Australians Asking About Effects Of U.K. In E.E.C.

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32381, 21 August 1970, Page 19

Australians Asking About Effects Of U.K. In E.E.C.

<SZ.r.A. Si if Corrnpondent) SYDNEY, August 19. What happens to Australia if Britain joins the Common Market? This qu Mtion is being asked in Aistralia more frequently the « days as the new British Government pushes negotiation? with the six member nations of the Market j The answer is that Australia stands to lose quite a lot if Britain enters the E.E.C. without speqial safeguards for Australia’s trade with Britain and at the moment there appears to be little chance that Australia, iinlike New Zealand, will be considered a case for special treatment Australia! Minister for Trade and industry (Mr McEwen), returned from a twomonth world tour at the weekend with a gloomy report for the nation on its trade prospects if Britain joins the market dr McEwen had talks in ondon and on the continent with E.EjC. members.

He said that his concern was the safeguarding of Australia's trade with Britain if Britain went in. “I got nothing to encourage me in Brussels: our trade could be in serious jeopardy.” He declared it seemed certain that the terms of Britain’s entry to the Market would rule out traditional trade links with Commonwealth countries. The Minister warned that if Britain joined on the same terms now operating Australia’s markets for dairy products and soft wheat would in due course disappear. Meat exports also would be affected and so would sugar. One-third of Australia’s sugar exports are shipped to Britain. Early last month Mr McEwen appealed to Britain when he was in London to protect Australia’s interests “as best she can” and reminded that Australia had supported Britain in two world wars and deserved some sympathy. Whether Australia gets that sympathy remains to be seen but Mr McEwen’s subsequent talks appear not to have left him very confident There has been a tendency in Australia to write Britain off as a trade partner. But despite a real decline

in trade over the last decade Britain is still very definitely a significant outlet for Australian goods—particularly its pastoral products. Britain still is Australia’s third (after Japan and the United States) best customer and takes 12 per cent of the nation’s exports. It is still the best buyer of Australia’s butter, canned meats, sugar, canned fruits, lead, silver, barley, fresh fruit, and zinc orders and concentrates and second-best customer for dried fruits,

wool and unwrought zinc. It also takes considerable quantities of other products Including beef, mutton, lamb, wheat, barley and oats. In fact, Britain buys 4300 m worth of agricultural products from Australia alone.

Suddenly, Australians are realising it is time everything possible was done to protect this trade as much as possible.

Mr McEwen’s visit to London and Brussels was very much an attempt to do this.

> But it may be too late. As ' some observers have pointed ■ out recently, New Zealand, i through the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Marshall, i has been on the job for a i matter of years pressing for ■ special treatment. i Australia has been content to push its case at official ’ rather than at ministerial 1 level in the past.

This rather .surprising approach might cost Australia dearly.