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Australia’s PM attacks French president’s credibility over submarine deal

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Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison makes his national address at the World Leaders Summit of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, Glasgow, Scotland. This took place on November 1, 2021.

Ian Forsyth | AFP | Getty Images

Australian Prime Scott Morrison criticized the credibility French President Emmanuel Macron after a newspaper quoted a message in which France claimed it was expecting “bad news” about a now-quashed submarine deal.

Australia’s newspaper questioned the explanation by President Joe Biden to Macron last week, that he believed the French were informed before their September announcement of an Australian submarine deal worth 90 billion dollars (or $66 billion).

Macron has accused Morrison, at a Paris dinner this June, of lying to him about Morrison’s fate in a five year-old contract to construct 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines with the majority French-owned Naval Group. Australia cancelled the deal after it joined forces with Britain and U.S. to purchase eight submarines powered by nuclear technology.

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Morrison informed reporters from Australia who had traveled with him to Glasgow (Scotland) for the U.N. Climate Conference that he told Macron during their June dinner that traditional submarines wouldn’t meet Australia’s changing strategic requirements.

Morrison tried to call Macron to inform him of the announcement two days prior, when Biden and the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced the nuclear submarine agreement. However, the French leader replied by texting back that he wasn’t available, The Australian newspaper reported.

Macron asked, “Should we expect positive or negative news about our joint submarine ambitions?” According to the newspaper, Tuesday was reported.

One journalist asked Morrison about his decision to leak the text message following Macron’s accusation of him lying. However, the prime minister refused to answer directly.

Morrison explained that although I don’t want to give in to your editorial, it was clear that we were contacted while trying to setup the… call. He made it quite clear that he was afraid that the call could lead to Australia’s decision not to continue with the contract.

French officials claim that the cancellation of the contract, Jean-Yves Le Drian describing as a “stab in your back” by French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian blundering their government, had blindsided them.

Macron declared this week that Australia’s nuclear submarine deal was “very unfortunate news” for Australia’s credibility, and also for Australia’s trust in its great partners.

Morrison stated that Macron’s claim of lying (which the prime minister denied) was a slur about Australia. It is seen by most Australians as an insult to Morrison.

Morrison stated, “I don’t want to personalize it. There’s no element that comes from my perspective.”

“I must say that I think the statements that were made questioning Australia’s integrity and the slurs that have been placed on Australia, not me — I’ve got broad shoulders, I can deal with that — but those slurs, I’m not going to cop sledging of Australia. Morrison stated that he was not going to take responsibility for the actions of Australians. The term “sledging” is used in cricket to refer to the abusive use of opponents.

Macron was told by Biden that handling the Australian sub-alliance warship alliance was “clumsy” but “not done in a lot grace.”

I was under the impression France had known long ago that France would reject the French deal. Biden said to Macron, “I honestly did not know that you didn’t.”

Emmanuel Macron is the French President during a plenary session at the World Leaders’ Summit of COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, Glasgow on November 1, 2020. –

Getty Images| AFP | Getty Images

However, the Australian reports that a fifteen-page document was negotiated between the White House National Security Council and Australian officials. It detailed how the world would learn about the trilateral submarine agreement.

An unnamed Canberra source said to the newspaper that “Everything was observed and fully understood.”

Malcolm Turnbull (Australian prime minister) signed the French submarine contract. Turnbull considers Macron his personal friend. News Corp, including The Australian newspaper, was accused of bias towards Morrison’s conservative government by being biased.

Turnbull said that Morrison can “twist and twist” to leak messages and documents, but the real failure in this case was being dishonest.

Turnbull stated that Scott Morrison must be held responsible for his deceitful acts of deceitful conduct in France.

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