Scott Morrison backtracks on Emmanuel Macron ‘selfies’ claim

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has drawn ire from reporters at the G20 summit, after claiming they were “getting selfies” with the French President.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has drawn ire from reporters at the G20 summit in Rome, after claiming they were “getting selfies” with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Tensions between Mr Morrison and Mr Macron remain high following the Aussie PM’s decision to tear up their $90 billion submarine deal between the two countries.

Mr Macron even went as far as to accuse Mr Morrison of lying to him about the deal, when speaking with Australian reporters during the summit.

Speaking at a press conference in Rome today, Mr Morrison made a sharp comment about the amount of interest in Mr Macron that didn’t go down too well with some of the reporters.

After a reporter mentioned Mr Morrison would be seeing the French President at COP 26 in Glasgow, prompting the PM to say he had already “seen him several times today”.

“You guys have seen him, you were getting selfies with him,” he added.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed journalists were ‘getting selfies’ with French President Emmanuel Macron. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

A journalist then corrected Mr Morrison saying: “First of all, we weren’t taking selfies with President Macron”.

The Prime Minister quickly backed down, saying he “must have been misinformed”.

The exchange comes after Mr Macron made a stunning accusation against Mr Morrison while speaking with Australian reporters who were waiting for the Prime Minister.

Asked on Sunday whether he thought Mr Morrison had lied to him about the submarine contract, the French President said: “I don’t think, I know”.

When asked if he could ever trust Mr Morrison again, he said he will see what the Aussie PM “will deliver”.

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

He concluded by telling the group there would be an 18-month wait for a report on how the new nuclear submarines would be delivered.

“You have 18 months before a report,” he said.

“Good luck.”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and French President Emmanuel Macron talk at the G20 gathering in Rome. Picture: Adam Taylor

Morrison: ‘Not true’ that I lied

But Mr Morrison has pushed back against the criticism telling reporters in Rome that it was “not true” that he lied.

In a fiery grilling from reporters, the Prime Minister was asked if he had clearly told Mr Macron he was considering scrapping the project at any point before the decision was made.

Mr Morrison said he raised the subject during a dinner between the pair in June, telling the French President that “conventional (non nuclear) submarines were not going to be able to meet our strategic interests”.

“Yeah, that’s not the question though.” the journalist bit back.

“But that’s my answer,” the PM retorted.

Asked if the decision to scrap the French subs had damaged Australia’s reputation, the PM said: “I will always stand up for Australia’s interests”.

“These decisions are difficult,” he added.

“Of course, it has caused disappointment and it has caused an impact on the relationship with France. But I’m not going to put that interest higher than Australia’s national interest”.

Reporters asked Mr Morrison to speak about the serious nature of Mr Macron’s allegation, calling it “extraordinary”, but he remained tight lipped, saying only: “I don’t accept it.”

The PM said he had spoken with Mr Macron several times during the G20 summit and would “speak again a bit more before I head back to Australia”.

Scott Morrison and Emmanuel Macron. Picture: Supplied

Last month, Australia, the US and the UK formed a new partnership – AUKUS – which meant Canberra would scrap its $90 billion submarine deal with Paris in favour of nuclear technologies made available by London and Washington.

Speaking to reporters in Rome, Mr Macron said the AUKUS deal was “very bad news”, not only for France, but for Australia as well.

“I think it’s a very bad news for credibility of Australia, and a very bad news for the trust that great partners can have with the Australians,” he said.

“I think this is detrimental to the reputation of your country and your Prime Minister.”

Over the weekend, Mr Macron and Mr Morrison had their first face-to-face encounter since the submarine deal was scrapped.

He briefly greeted the French president ahead of the G20 summit but the two leaders will not have a bilateral meeting as tensions between the two continues to fester.

Mr Morrison said he didn’t request a bilateral meeting with the French President at the summit given the tension and wanting to respect Mr Macron’s frustrations.

“I said g‘day,” Mr Morrison told reporters in Rome.

“He was having a chat to someone, I went up and just put my arm on his shoulder and just said ‘g’day, Emmanuel,’ and ‘look forward to catching up over the next couple of days.’

“That’s the way these events tend to work and he was happy to exchange those greetings.”

Missed phone call on eve of AUKUS announcement

In September, Mr Morrison revealed he tried to call Mr Macron to tell him about the submarine deal the night before the decision was publicly announced, but he didn’t pick up.

Instead, Mr Morrison opted for a “message” to the French leader.

His comments came after he previous said he had contacted Mr Macron the night before the AUKUS submarine deal was announced.

“What I said was, is that I made direct contact with him,” Mr Morrison told reporters in Washington last month.

“It was about 8.35. We had sought to have a call that night. We’d been seeking that for some time.

“He did not take that call, to seek for it to be arranged, and so I directly messaged him Australia’s decision in a, in a personal correspondence.”

Scott Morrison left the French President a message the night before the submarine announcement. Picture: Adam Taylor via PMO

France's President Emmanuel Macron has accused Mr Morrison of lying over the submarine deal. Picture: Ludovic Marin/AFP

Still, France said it was blindsided by the deal and immediately moved to pull its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington following the announcement.

Even US President Joe Biden has ridiculed Mr Morrison’s handling of the situation, admitting it “was not done with a lot of grace”.

“I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not coming through,” he said during a meeting with the French President in Italy.

“I honest to God did not know you had not been.”

When asked his thoughts on Mr Biden’s comments, the Aussie PM said he would leave the US President’s “remarks to him”.

Mr Morrison told reports that Australia had made the right decision for its national interests.

“There was never an easy way for us, I think, to get to a point where we had to disappoint a good friend and partner in France that we wouldn’t be proceeding with that contract,” he said.

“It was always a difficult decision for Australia, it was the right decision for Australia — we worked closely with the United States and the United Kingdom and we kept them up to date.”