Emmanuel Macron has accused the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, of lying to him over an abandoned 56-billion-euro submarine contract, in a significant escalation of tensions between Paris and Canberra, reports The Guardian.
The French president levelled the accusation in impromptu comments to Australian journalists on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome. He said he had a lot of “respect and friendship” for Australia and Australians, but that respect between nations needed to be reciprocated.
“I just say when we have respect, you have to be true and you have to behave in line and consistent with this value,” he said.
When asked whether he thought Morrison had lied to him by not revealing Australia’s secret dialogue with the UK and US over the acquisition of nuclear submarines, a dialogue that ultimately became the Aukus pact, Macron was direct in his response. “I don’t think, I know,” he said.
Morrison denied he had lied to the French president. He said he had told Macron that he had formed the view that conventional submarines would not meet Australia’s strategic interests when the two leaders met in Paris after a G7 summit this year.
He said when the two had dined together at the Élysée Palace, “at that stage we had not concluded any other arrangements with any other parties”.
Morrison said he understood Macron’s disappointment, but that he did not resile from the decision to abandon the French contract and proceed with the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines in partnership with the US and UK. He said doing otherwise would have elevated French disappointment above Australia’s national interests.
Macron expressed scepticism to Australian journalists that the Aukus nuclear submarines would arrive on schedule. He noted there was an 18-month review of the feasibility of the arrangement, and quipped: “Good luck.”