A minister has rowed back from her suggestion that freedom of movement between the UK and Australia could form part of trade talks after Brexit.

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss met the country's prime minister Scott Morrison and her counterpart Simon Birmingham in Canberra on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference, she said the two nations had a "special link".

Image: Boris Johnson met Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last month

Asked about freedom of movement being on the table in future discussions about a trade agreement, Ms Truss said: "It's certainly something we will be looking at as part of our free trade negotiations," the news.com.au website reported.

She added: "We want a fully comprehensive trade deal that reflects our deep, ongoing relationship, the friendship between our two countries, the fact that Australians want to come and live and work in Britain, and Brits want to come and live and work in Australia.


"Leaving the European Union really does give us a chance as a country to become more outward-looking, to become more competitive, and to deepen our links with our partners right across the world."

But in a later statement sent to Sky News, Ms Truss rowed back on those comments.

She said: "It's normal for trade agreements to set the terms for workers to travel between those countries.

"But that shouldn't be confused with freedom of movement in the EU.

"We want a fully comprehensive deal with Australia that reflects our deep and ongoing relationship, that's why I visited this week, to support our commitment to a rapid and ambitious free trade."

At the moment, British citizens must have a visa to travel to Australia.

Britons can apply for holiday working visas, but they must go through the normal channels to emigrate longer-term.

There is a common travel area between Australia and New Zealand as part of the Trans-Tasman travel arrangement.

This means citizens from either country can travel, live and work in both.

But Australia's PM dismissed the idea of expanding the scheme after a meeting with Boris Johnson at the G7 summit last month.

Mr Morrison has already expressed his willingness to get trade talks going quickly, saying at the G7 that he thought a deal could be struck within a year.

Ms Truss was similarly bullish, saying a trade agreement could be done in "months rather than years" and that talks would begin "as soon as possible" after Britain has left the EU.

The UK Department for International Trade confirmed on Tuesday that Australia had agreed to start talks once the UK leaves the bloc.

Ahead of her trip, Ms Truss said she wanted to see an "ambitious trade deal" which reduces tariffs and barriers for British exporters.

She added: "It's good to see that Australia is going to be quick off the mark and it'll be mirrored by the UK under our new government - a government that takes action.

"A UK-Australia trade deal won't just be a good thing, it'll be a great thing, for our businesses, for our consumers, for our workers and for our two great countries."

UK trade with Australia was worth £16.6bn in the year to March, according to the Department for International Trade, with around 150,000 UK businesses exporting to the country.