Australian navy ships are set to gain greater access to French military bases in the Pacific under a plan to repair French-Australian relations after the rupture caused by the Morrison government’s cancellation of a $90 billion submarine contract with French company Naval Group, reports the Brisbane Times.
Foreign minister Penny Wong and her French counterpart, Catherine Colonna, released a new agreement on Monday for expanded co-operation that includes the creation of a French-Australian think tank and partnerships on climate change and critical minerals.
Cultural exchanges will also receive a boost through the creation of a French-Australian cultural exchange foundation in Australia and an Australian cultural initiative in France.
“France is a power in the Pacific, it’s a power in Europe and it’s a multilateral power, and this is a very important partnership to Australia,” Wong said at a press conference in Canberra.
Wong said she agreed with Colonna that the road map constituted an important step forward in the “reset of the relationship” between Australia and France after the scrapped submarine deal in September 2021.