Others will claim this makes Australia the 51st state. It won't. We will retain our distinct cultural traditions. But it will consolidate the trend of the Australian economy's tracking the US economy, which has become clear in the past 20 years. This is no surprise. We are an advanced industrialised economy with significant agricultural and mineral resources and a modern, open services economy. Australia is a microcosm of the US economy.
And, like the US, we have embraced information technology: people, not just business. Like the Americans, we are high users of computers and the internet. These technologies create new freedoms.
Like the US, we are an open society. We have benefited from freedom of movement of people, goods and investment. The FTA will consolidate that trend. It will not make us more like the Americans, but it will make us a more open society.
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As we move further into the Information Age, the societies and economies that remain open will thrive and those that close will fall behind.
The historic importance of this agreement is that it puts Australia on the growth side of that divide.
It is our destiny to be there.
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