LATIKA M BOURKE: Senior Liberals call for Angus Taylor to back EU free trade deal

Senior Liberals have urged Opposition Leader Angus Taylor to pass the EU free trade deal, warning the opportunity to access one of the world’s biggest economies could be lost forever.

The Nationals Leader Matt Canavan declared that he opposed the deal in an opinion piece several weeks ago. Liberal Leader Angus Taylor yesterday followed suit, saying he agreed that it was a “dud deal”.

Senator Canavan, who also represents the Coalition on trade policy, has criticised what he says are low quotas of tariff-free beef and dairy imports into the European Union under the deal struck in March.

And he is opposed to the inclusion of labour market and climate safeguards in the deal, which he says would bind Australia to the Paris Agreement, which the Coalition, of which both he and Mr Taylor were part, signed onto in 2015.

George Brandis, who served as Attorney-General in the last Coalition government and helped negotiate Australia’s free trade agreement with Britain in his most recent position as High Commissioner to the UK, told The Nightly that the deal opened up huge entry for Australians into the single market of 450 million people, and warned of the consequences of voting it down.

“The EU FTA, arrived at after years of negotiations, is the best deal Australia will get for better entry into such an important market,” he said.

“With the imminent rise of anti-free trade parties in some of the EU’s biggest member states, notably France, it is unlikely this opportunity for significantly better market access will come again. It would be a pity to lose it now.”

Keith Wolahan, who lost the once blue-ribbon seat of Menzies to Labor in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s 2022 election landslide, said compromises were a part of closing a deal.

“I don’t have a problem with the terms of the FTA or any trade deal being closely scrutinised. That must include concerns that go to sovereignty,” Mr Wolahan said.

“But, after eight years, there comes a time when you settle, or not. And any deal necessarily requires compromise.”

Last night, former minister Christopher Pyne told the ABC’s 730 that there was still a long way to go.

“The Liberal Party has never voted against a free trade agreement in its history. We are the free trade party; that’s one of the Liberal Party’s basic tenets,” he said.

“Free trade agreements are negotiations; you don’t always get what you want; that’s the whole point of a negotiation.”

The Coalition partyroom will internally debate the matter once legislation is proposed. So far, the issue has not yet gone to the joint partyroom for any formal debate or agreed position.

The EU has already ruled out reopening the deal. But yesterday, Mr Taylor said the government should ask another time.

“This is making the Government’s emissions commitments legally binding. It will make net zero legally binding. The Paris Agreement never was. This will make it legally binding. The Europeans will be able to drag Australia through the courts because of a so-called free trade agreement,” he said.

“Well, it’s not a free trade agreement, it’s a climate agreement. It’s a climate agreement, making something legally binding that never was.

“I know the farming sector well — the red meat producers and dairy producers, most important parts of the farm sector for this part of the world in terms of markets. They know it’s a dud deal and they’ve said it very clearly. So, the Government needs to fix it. If they can’t fix it, we can’t support it.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed shock that the Liberals could oppose a free trade agreement and labelled the Opposition “nativist”.

Last week, former Coalition Trade Minister Andrew Robb told The Nightly that clarification should be sought around how binding the climate provisions could be, but that the quotas for agriculture were good enough to support the entire deal.

Under the deal, 97.8 per cent of Australian goods exported to the EU will be completely tariff-free.

The European Union calculates that investment from companies into Australia could increase by a rate of 87 per cent under the terms of the agreement, which is yet to be ratified by both sides.

The agreement unlocks 30,000 tonnes of Australian beef meat that can be exported into Europe without any subsidy which is nearly eight times current levels.

The volume of sheep meat exports that can be sold without any duties will increase by around five times to 30,000 tonnes.

More than 87 per cent of dairy exports are tariff-free but there are restrictions on how much butter, skimmed milk powder and protein powder derived from whey can be imported without facing tariffs.

All duties on vegetables, fruits and nuts are completely eliminated, as well as on machinery and manufacturing goods except steel.

As part of the deal, Australian researchers will have access to the EU’s science research scheme called Horizon, enabling Australians on the cutting edge of new technologies to benefit from studying in Europe.

Australia and the European Union are both also agreeing to new security and defence partnerships, amid the geopolitical tensions.

The agreement includes “binding commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement and core labour standards” which can be resolved through the agreement’s general dispute settlement.

Mr Taylor has said it is not his position to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and under that international treaty, Australia sets its emissions reduction targets under domestic law.

Labor passed the free trade agreements struck by the former Coalition government when it was in opposition.