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The Australian government will be watching the fallout from Britain's historic Brexit vote "very, very carefully", Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Monday, after he ordered the nation's finance regulators to prepare a report on the potential consequences for Australia.
The prime minister has urged Australians to vote for his coalition at Saturday's federal election, and said a stable Turnbull government would minimize the effect of the Brexit vote on the local economy.
Turnbull said he had ordered the Council of Financial Regulators, including representatives from the Treasury, the Reserve Bank, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), to investigate any potential consequence of the Brexit decision.
Turnbull said he was also being briefed by diplomats overseas as to how the decision could affect Australia, and said while stability was beginning to return to the various financial markets on Monday, there was still political uncertainty across the European Union (EU).
"There is a measure of stability returning to financial markets today, which is good," Turnbull told the press.
"There remains considerable political uncertainty, as you all know, in the United Kingdom and in Europe. We are keeping a very, very close eye on that."
Turnbull said the first order of business, for when the Brexit occurs, would be to negotiate a free trade deal with Britain, as the current arrangement is made solely with the EU.
The prime minister said he would be keeping in close contact with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key so that the "considerable" fallout from the Brexit vote would be dealt with quickly and efficiently, particularly if the coalition is re-elected on Saturday.
(APD)
