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Pacific News Minute: Brexit and the Pacific

Jeff Djevdet / Flickr
Jeff Djevdet / Flickr

It's now a week since voters in Britain decided to pull out of the European Union.  The economic and political effects have been felt around the world, including the Pacific, where The United Kingdom has deep ties to many countries.  We have more, from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Global volatility in currencies, stocks and commodities did not spare markets in the Pacific, but experts said to expect fewer disruptions in the longer term.  Most of Britain's former colonies maintain relations as members of the Commonwealth...that's 14 Pacific countries in all, from Australia to Vanuatu, alphabetically, and if anything, those ties may deepen as the mother country appeals to its traditional allies.

No country may be more affected than Australia, which just started negotiations on a free trade agreement with the European Union.  Depending on how you calculate it, the EU is Australia's second or third largest trading partner, but Britain alone makes up at least half of that.  So at a stroke, an agreement with the EU becomes both less interesting and more complicated.  And, with London busy rejiggering ties to 27 European countries, China, Japan and the United States, Australia and smaller Pacific countries may find themselves low on the priority list.

In a column for The Age, Peter Fitzsimmons argued that Brexit will accelerate his cause ...the Australian Republican Movement.  The Queen remains head of state in Australia and many other former colonies. "We should see Brexit for what it is," Fitzsimmons wrote, "a pivotal opportunity to galvanize the Australian People to be masters of our own destiny."  One other possible impact: Google showed a spike in Britons seeking to immigrate to Australia

Over 36 years with National Public Radio, Neal Conan worked as a correspondent based in New York, Washington, and London; covered wars in the Middle East and Northern Ireland; Olympic Games in Lake Placid and Sarajevo; and a presidential impeachment. He served, at various times, as editor, producer, and executive producer of All Things Considered and may be best known as the long-time host of Talk of the Nation. Now a macadamia nut farmer on Hawaiʻi Island, his "Pacific News Minute" can be heard on HPR Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
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