Australia and the UK are being urged to protect themselves from the orange clown Donald Trump's protectionism by forming a new free-trade agreement.

Two economic thinktanks - the progressive McKell Institute in Australia and multi-party Demos in the UK - say that such an agreement could rebuild public trust in trade liberalisation: "A successfully delivered, highly beneficial and highly transparent FTA between the two nations could help arrest some of the growing scepticism in both states against vital economic institutions such as liberalised trading regimes."

The joint study from McKell and Demos (.pdf link) recommends the proposed UK/Australia trade deal include labour provisions that further the rights and future prospects of workers in both states, and environmental safeguards referencing the countries joint commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The authors make clear that any such agreement must include substantial labour and environmental protections.

The study says, "While the UK's Brexit vote is the most obvious economic shift in that nation's history for generations, Australia too is seeing a resurgence in populist political voices espousing more protectionist economic measures."  It continues, "These trends come at a time where internationally, a scepticism towards globalisation and free trade in particular is rising.  This is perhaps most notable in the United States - a nation that leads a world economy defined by liberalised global trade but paradoxically has seen opposition towards that order reach fever pitch."

"The Australia-UK (free trade agreement) should be used as an opportunity for both states to ensure the standards of supply chains across all industries meet a minimum standard to help eradicate global transgressions of workers rights, and end modern slavery," the report says.