Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement public hearings likely in September

August 8, 2022: The submissions for the Australia-UK Free Tread Agreement closed before the election. The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties  will consider all previous submissions.  

This agreement is much more extensive and deregulatory than previous agreements.  It does not include foreign investor rights to sue governments  (ISDS) but does include removal of labour market testing the expansion of federal and state government commitments on government procurement and has less exemptions for state government regulation on services and investment. It does have labour rights and environment standards chapters but these are less enforceable than the rest of the agreement.

The AFTINET submission is here.

Public hearings are likely in the next few weeks, possibly in September.

The reporting date for the committee report to Parliament is November 16, 2022, before voting on the enabling legislation