Editorial
It has been a long time between courses. In July 1957 - three months before Tony Abbott was born - the respective prime ministers of Australia and Japan, Robert Menzies and Nobusuke Kishi, signed a watershed commerce pact. On Monday night, in Tokyo, Mr Abbott and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe - Mr Kishi's grandson - signed off on a free trade agreement described as the most significant economic advance between the two nations in almost 60 years.
In symbolic recognition of this event, Mr Abbott presented Mr Abe with an album of photographs of Mr Kishi's visit to Australia. (This is not the place to analyse the symbolism - if any - of Mr Abe's gift to Mr Abbott: a set of electronic bicycle gears.) Certainly, the Japan Australia Economic Partnership Agreement transcends the merely tokenistic: it is historic. Not only will it set the two nations on a more open and co-operative economic course, the positive effects should resonate well into the century.
The agreement is due to be formally signed during Mr Abe's state visit to Australia in July. As such, the FTA is, in reality, as welcome as it was when the proposal was first mooted in 2002 and more formally instigated by the Howard government in 2005. ''A free trade deal with Australia's key partner in Asia makes sense,'' said The Age at the time. We endorse that view today.
Australia's Trade Minister, Andrew Robb, who has negotiated intensively over six months with Japan's Trade Minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, deserves special praise. It was only at the last moment (half an hour before the prime ministers' private dinner on Sunday) that Mr Robb and his negotiators finally persuaded Japan to grant Australian producers access to its hitherto impenetrable beef and dairy markets.
Over time, tariffs will be reduced or removed on 97 per cent of all Australian exports to Japan. In return, Australia is to scrap its 5 per cent tariff on Japanese electronic and household goods, as well as immediately eliminate the 5 per cent tariff for 75 per cent of Japanese vehicles, with the remainder eased in over three years.
There are, inevitably, swings and roundabounts. While this could mean cheaper cars for consumers, the plight of local automotive components makers will hardly be eased: as Australia's car manufacturing industry begins to wind down, the FTA's five-year phasing out of tariffs on Japanese components makers will inevitably create increased competition. There are contradictory views. For example, while the Victorian government says the state's cattle and dairy farmers will benefit from the lower tariffs on exports, Queensland Liberal National federal MP George Christensen described the agreement as not having ''significant benefit for Australian agriculture''.
Last October, Mr Abbott, emphasising his government's ''open for business'' mantra, set a 12-month deadline for free trade negotiations with Japan, South Korea and China. He is doing well. With Japan on board on Monday and South Korea signed off on Tuesday, only China remains to be settled. That possibility augurs well, given China's positive indications. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister and Trade Minister, along with a vast delegation of ministers, state premiers and big-business identities, all descend on China later in the week.
The task now for Mr Abbott is to maintain equilibrium between these highly competitive nations. As The Age's Asia-Pacific editor, John Garnaut, wrote on Tuesday, this Asian trip is the toughest yet in terms of dealing with regional rivalry and dynastic politics. Mr Abbott's message - ''Making new friends doesn't mean losing old ones'' - is being put to the test.
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