Australia’s biggest tourist market is New Zealand followed by the United Kingdom. This confirms the close relations between our countries, which range across our legal system and our language, which are in evidence in our diplomatic and defence links , and which are demonstrated constantly in our shared values and institutions.
Australians should not forget the anti- British campaign run by the former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating. The worst manifestation of this was when he made a gratuitous and baseless attack on the United Kingdom, a close and friendly power, on the floor of the Federal Parliament.
A report by Julian Lee in The Sydney Morning Herald on 21 February 2009 about the fall in the number of overseas visitors coming through Sydney indicated that falls in visitors from Japan ( 22per cent ) and Korea ( 36 per cent) are being partly offset by the increased number of New Zealanders – now one million each year.
Australia's second-largest market, Britain, fell by 7 per cent. But, he reported, “British tourists are among the most profitable as they stay for long periods and spend more.
And that is not to say people from those many other countries are not equally welcome.