Truss,a free-market Libertarian,was one of the big winners of Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle,being promoted from the junior ministry to the Cabinet,replacing Liam Fox as Trade Secretary.
Truss had wanted to be made Chancellor of the Exchequer but that job went to Sajid Javid,one of the leadership contenders who backed Boris Johnson after being knocked out.
A week after being named as Fox's replacement,Truss phoned her Australian counterpart for their first official discussion.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the discussion had gone well and both were keen to secure a deal that would reflect the closeness of Australia and the UK's tied history as soon as possible - which could be before the end of the year.
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“I welcome the incredible enthusiasm of Liz Truss to secure an ambitious Australia-UK deal as soon as possible,"Birmingham toldThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age."I said last week that I hoped we could conclude a comprehensive deal within months if not weeks of Brexit and Australia stands ready to move as fast as the UK can to open our markets up to one another.”