Morrison addresses issues with France over axed $90b submarine deal

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has insisted Australia’s defence interest “had to come first” amid tensions about the axed $90 billion French submarine deal.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron was asked by Australian journalists whether Scott Morrison had lied to him when cancelling the Naval Group’s submarines contract at the conclusion of the G20 summit in Rome.

“I don’t think, I know,” Mr Macron said.

Mr Morrison has now said there were “very significant challenges” which were posed by the French deal.

“Those delays and those concerns led me to take a decision early on, about 18 months ago or thereabouts, to ensure that if we did have concerns about how this project might proceed, then we would need to have an alternative, and in my view we had to have a better alternative,” he said.

“I didn’t want Australia to settle for less, and we’d always had the aspiration to have a nuclear powered submarine.”

Australia recently entered into the AUKUS alliance, which is set to see Australia acquire a fleet of nuclear powered submarines.

Mr Morrison said he “made it very clear” to President Macron shortly after the AUKUS announcement that a conventional diesel-powered submarine was “not going to meet Australia’s strategic requirements”.

“Australia’s defence interests had to come first, this submarine was not the submarine Australia needed,” he said.

“The contract had had its difficulties that had led to me to inquiring into potential other options, which for Australia’s sake actually came to fruition, and we were able to secure nuclear powered submarine technology that only two countries in the world possessed, that was worth pursuing for Australia.

“That is why we took the decision that we did, there was a three month period where the issues that had been raised were being discussed between French and Australians officials and the Naval Group.

“And we finally formed the view, made the decision we had to.”