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London: Australia's high commissioner in London, Alexander Downer, says that after Brexit Australians should be given the same right to work in the UK as European Union citizens.
The former foreign minister has told The Times newspaper he hoped the UK's new post-Brexit immigration policy would treat Australians the same way as those from the EU.
President Donald Trump's Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, blasts the mainstream media, calling them out as 'opposed to an economic, nationalist agenda like Donald Trump has.'
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has issued a rallying cry for people to change their minds on the decision to leave the EU.
"We have a non-discriminatory approach to immigration.
"That means we essentially don't discriminate between countries and we would have thought that it would be to your advantage and might be to our advantage to have a non-discriminatory approach to Australians."
Australia's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Alexander Downer. Photo: Getty Images
Mr Downer said the UK should make it easier for Australian business people and professionals to secure visas to work in Britain.
"At the moment if you are a taxi driver in Bucharest you have completely free access to the UK, whereas if you are a brain surgeon from Sydney it is harder for you to get into the UK."
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After last year's Brexit referendum Australia was quick to offer to open free trade deal negotiations with the UK.
But Mr Downer warned that if the UK wanted to protect agricultural industries from competition from Australia it would make for tougher and more protracted negotiations.
"We don't want the way you support your farmers to give your farmers a comparative advantage over our farmers," he said.
The British government has said it would pay farmers the subsidies they currently receive from the EU, at least initially.
Mr Downer also warned about the EU seeking to extract a a price from the UK over Brexit.
"If the consequence of the divorce between the UK and the EU is the erection of tariff barriers between the EU and the fifth biggest economy in the world this is going to have quite a deleterious effect on the world economy."
AAP
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