Sept 19, 2021: Australia on Sunday defended the termination of an agreement for French submarines, saying the government had been raising concerns with Paris for months before finalizing the tripartite diplomatic deal with UK and US.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “I do not regret the decision to make Australia’s national interest a top priority. Australia on Thursday withdrew from a 2016 deal with France’s Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines in a tripartite security partnership for a project with at least eight nuclear-powered US and British technologies.
The move angered France, a NATO ally of the United States and Britain, which urged it to recall its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra. It is also angry with China’s emerging power in the Indo-Pacific region.
Morrison said he understands France’s frustration with the cancellation of the order, valued at 40 billion dollars in 2016, but reiterated that Australia must always make decisions in its best interests.
“This is an issue that was raised directly by me a few months ago and we continue to discuss these issues, including the Secretary of Defense and others,” Morrison said in a briefing.
The new tripartite agreement has plunged Washington into an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with France, which analysts say could permanently damage the US alliance with France and Europe, and cast doubt on the United Front. He adds that US President Joe Biden is working against China’s growing development.
Paris has called the cancellation a stab in the back, with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian saying relations with the United States and Australia were in “crisis”.
Morrison said he notified France of the new agreement at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. He, Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the announcement at 7am on Thursday in Canberra (Wednesday 2100 GMT).
Defense Secretary Peter Dutton said Australia was “clear, open and honest” with France about its concerns.
“Suggestions that the Australian government did not flag the concerns, only clearly, have done so on public record and certainly reject what they have said in public over a long period of time.”
He declined to disclose the cost of the new deal, saying “it will not be a cheap.”
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