The agreement will also mean a raft of professional qualifications gained in one country will be recognised in the other.

Fears that the signing might be delayed by a squabble over how much Australian beef and lamb would be allowed into the UK proved unfounded,with the two leaders settling on a scheme that will phase out tariffs over 15 years.

Centre for European Reform trade expert Sam Lowe said he was surprised the UK agreed to eventually eliminate agricultural tariffs.

“When it comes to tariffs,we have a constituency-based electoral system which sees farmers heavily concentrated in Conservative backyards. The fact we are discussing duty-free and quota-free trade is something that will have shocked everyone.“

Australian agricultural exports are worth $50 billion annually but only $700 million goes to the UK.

Britain is already Australia’s fifth-largest trading partner,with two-way goods and services valued at $36.6 billion,while Britain is Australia’s second-largest investment partner.

As part of the deal,the federal government will scrap tariffs on a range of British goods including whisky,which currently has a tariff of 5 per cent. Tariffs will also be dramatically slashed on pharmaceuticals,cars,machinery and tractors. Britain will also gain greater access to Australian markets for services.

Federal Trade Minister Dan Tehan told Federal Parliament that when Britain had turned its attention to the common European market decades ago,Australia felt that a special bond was broken.

“Half a century on,Australia stands ready again to be a willing partner with the UK,” he said.

“We want to help the UK achieve their aim of global Britain,like we want them to make sure that they work with us to promote trade liberalisation. To be advocates for free trade right across the globe.”

As it stands Australia’s beef exports are limited to a post-Brexit UK import quota of just 3761 tonnes,while sheep meat is limited to an annual UK import quota of just 13,335 tonnes.

Dairy producers are limited to an import quota of just 44 grams of cheese per person every year,when the average Briton consumes 125 grams of cheese per week.

The sensitivities in Britain over Australian agricultural imports point to difficult negotiations ahead with America,one of the world’s largest food producers.

Protectionist forces within the Conservative Party have claimed an open-slather deal with Australia would set a precedent for future negotiations with Washington.

“This deal is a crushing defeat for the self-serving protectionist lobbyists and a resounding victory for the Australian and British people,” said Matthew Lesh,head of research at the London-based free-market Adam Smith Institute.

The full potential of the deal will only be realised after Australia opens its border to vaccinated travellers.

A trade deal with Australia could lift UK GDP by 0.02 per cent,or £500 million ($914 million),while British forecasts suggest GDP in Australia could grow by up to £700 million ($1.3 billion).

While Britain has struck economic deals with other countries since the Brexit referendum,for example with Japan and Canada,these have been carry-over deals securing for Britain the same trading arrangements it enjoyed when in the European Union.

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott,one of 12 advisers on the new-look UK Board of Trade,cautioned protectionists against trading in “fear,not hope”.

“It baffles me a little that so many people in Britain are always running the country down,” he told GB News.

“Britain can cope. And a trade deal with one of Britain’s friends...that’s no threat to the people of Britain,this is going to help the people of Britain.“

Morrison will now travel to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and former Australian finance ministerMathias Cormann,the new secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,before returning to Canberra.

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