[Australia]: Message to the United Kingdom [SEC=SECRET]

[Owen]

​

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: SECRET (Encrypted)​

16 September 2000​

Dear Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Upon reviewing our free trade agreement signed by the previous Howard Government, we wish to make proposals for amendments to that agreement based on the strengthening of our relationship under the Beazley Government. Please see attached the free trade agreement with our proposed amendments. We look forward to hearing back from you. Kind Regards, Kevin Rudd, MP.

Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 7700​

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
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TRADE AGREEMENT WITH THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
Security Classification: TOP SECRET

TRADE AGREEMENT

between the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and North Ireland,

and

Commonwealth of Australia

[ December, 1998 ]​

Declaration
This Trade Agreement (the “Agreement” or; “Trade Agreement”; “Treaty”) states the terms and conditions that govern the contractual agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom who agrees to be bound by the agreement.

Article I, Term
This agreement shall commence December 1998 and will continue indefinitely. Either party may terminate the agreement for any reason with three (3) months written notice to the other signatory.

Article II, Factors
The factors stated for the need of Australian-British Trade Agreement are as follows:

(a) The setting up and development of Australian-British trade cooperation and working consistently throughout.
(b) To support and venture within the boundaries of said agreement(s).​

The following are the official articles that will be followed as the official agreement:

(a) None of the stated articles are to be construed as contravening and any clauses of the agreement that one of the parties disagrees with will be dealt with appropriately via diplomatic means at the time an amendment or dispute is raised.

(b) The objective of this agreement is to ensure that great advantage is obtained from the combined personnel and facilities of both parties.

(c) Each party agrees to liaison within the signatories territory to maintain cooperation throughout the agreements’ life.

(d) Signatories agree to eliminate current tariff charges on two-way trade on all products. lower current tariff charges from their respective amounts to an importation tax of 10%.

(e) Participating countries are committed to the shared security of any trade routes between both states.

(f) The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) vessels will be facilitated at Diego Garcia for the purpose of re-supplying and rest & recuperation on deployment under the following constraints:

i. There will be a fixed cost of 25,000,000.00 dollars per visit which is payable upon arrival. This will be transferred to the United Kingdom.​

ii. No prior permission is required if a routine patrol or the operation does not impact political boundaries such as humanitarian aid; other deployments that may affect allegiances must be agreed upon separately.

iii. Visits to Diego Garcia are for re-supply only which will be delivered by British Personnel. Australian Personnel must remain on their vessels as they are not permitted to depart their ships.​

Article III, Amendments
Amendments of the agreement must be requested in writing to the other party, both parties must agree for the changes to be applied to be valid.

Article IV, Applicable Law
This Trade Agreement and the interpretation of its terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Australia and the United Kingdom. This is subject to exclusive jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in Australia and the United Kingdom.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, duly authorised by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.

Done in two originals, December 1998.

For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Andrew Evans Jamie

For the Commonwealth of Australia:
Prime Minister of Australia
John Howard JamieA

Published by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
Point of Contact
Address: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London, SW1
Telephone: 03700 00 22 44
© Crown Copyright​

 

[Jamie]

GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
Security Classification: SECRET

To: Kevin Rudd, MP Owen
Cc: andrew.evans@parliament.uk
Subject: Re: Trade Agreement Amendments

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your email and the proposed draft, I have discussed this internally and we would be happy to have a call or meeting in person to discuss further if required.
To clarify our position on the amendments:

• The purpose for a reduction in tax to 10% was due to the Australian Government, at the time, not having an importation tax. Therefore, this only benefited your government and reducing this in its entirety would not be productive for the United Kingdom.
  Unless this situation has changed, which we have not been made aware of, us reducing this to eliminate all charges would not be mutually beneficial.
• Rest and recuperation may be possible on Diego Garcia but this would be limited to a specific zone due to the nature of the base.
  Only if the agreement stipulates specific areas of access and set time frames for their presence could this be accepted.
• The costing of 25m per visit would remain in place as this covers costs of re-supplying which must be carried out by British personnel due to it been a controlled area.
  This also covers refueling, insurance and the space used which could otherwise be operated by the Royal Navy.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Kindest Regards,
Lawrence

Lawrence Adams | Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | King Charles Street, London, SW1 |

 

[Owen]

​

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: SECRET (Encrypted)​

20 November 2000​

Dear Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, We do have tariffs now, currently there is no trade between Australia and the United Kingdom so there was no need to inform you of it. However we do plan on changing this and hope to see trade routes set up shortly. We want to see this agreement become a Free Trade Agreement, rather than just merely a trade agreement. Free trade usually entails the removal of all tariffs and importation charges. We also forgot to add that we do charge maritime safety levies on ships entering our ports and there should be a section within the agreement that eliminates or waivers those on British-flagged or vice versa Australian-flagged vessels in the UK, though we're not aware of those levies being in place in the UK. We can add in the specific areas of the Diego Garcia that they are allowed to access, just let me know what they are. We can reciprocate a waivering of such a fee by allowing British Forces to re-supply, base temporarily or rest and recuperate at any Australian base free of charge. We would like to see the presence of British Forces in the Indo-Pacific increase, so it aligns with our strategic focus. Though we do believe that such an agreement should be apart of a more comprehensive Defence Treaty, to be negotiated later, between our nations rather than inserted into a trade agreement. We're just hoping on fixing what we were left with by the previous government but we do believe that agreements between our two nations need to be broader and more comprehensive to reflect the nature of our relationship. Kind Regards, Kevin Rudd, MP.

Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 7700​

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

 

[Jamie]

GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
Security Classification: SECRET

To: Kevin Rudd, MP Owen
Cc: andrew.evans@parliament.uk
Subject: Re: Trade Agreement Amendments

Good Afternoon,

With mention of trade and defence agreements respectively, I would like to look into arranging a meeting in person that would allow us to discuss trade and defence in more depth.

Ideally with myself and our Secretary of Defence, based on your availability I would be looking to the end of December if suitable for yourselves?

If you have a preference to where this would be hosted too?

Kindest Regards,
Lawrence

Lawrence Adams | Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | King Charles Street, London, SW1 |

 

[Owen]

​

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: SECRET (Encrypted)​

20 November 2000​

Dear Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, This would essentially be the AUKMIN summit we had previously planned. The Minister for Defence will be joining me then. We can host this in Sydney so you can hopefully take the opportunity to pay visits to other Indo-Pacific nations: Thailand, Japan, Korea, etc. We want to see a greater British presence in the region so we would greatly appreciate if you took that opportunity. I will be cutting my Christmas break short in order to meet with you because I see the importance of such a meeting. Kind Regards, Kevin Rudd, MP.

Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 7700​

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

The Australian Government were given advanced notice prior to departing to ensure no further complications. If the meeting was given the clearance to continue in Sydney, departing from the United Kingdom on a RAF Lockheed Martin TriStar was Foreign Affairs Secretary, Lawrence Adams. Accompanying him was the First Secretary Taylor Heart and a number of aides to support the meeting through minute taking and personal secretaries. Ensuring to abide air traffic regulation and providing landing clearance was provided by the Australians, the Lockheed TriStar would land and those on board waited for transit to the host building in Sydney.

Owen

 

[Owen]

Sydney Tower would give clearance for the TriStar to land. On the tarmac the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd and Minister for Defence, John Faulkner would be awaiting to meet their respective counterparts. Two COMCAR Holden Caprices would be waiting for each pair with an escort of a series of Australian Federal Police unmarked vehicles with plain-clothed officers and New South Wales Police Force marked vehicles and motorcycles with uniformed officers. Uniformed Australian Federal Police officers would be standing on the tarmac with heavy weapons and their vehicles providing perimeter security around the aircraft. A New South Wales Police Force Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil would be circling around the airport at a distance as to not disturb the flow of other air traffic into the airport. Upon the stair well getting attached and the Foreign Secretary exiting the aircraft the Ministers would look at him approach.

"Where's Mr. Green?" John would say to Kevin.

"I.... don't know." Kevin would look confused.

"Oh for fuck sake." John would mutter to Kevin, having already been annoyed that the meeting had to be postponed once and now not everyone turns up.

Upon Lawrence approaching the two men, Kevin would extend his hand first.

"Mr. Adams, it's a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to Sydney. This is Senator John Faulkner, the Minister for Defence." John would extend his hand out to Lawrence.

"Mr. Adams, a pleasure to meet you. Welcome." John would have quite an annoyed face on.

"Is this the new Defence Secretary?" Kevin would say pointing towards Taylor, chuckling.

​

Jamie

 

[Owen]

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

The TriStar, after developing the ability to freeze time, managed to land safely on the tarmac in which the British Representatives were able to leave the aircraft to the introduction of the Kevin Rudd and John Faulkner. Lawrence and Taylor extended their hands and introduced themselves to each one of their Australian hosts respectively. Taylor, laughing to the question from Kevin shook his head "Unfortunately the Defence Secretary is a bit ... grounded at the moment. Probably wishing he were back in the army. Don't worry though, I tend to make things progress a little faster. It's a pleasure to meet you both though."

Owen

 

[Owen]

They would lead them into an awaiting COMCAR convoy of Holden Caprices. It would be escorted by unmarked Australian Federal Police cars and marked NSW Police cars and motorcycles. They would drive out of the Airport complex and onto the M1 Motorway. They would take the Sir John Young Crescent exit into the CBD driving up Shakespeare Place onto Bent Street which would lead them onto Bligh Street where the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices were at No. 1. The street would be blocked off by the police as they exited the motorcade and went into the building. It would be a beautiful and sunny day in Sydney at 26 degrees celsius, typical for this time of year.

They would be led into the board room of the offices.

​

Kevin Rudd would begin to speak. "It's a pleasure to finally declare this first ever AUKMIN consultations open. The United Kingdom and Australia share a relationship which is deeper than anyone one administration. Here in Sydney, in 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip landed and declared the first British colony in Australia, the colony of New South Wales, which lives on today as the state of New South Wales. We have a population of British ancestry which is 4th in the world behind the United States, the United Kingdom itself and Canada. We have the largest diaspora population of British citizens in the world, 1.3 million of them, thanks to healthy flows of migration in the 1950s and 60s. We share a monarch. We share cuisine. We share military traditions and customs. We share the Westminster system. There is not much difference between us and so I think it is imperative that we codify our relationship and deepen it more. If you may wish to share a few words, Foreign Secretary."

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Abiding the procedure, the representatives entered the awaiting convoy and was sure to take in the sights as they traveled through the streets. Most the journey consisted of the pair trying to hide the obvious fact they were absolutely boiling, the climate slightly different to the usual English weather. Eventually entering the board room, they would be seated and listen patiently whilst Kevin Rudd begun to speak before it was the turn of the Foreign Secretary who cleared his throat before speaking up. It wasn't rehearsed, or written down. Mostly because he didn't expect to deliver a speech but he had hoped it came off better given it was straight from his first thoughts.

"The relationship between the United Kingdom and Australia is considered in such a high regard and despite our geographical distance, to echo my honorable friends own words, there is not much difference between us. At the same time, the few differences we have can only make us all work together better, to learn from each other and to grow together. I could say the same about any Commonwealth nation but the standard that Australia and the UK have, are one, and we very much look forward to improving these together as time goes on."

Owen