Bruce led the Australian delegation to the 1932 Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa . He redoubled his efforts to improve Australian economic prospects with the empire , and the conference agreed to a limited form of his long-sought imperial preference scheme that would give Australia greater access and competitiveness in imperial markets over five years , an achievement for which Bruce received much praise from the Lyons government . The closer trading arrangements of the Ottawa Agreements would set the pattern for Australian-British trade relations until Britain 's entry in the European Common Market in 1973
1932 Imperial Economic Conference
British Empire Economic Conference
Stanley Bruce