‘From our point of view, (we’re) getting in to deal with the British early, to ensure that we are able to negotiate a very strong, very open free-trade agreement with Britain, ‘ he said.
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Speaking at the end of the G20 summit in China and ahead of face-to-face talks with President Xi Jinping, Mrs May insisted that the UK’s “global strategic partnership” with Beijing will continue.
The Prime Minister will give her verdict on the £18 billion project later this month, with security implications and the high cost of the energy produced by the Somerset plant among the concerns raised by critics about the scheme.
The two prime ministers met on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Hangzhou, China, which is discussing ways of spurring economic growth.
Turnbull said that Australia was “enthusiastic and supportive – we are providing Britain with as much assistance and at a technical level”.
At the start of his meeting with the Prime Minister in Hangzhou, Mr Turnbull told her: “Britain’s made a very momentous and historic choice to leave the European Union and we have already been engaged in discussions with you about what the free trade arrangements may look like after that”.
Ms May, whose time at Oxford University overlapped with Mr Turnbull’s, acknowledged that the Australian PM was one of the first people she spoke to after replacing David Cameron as the British leader in July.
In the wake of its vote to leave the European Union, Britain must renegotiate its access to the markets of the rest of the world, as well as those of the grouping it is leaving.
On Monday she will also meet Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull amid speculation the country could be one of the first in line to sign a trade deal with a post-Brexit UK.
Mrs May said: “I’m going to be looking at all the evidence around this issue”.
Mrs May said afterwards: “We want to be even more outward looking around the whole of the world”.
Australia is one of the nations the British government has targeted for an early, post-Brexit trade deal and Mr Turnbull has already expressed his desire not only for such an agreement but to reach a more relaxed work visa system with the United Kingdom, possibly providing a skills pool for Britain should it lose free access to talent from the EU.
The UK Government has confirmed that teams of UK and Australian officials will this week hold talks in Australia on the possibility of establishing a trade negotiating team.
Mrs May said that leaders of India, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore had also told her that they would welcome talks on removing barriers to trade.
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The Prime Minister said the delay was down to “the way I operate” because she wanted a fresh look at the evidence for the power plant.
