Which countries, if any, should the UK focus increasing its trading links with? Credit:BMG Research Michael Turner from BMG Research commissioned the polling for the politically neutral British Foreign Policy Group and said the Australia finding was unexpected. "Going into that, obviously, we like to think that we've got a great understanding about people but that finding in particular, about Australia and New Zealand - they were both quite shocking," he said. He said older people were overwhelmingly in support of deepening ties with Australia with 45 per cent of those aged above 75 favouring Australia. By contrast, young voters aged below 34 favoured the European nations of Spain, France and Germany - which are popular holiday destinations for Britons.

Which countries, if any, should the UK focus increasing its trading links with? Credit:BMG Research Mr Turner said this showed how important people-to-people links and travel were to how voters think about foreign policy issues. "A lot of older people from focus groups that we conducted said that they spent time in New Zealand and Australia and much fewer younger say the same." Which countries, if any, should the UK focus increasing its trading links with? Credit:BMG Research "The young people go to Spain more and they're more likely to say that something's of a strategic importance to them if they've been there and they're familiar with it," he said.

"And actually what you really need to do to raise the Australian profile and the strategic importance is get more young people going to Australia. So that is clearly an effect." British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson met with his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop in Sydney last week. Credit:Rick Rycroft He said the debate about whether Britain should adopt an "Australian-style, points-based" immigration system during the EU referendum campaign would also be a factor driving pro-Australian sentiment amongst Leave voters. Other Commonwealth countries, Canada, India and New Zealand also featured in the top ten. The chair of the Commons International Trade committee Angus MacNeil, a member of the Scottish National Party which opposes Brexit, said the results showed the misguided nostalgia for a revival of the British Empire, driving Brexiters.

"There's a lot of nostalgic thinking going on with Britain's trading arrangement's at the moment because of this nostalgic view about recreating the empire," Mr MacNeil told Fairfax Media. "Perhaps this view exists among the older generation in England due to an inferior education system 60 years ago," he said. He said Britain leaving the common market would be the equivalent of "putting trade barriers up". In 2016, Australia accepted just 1.3 per cent of British exports and was ranked 21st in the list of top UK export destinations. The United States is ranked first and received 15 per cent of Britain's total exports. France and Germany accounted for 17 per cent of Britain's exports combined. Similarly, Australia is ranked 21st as an import source, with just 1.1 per cent of goods and services originating from Australia. Germany is Britain's largest supplier of imports into Britain, accounting for 14 per cent, followed by China and the United States. In 2015-16, two-way trade was worth around $27.0 billion, with Australian exports worth $12.1 billion and imports from the UK $14.9 billion. By contrast, in 2015, UK exports to the EU were valued at £223.3 billion ($367 billion), while UK imports from the EU stood at £291 million.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in Sydney this week, that Australia would be "at, or near, the front of the queue for a new Free Trade Agreement with Britain". On his recent visit to London, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia would strike a free-trade deal with the United Kingdom "as soon as possible". Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, a member of Open Britain which is campaigning for a soft Brexit, said any trade deal with Australia would be welcome but would only be a "drop in the ocean" compared to Britain's trade with the EU. "As keen as Malcolm Turnbull is on a deal with the UK, he actually wants one with the EU first and before the UK leaves. So we are behind the EU in the queue for a deal with even our Antipodean allies." "This demonstrates the foolishness of betting the house on trade deals which may not happen for years," he said. But the chair of the British parliament's all-party parliamentary group for Australia and New Zealand, Andrew Rosindell, said the findings showed Britain had not forgotten its true friends.

"Britain remembers its oldest friends, those who fought along side us," he said. "When we leave the European Union, we are poised to rekindle those friendships and grow our cultural and trading relationship into something greater," he said. US President Donald Trump is also promising a "very big and exciting" trade deal with Britain. But Chancellor Philip Hammond has said any trade deals might not be in force until 2022 at the earliest as part of the transition period. International trade expert Shanker Singham from the Legatum Institute said it was imperative that the government left the single market and customs union on day one of Brexit. "If we're not then we've basically put our independent trade policy in the bin," Mr Singham said. Follow Latika Bourke on Facebook