Aukus: France’s ambassador says Australia was ‘childish’ to keep submarine deal secret

Jean-Pierre Thebault, who is returning to Canberra, said France is a security partner of Australia, Britain and the US, and could have been consulted
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the bilateral relationship was bigger than a cancelled submarine contract, given France’s presence in the Indo-Pacific

Aukus alliance

Reuters

Published: 10:30am, 8 Oct 2021

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Australia’s assertion that it could not inform France of its top-secret talks with the United States and Britain to build nuclear submarines is “childish”, the French envoy to Canberra said on Friday.

Australia walked away from a US$40 billion deal with France’s Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines last month and will instead build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with US and British technology after striking a trilateral security partnership with those two countries, dubbed Aukus.

The cancellation angered France, which accused Australia and the United States of stabbing it in the back by holding talks without telling them.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he did raise concerns with Paris over the troubled Naval Group contract, but he could not reveal discussions with the United States until that strategic partnership had been agreed.

But France’s ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, who Paris recalled last month, said France was a close security partner of the United States, Australia and Britain and could be trusted with such information.

Aukus: Morrison ‘deceived’ France, says ex-Australian PM Turnbull

“It’s childish to say that it was impossible to consult France,” Thebault told ABC radio on Friday, adding that US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said the matter could have been handled better.

“They have officially stated things should have been done differently. There should have been consultations.”

Thebault will soon return to Australia where he said he would test Canberra’s resolve to repair ties.

A representative for Australia’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Thursday said she welcomed Thebault’s return as an important first step in repairing relations.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media on October 7. Photo: DPA

Morrison also welcomed France’s decision to return its ambassador to Canberra and said on Thursday the bilateral relationship was more important than the cancelled submarine contract.

“We already have cooperation. See, the Australia-France relationship is bigger than a contract,” Morrison said.

“France’s presence and significance and influence in the Indo-Pacific isn’t about a contract. It’s about the fact they have an actual presence here, in the Indo-Pacific, that they have a long-standing commitment and work with Australia across a whole range of different issues,” he added.

France sending envoy back to Australia after Aukus submarine row

It is not yet clear how much the termination of the contract signed in 2016 will cost Australia. It had already spent A$2.4 billion (US$1.8 billion) on the project, Morrison said last month.

“We have a very good understanding of how we’re going to proceed with that matter. We’ll be working within the contract as it’s set out,” Morrison said.

When leaving Australia, an angry Thebault described the cancelled contract as an “incredible, clumsy, inadequate, un-Australian situation”.

“This has been a huge mistake, a very, very bad handling of the partnership,” Thebault said.

Additional reporting by Associated Press