AustraliaNews.com.au

Liberals being ‘led by the nose’ against EU trade deal

A federal minister is calling on Liberal leader Angus Taylor to stand up to the Nationals and support the $10 billion-a-year Australia-EU free trade deal.

Angus Taylor must take a “strong stand” against “fanatics” in The Nationals trying to scupper the $10bn-a-year free trade deal with the EU, a senior minister says.

The Long Sip
What happened

Cabinet minister Tim Ayres publicly challenged Opposition Leader Angus Taylor to back the Australia-EU free trade deal against Nationals resistance.

The detail

The Nationals plan to block the $10 billion-a-year deal in parliament, with Senator Matt Canavan arguing it fails farmers and exposes Australia to climate-related sanctions.

What it means

The Coalition is divided, with Liberals signalling concern about beef and dairy terms while most business groups say the deal is worth supporting despite its imperfections.

For you

The deal would remove tariffs on 98 per cent of Australian goods entering Europe, but beef producers got 35,000 tonnes of market access rather than the 50,000 they wanted.

Full story at News.com.au

What readers are saying

dawn1993
The beef quota detail is telling: producers wanted 50,000 tonnes but got 35,000. That's eight times current levels, which sounds good until you realise Australian farmers didn't get half of what they asked for. The Nationals are pushing back on incomplete access, not blocking free trade wholesale.
terryt
Worth noting the sheep meat exports jumped from 5800 to 31,000 tonnes - if you're in that sector, that's the practical upside to track once parliament votes on it early next year.
BankstownHassan
The climate concern isn't entirely baseless even if Ayres calls it a straw man - the article confirms Australia is bound to the 2016 Paris Agreement, so there's a genuine compliance question buried in the disagreement about whether this deal creates real risk.
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