Is it a failure.
It must be because John Howard and his cronies have not been spouting on about how wonderful it is, nor the rabid right journalists.

http://www.tradewatchoz.org/AUSFTA/Index.html

I just hope Australia can be innovative and creative enough to exploit it as much as possible... >:)

Why must the free trade agreement be a failure because John Howard and “rabid right” journalists are not talking about it so long after it was a done deal?

If it is a failure, why are rabid left journalists not talking about it?

"In the year following the agreement, Australian exports to the U.S. declined, while U.S. exports to Australia increased. This followed the International Monetary Fund's prediction that the Australia-United States FTA would shrink the Australian economy marginally because of the loss of trade with other countries. The IMF estimated $US5.25 billion of extra U.S. imports entering into Australia per year under the FTA, but only $US2.97 billion of extra Australian exports to the U.S. per year."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia-United_States_Free_Trade_Agreement#Outcomes

I'm not a mercantilist by any means, but this FTA has been an abject failure for Australia. It effectively transformed our trade surplus with the U.S. into yet another trade deficit. Another negative trade balance that Australia can ill-afford considering our woeful current account deficit.