A newly negotiated Free Trade Agreement with the United Kingdom could be good news for the struggling hospitality sector, and pave the way for a return to trade relations between the nations.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was in Cornwall over the weekend, as an invited guest of the G7 summit.
The PM and UK counterpart Boris Johnson have set out an in-principle agreement for a free trade deal between the two countries, which Johnson hails as ”a new dawn” in relations.
The UK was Australia’s most lucrative trading market, before it joined the European Union in 1973. Now in the process of executing Brexit from the EU, the pact with Australia marks the UK’s first major trade deal since going it alone again.
Economic recovery in Australian hotels and tourism is being hamstrung by a chronic skills shortage, and AHA National CEO Stephen Ferguson welcomes the new FTA.
“Hotels are crying out for skilled and unskilled workers and this agreement will make it easier for chefs and other in demand workers from the UK to get employment here and stay here for longer once they arrive.”
The Agreement will change working holiday visas, raising the age limit from 30 to 35 years, for both countries.
These visas will also allow people travelling from either country to live for up to three years, up from two years.
Imports will also be liberalised, with expectations up to 99 per cent of Australian goods entering the UK will not be hit with import duty.
The AHA suggests the FTA is a shot in the arm for local hospitality, which has borne a disproportionate share of the burden of restrictions and rolling lockdowns.
“The financial and emotional pressure on our hoteliers is building each and every day, and any good news for the industry is welcome,” furthers Ferguson.
The new deal is slated to come into force mid-2022.
Its measured timeframe is in line with the much-criticised rollout of the COVID vaccines in Australia, and the strict border closures continued by the PM, who has copped a torrent of criticism for visiting UK pub the Jamaica Inn as part of the trip to Britain.
Morrison has cited UK case numbers in his defence of Australia’s closed borders, and his willingness to mingle at a UK pub has been labelled “tone deaf” by people in Australia ruing lack of access to loved ones overseas.
