Japan–Australia Economic Partnership Agreement Japan–Australia Economic Partnership Agreement The Japan–Australia Economic Partnership Agreement was concluded between Australia and Japan in November 2014 and took effect January 15, 2015. Australia's negotiations for an agreement with Japan began under the Howard Government in 2007. In April 2014, Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott led a trade delegation to Japan, South Korea and China. The three economies accounted for more than half of all of Australia's two-way trade. On the Japanese leg, Abbott was received by Emperor Akihito and, secured the key elements of a free trade agreement with the government of Shinzo Abe. A number of concessions
National debt of Japan Noda of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) - passed a bill in June 2012 to double the national consumption tax to 10%. This increased the tax to 8% in April 2014. The originally scheduled 10% tax increase to be implemented in October 2015 has been delayed until at least October 2019. The goal of this increase was to halt the growth of the public debt by 2015, although reducing the debt would require further measures. The DPJ subsequently lost control of the Diet in late 2012, and Noda's successor Shinzo Abe, of the Liberal Democratic Party, implemented the "Abenomics"