Better trade Australia - UK

Ahistoric free trade agreement between Australia and Britain will come into force at the end of the month after an extended process pushed back by leadership instability in London

Under the deal, there will be no tariffs on almost all Australian goods exported to the United Kingdom, and more Australians will be eligible for lengthier working holidays in the country

In two years' time, the agreement will also relax working holiday visas for Australian and British citizens working across the two countries It will include raising the age limit for the visas from 30 to 35 years and extending opportunities to stay up to three years

The agreement following Brexit will strip taxes on billions of dollars worth of goods, including beef, sheep meat, dairy and sugar It will come into effect on 31 May

After a two-year period, there would be no tariffs on 99 per cent of Australian exports to the UK, which are worth some $9 2 billion The same would apply to UK products arriving in Australia

The deal will also allow Indigenous Australians to receive royalties when their artwork is resold in the UK

Farmers have welcomed the news as the "win we have been waiting for" For the wine sector, the tariff elimination represents a saving of approximately $50 million per year

“Basically, we're all experiencing the effects of colonisation and the attempted genocide of our people We're still picking up the pieces. And there's a lot of stolen wealth that the royal family is responsible for They are in receipt of stolen goods ”

The letter's statement outlines five 'practical steps' the 74-year-old king can take to begin atoning for the horrors of colonisation: an apology; recognition of genocide; reparations for stolen wealth; repatriating sacred artefacts and bodily remains still held in British museums; and renouncing the 'Doctrine of Discovery', related to the concept of the false pretext used by Britain to legally colonise Aboriginal lands While Ms Thorpe said such actions would help bring healing to Indigenous peoples, it was incumbent upon the new monarch to wholeheartedly adopt them She said he needs to heed those calls

People from Antigua and Barbuda, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are all signatories to the letter Lidia Alma Thorpe (born 1973) is an Australian independent politician. The senator for Victoria, the first Aboriginal senator from that state, was a member of the Australian Greens until February 2023 when she quit over disagreements concerning the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

The Department of Health and Aged Care awarded a $396,000 private government contract to consultancy firm Kantar Public Australia to undertake policy research on consumer contributions to aged care and gauge sentiment towards an increase in user co-payments

It comes amid an ongoing debate over whether Labor should raise the means-testing threshold for Australians who can afford it, with Aged Care Minister Anika Wells privately telling providers to contribute ideas on how to increase user copayments as part of a broader national conversation

Health Minister Mark Butler confirmed the Government was looking to ensure a "sustainable mix" about who was funding aged care, with the percentage of older Australians set to increase over coming years