Australian trade deals with India and Britain reach Senate

Australian bilateral free trade agreements with India and Britain have entered the Senate with the government pushing to have both deals secured this year

Australian bilateral free trade agreements with India and Britain entered the Senate on Tuesday with the government pushing to have both deals secured this year.

The bills are crucial for Australia to diversify its exports from the troubled Chinese market to India and to Britain’s need to forge new bilateral trade relations since it left the European Union.

The bills easily passed the House of Representatives on Monday and the government hopes the Senate will make them law with a vote later Tuesday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party government holds a majority in the House but not in the upper chamber.

But the government can count on the support of the conservative opposition that was in power until May elections and negotiated both deals.

The deals need to be ratified by the respective British and Indian parliaments before they take effect. Neither nation has yet done that.

Trade Minister Don Farrell said India had demonstrated its commitment to the bilateral economic partnership through the quality of the deal struck.