, and accessible
labour arbitration mechanism, where unions in both countries can challenge
exporters for violations of fundamental labour standards.’[58]
The Australian Labor Party and the Australian Greens have
previously criticised the Coalition Government for signing FTAs that do not
contain adequate human rights, labour rights, and environmental protection
provisions.[59]
Financial
implications
The March 2022–23 Budget estimated
that implementing the FTA will reduce customs duty receipts by $430 million
over the forward estimates period.[60]
Statement
of Compatibility with Human Rights
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth), the Government has assessed the
Bills’ compatibility with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared
in the international instruments listed in section 3 of that Act. The
Government considers that the Bills are compatible.[61]
Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights
At the time of writing, the Parliamentary Joint Committee
on Human Rights has not yet considered the Bills.[62]
Key issues
and provisions
As noted, various stakeholders disagree about the overall
economic impact of the FTA. However, the provisions in and of themselves do not
appear controversial.
Customs
Bill
The Customs Bill has one Schedule comprising three Parts:
- Part
1 is titled UK originating goods and deals with rules of origin for
goods imported into Australia. Goods imported into Australia that are
classified as ‘UK originating goods’ will be eligible for preferential (lower)
tariff rates
- Part
2 is
titled verification powers and deals with businesses’ record-keeping
obligations and customs officials’ powers to verify claims of preferential tariff
treatment
- Part
3 contains application provisions which set out the situations or
timeframes in which the Bill will apply.
Part 1 – UK
originating goods
Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Bill deals with
the rules of origin for the FTA and inserts proposed
Division 1P into Part VIII of the Customs Act. Under the Australia-UK
FTA, goods defined as ‘UK originating goods’ will be entitled to receive
preferential tariff treatment when they are imported into Australia.
Broadly speaking, to be a UK originating good, a good must
be:
- wholly
obtained or produced in the UK, or the UK and Australia (Subdivision B of proposed Division 1P)
- produced
in the UK, or the UK and Australia using originating materials (Subdivision
C of proposed Division 1P) or
- produced
with non-originating materials provided the good meets the Product Specific
Rules set out in Annex
4B to Chapter 4 of the FTA (Subdivision D of proposed Division 1P).
Furthermore, the rules of origin also specify the
treatment of:
- accessories,
spare parts, tools or instructional or other information materials (Subdivision
E of proposed Division 1P)
- originating
goods that are transferred through other countries before arriving in Australia
(referred to as consignment) (Subdivision F of proposed Division 1P).
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Explainer: what are
rules of origin and product specific rules?
Rules of origin are described
as ‘the plumbing of a free trade agreement’, meaning that the rules are an
obscure but critically important component of any FTA.[63] As the name suggests, rules of
origin are rules that specify how goods are considered to be ‘made in’ a
country. Goods that are ‘made in’ a country are eligible to receive a
Government-authorised Certificate
of Origin of that country.[64]
As an analogy, when a person
travels internationally, the person needs a passport to show the citizenship
of their country. Similarly, when goods are traded internationally, they may
need a Certificate of Origin to indicate where the goods originate from.
Many overseas importers insist upon a Certificate of Origin when dealing
with Australian businesses, and vice versa.[65]
Different FTAs may contain
different rules of origin and product specific rules. Depending on the
specifics of the FTA, a product may be considered to be ‘made in Australia’
if, for example, more than 50% of the product’s components are locally
sourced.
Product specific rules determine
the circumstances in which products that contain components from non-FTA
countries are still eligible for preferential tariff treatment under a FTA.
For example, a bottled orange juice that is manufactured and packaged in
Australia may still be regarded as an Australian product even if the fresh
orange ingredients are sourced from overseas.
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Part 2 – Verification powers
Part 2 of Schedule 1 deals with businesses’ record keeping
obligations and customs officials’ powers to verify claims of preferential
tariff treatment. The main purpose of Part 2 is to provide authorised customs
officials with the powers to verify claims when importers of UK goods claim
preferential tariff treatment under the FTA.
Tariff Bill
The Tariff Bill has one Schedule that makes amendments to
the Customs Tariff Act to implement the preferential tariff rates
applicable to UK originating goods.
Article
2.5 of the Australia-UK FTA provides that ‘each Party shall
progressively reduce or eliminate its customs duties on originating goods in
accordance with its Schedule
to Annex 2A (Tariff Commitments).’
Former Trade Minister Dan Tehan said:
Australia will eliminate tariffs on more than 99 per cent of
British exports by value entering Australia, saving Australian households and
businesses more than $200m a year on tariffs…
About $725m worth of key farming products, including beef,
sheep meat, wine and others such as sugar and dairy, will be eligible
immediately for duty-free exports to Britain once the agreement comes into
force. More than 35,000 tonnes of Aussie beef will be duty-free on entry into
force and this will expand to 110,000 tonnes in 10 years.[66]
Commencement dates
Sections 1–3 of both Bills commence on Royal Assent.
Schedule 1 of the Customs Bill will commence on the later
of Royal Assent and the day the Australia-UK FTA enters into force. Schedule
1 of the Tariff Bill will commence at the same time as Schedule 1 of the
Customs Bill.
If the FTA does not enter into force, then the provisions
of the Bills do not commence at all.
Concluding
comments
The Customs Bill and the Tariff Bill amend Australian law
to implement Australia’s commitments under the Australia-UK FTA.
There are divided opinions about the potential effect of
the FTA on Australian jobs and the economy. While some stakeholders support the
FTA’s ratification,[67]
others argue that doing so will harm Australian workers.[68]
[1]. Australian
Constitution, section 55.
[2]. David
Elder and Peter Fowler, House
of Representatives Practice, 7th ed., in, ‘Taxation
Bills’, (Canberra: Department of the House of Representatives, 2018),
Chapter 11.
[3]. European
Commission, ‘Questions
& Answers: EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement’, media release, 24
December 2020.
[4]. Scott
Morrison (Prime Minister) and Dan Tehan (Minister for Trade, Tourism and
Investment), ‘New
Era of Free Trade with the UK’, media release, 17 December 2021.
[5]. Dominic
Webb, UK-Australia
Free Trade Agreement, (London: House of Commons Library, 8 November
2022), 5.
[6]. Kiara
van Hout, ‘Britain
on the Back Foot in the Second Round of Australia-UK Trade Negotiations’, Australian
Outlook (blog), Australian Institute of International Affairs, 28
August 2020.
[7]. UK
Government Department for International Trade, ‘UK-Australia
Free Trade Agreement: The UK's Strategic Approach’, Policy paper, 17
July 2020.
[8]. ‘Australia-UK
FTA official text’, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
[9]. Webb, UK-Australia
Free Trade Agreement, 26.
[10]. The
World Bank, ‘Stronger
Open Trade Policies Enable Economic Growth For All’, World Bank (blog),
3 April 2018.
[11]. DFAT,
Trade and
Investment at a Glance 2021, (Barton: DFAT, 2021), 16.
[12]. Andrew
Hay, Cooper Greenberg, Charis Chan, Danielle Crowe, Samy Mansour, David Landy,
and Zac Chami, ‘Coming
in 2022: The Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement’, Clayton Utz, 23 December
2021.
[13]. Dan
Tehan, ‘UK
Free Trade Deal Sets Us Firmly on Road to Recovery’, The Australian,
17 December 2021, 11.
[14]. ‘Anthony
Albanese "Concerned" About Delays on Australia-UK Trade Deal
Following Resignation of Liz Truss’, ABC News Online, 21 October
2022.
[15]. ‘Australia’s
treaty-making process’, DFAT.
[16]. Arabella
Lang, Parliament’s
Role in Ratifying Treaties, Briefing paper, 5855, (London: House of
Commons Library, February 2017), 3.
[17]. UK
Parliament, Trade (Australia
and New Zealand) Bill 2022–23 homepage.
[18]. ‘MPs
warn Government against overselling benefits of Australia trade deal’, UK Parliament
6 July 2022.
[19]. Phillip
Adnett, ‘Sunak
Enters Number 10 – Five Stances the New PM has had on International Trade’,
Institute of Export & International Trade (blog), 24 October 2022.
Latika Bourke, ‘‘One
sided’: Sunak says Australia’s free trade deal was bad for British farmers’,
Sydney Morning Herald, 2 August 2022.
[20]. Adnett, ‘Sunak
enters Number 10’.
[21]. Adnett, ‘Sunak
enters Number 10’.
[22]. Customs
Tariff Act 1995, ‘Chapter
4—Dairy produce; birds’ eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin,
not elsewhere specified or included’; ‘Current
tariff classification: Schedule 3 Section I’, Australian Border Force.
[23]. Explanatory
Memorandum to the Tariff Bill, 6.
[24]. ‘Australia-UK
FTA official text’, ‘Part 2A-2 Schedule of Tariff Commitments of Australia’,
DFAT.
[25]. Joint
Standing Committee on Treaties, report, 201, 16 November 2022: xvii.
[26]. JSCOT, report, 201: xix–xx.
[27]. Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Index
of Bills considered by the committee, 26 October 2022.
[28]. Kevin
Hogan (Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism), ‘Labor
must Prioritise our Trade Agreements’, media release, 18 October 2022.
[29]. Dorinda Cox, ‘UK-AUS Free Trade Agreement must Advance Human Rights’, media release, 17 December 2021.
[30]. Business
Council of Australia (BCA), Submission
to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT), Inquiry into Free Trade
Agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, [Submission no. 12], March 2022, 2.
[31]. BCA,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 2.
[32]. BCA,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 3.
[33]. BCA,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 2.
[34]. BCA,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 2.
[35]. The
Group of Eight, Submission
to the JSCOT, Inquiry into Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, [Submission no. 5], 18
March 2022, 4.
[36]. The
Group of Eight, Submission
to the JSCOT, 3.
[37]. National
Farmers’ Federation (NFF), Submission
to the JSCOT, Inquiry into Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, [Submission no. 23],
21 March 2022, 1.
[38]. NFF,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 1–2.
[39]. NFF,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 2.
[40]. ‘New
Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa arrangements for UK passport holders’, Department
of Home Affairs.
[41]. Natasha
May and Cait Kelly, ‘Australian
Farm Revolution: Hopes and Fears as a New Workforce Replaces Backpackers’, Guardian,
24 April 2022.
[42]. NFF,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 2.
[43]. Australian Council of Trade Unions, Submission
to the JSCOT, [Submission no. 27], 22 March 2022, 2; Construction, Forestry,
Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, Submission
to the JSCOT, [Submission no. 17], 18 March 2022, 2; Australian Education Union,
Submission
to the JSCOT, [Submission no. 15], March 2022, 13.
[44]. Daniel
Hurst, ‘Australia
Free Trade Deal with UK Denounced by Unions as “Anti-Worker”’, Guardian,
17 December 2021; ACTU, Submission
to the JSCOT, 2.
[45]. Construction
Union, Submission
to the JSCOT, 4; AEU, Submission
to the JSCOT, 13-14.
[46]. ‘Nominating
a position: labour market testing’, Department of Home Affairs, 6 September
2022.
[47]. ACTU,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 10; Construction Union, Submission
to the JSCOT, 7.
[48]. Construction Union, Submission
to the JSCOT, 8.
[49]. ACTU,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 10.
[50]. Australian Labor Party (ALP), ALP
National Platform: As Adopted at the 2021 Special Platform Conference, ALP
policy document, 88.
[51]. ALP,
ALP
National Platform, 89.
[52]. DFAT,
‘Article
16.4.1’, Australia-UK FTA Chapter 16 Government Procurement.
[53]. ACTU,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 13–14.
[54]. ACTU,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 14.
[55]. ACTU, Submission
to the JSCOT, 14.
[56]. ACTU,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 14.
[57]. ACTU,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 15.
[58]. ACTU,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 15.
[59]. ALP, Additional Comments, JSCOT, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement,
August 2021, 65; Australian Greens, Dissenting Report, JSCOT, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, August
2021, 57.
[60]. Explanatory
Memorandum to the Customs Bill, 2.
[61]. The
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights can be found at pages 22–24 of the
Explanatory
Memorandum to the Customs Bill, and pages 15–16 of the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Tariff Bill.
[62]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Index
of bills considered by the committee , 28 September 2022.
[63]. Pramila
Crivelli and Stefano Inama, ‘Making
RCEP Successful Through Business-Friendly Rules of Origin’, Asian
Development Bank (blog), 12 February 2021.
[64]. The
Australian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry is authorised by the Australian Government
to issue Australian Certificates of Origin for Australian businesses.
[65]. ‘What
is a Certificate of Origin?’, Australian Trade and Investment Commission
(Austrade).
[66]. Tehan,
‘UK
Free Trade Deal Sets Us Firmly On Road to Recovery’, 11.
[67]. BCA,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 2.
[68]. ACTU,
Submission
to the JSCOT, 10.
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