France-Australia row: Leaked texts escalate tension as Macron defends ‘hopeless’ deal

France and Australia situation 'very bad' says Suter

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Australia in September cancelled a deal with France’s Naval Group, opting instead to build at least 12 nuclear-powered submarines after striking a deal with the United States and Britain. The cancellation caused a major bilateral rift, and Macron on Sunday said Morrison had lied to him about Australia’s intentions, a unprecedented allegation among allies. Morrison has denied the claim. According to a source familiar with the messages, when Morrison tried to set up a call with Macron about the submarine contract on September 14, two days before the deal with the U.S. and Britain was announced, Macron responded with a message saying “Should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarines ambitions?” The message with Morrison’s response was not leaked.

The source declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

France has said Australia did not attempt to inform it of the cancellation until the day Canberra announced its deal with the United States and Britain.

“There is no doubt Morrison needed to put his front foot forward and convince Australians and allies that he wasn’t being duplicitous and lying, but there was grave concern that the project would not be completed,” said Haydon Manning, a political science professor at Flinders University in South Australia.

This month, the European Union postponed the next round of talks on a potential free trade deal for a second time, amid simmering anger over Canberra’s decision to cancel the contract with France.

In Rome for the G20 summit, Mr Macron and Mr Morrison met for first time since Australia scrapped the multi-billion dollar deal with France as part of a new security alliance with Britain and the United States unveiled in September.

The alliance, dubbed AUKUS, which could give Australia access to nuclear-powered submarines, caught Paris off guard, prompting it to recall ambassadors from Washington and Canberra amid accusations that France had been betrayed.

“I don’t think, I know,” Macron said in response to a question whether he thought that Morrison had lied to him “I have a lot of respect for your country,” he said in comments on Sunday to a group of Australian reporters who had travelled to Italy for the summit of leaders of the top 20 economies.

“I have a lot of respect and a lot of friendship for your people. I just say when we have respect, you have to be true and you have to behave in line, and consistently, with this value.”

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Morrison told a media conference later the same day that he had not lied, and had previously explained to Macron that conventional submarines would no longer meet Australia’s needs.

The process of repairing ties had begun, he added.

Morrison and Macron spoke last week before the Australian prime minister publicly sought a handsake with his French counterpart at the G20 meeting.

On Monday, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce urged France to view the matter in perspective.

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“We didn’t steal an island, we didn’t deface the Eiffel Tower. It was a contract,” Joyce told reporters in Moree, 644 km(400 miles) northwest of Sydney.

“Contracts have terms and conditions, and one of those terms and conditions and propositions is that you might get out of the contract.”

Joyce spoke just hours before Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne met France’s ambassador to Canberra. Payne said their hour-long meeting focused on efforts to repair the relationship.

On Friday, US President Joe Biden said the handling of the new pact had been clumsy, adding that he had thought France had been informed of the contract cancellation before the pact was announced.

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