SYDNEY -- Two old friends and customers, Japan and Australia, have come closer to putting the finishing touches to a historic deal that will firm up one of the world's most successful business partnerships.
The proven, mutually beneficial nature of the long-running bilateral relationship is at a stage where a new, freer trade pact can strengthen the bases for past successes -- a reliable supply of natural resources to fuel Japan's industrial engine and a regular inflow of goods to feed Australia's hunger for technology.
A free-trade deal could not come at a better time for drought-devastated Australia. And there's the rub, for Japan's notoriously protectionist farm lobby still wants to keep its traditional veto against cheap foreign food.