French President Emmanuel Macron says Scott Morrison lied to him before scrapping a $90 billion submarine contract.
In a sign relations between Paris and Canberra have not improved despite Mr Morrison’s attempts to talk to Mr Macron at the G20 summit in Rome, the French leader did not hold back when he gave his thoughts on the PM’s conduct.
Mr Macron was pulled aside by Australian reporters who asked whether he thought Mr Morrison had lied about his intentions.
He replied: “I don’t think, I know”.
Mr Macron said the AUKUS deal was not just bad for France but “very bad news for credibility of Australia and a very bad news for the trust that great partners can have with the Australians”.
“I think this is detrimental to the reputation of your country and your Prime Minister,” he told the Australian media pack accompanying G20 leaders.
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Asked whether he could trust Mr Morrison again, Mr Macron replied: “We will see what he will deliver”.
“I have a lot of respect for your country, a lot of respect and friendship for your people,” Mr Macron said, before adding: “I just say when we have respect, you have to be true and you have to behave in line and consistent with this value”.
Relations between the two leaders soured in September, when the French declared they had been “stabbed in the back” by the Morrison government when it announced it was tearing up its pact with Paris to design and help build 12 diesel submarines.
Australia has instead opted for an agreement with the US and UK on nuclear-powered subs.
At a press conference just minutes after Mr Macron’s comments to the Australian media, Mr Morrison said the French President should have been aware of the plans to scrap the deal.
“I was very clear that the conventional submarines were not going to be able to meet our strategic interests and that we would need to make a decision in our national interest,” he said.
“I was very clear that what was going to be provided to us was not going to meet our strategic interest and there was still a process we were engaged in, and we then engaged over the months that followed, and then we communicated to him our ultimate decision.
“I’ve been very clear about the way I’ve communicated about this, we had dinner together.”
It comes after US president Joe Biden admitted the orchestration of the AUKUS pact was “clumsy” but told Mr Macron that he “was under the impression that France had been informed long before” the announcement about Australia’s plans.
Mr Morrison spoke to Mr Macron briefly later that day.
“I went up and just put my arm on his shoulder, I said ‘g’day, Emmanuel, and look forward to catching up over the next couple of days’, which I assure you, that’s the way these things work,” Mr Morrison said on Sunday.
“He was happy to exchange those greetings, and we’ve known each other for a while. But you know, it’s just the process of being on the road back.”
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