Tony Abbott says Scott Morrison’ was ‘perfectly entitled’ to skip French subs as Malcolm Turnbull slams deal

Ex prime minister Tony Abbott has rushed to Scott Morrison’s defence as debate over the French subs deal continues.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott says Scott Morrison was “perfectly entitled” to scrap a $90b submarine deal that sparked a major diplomatic rift.

Mr Abbott’s message to Mr Morrison comes off the back of Malcolm Turnbull slamming his successor for his “sneaky, “shameful” and “duplicitous” behaviour that has strained Australia’s diplomatic relationship with France.

Both Mr Abbott and Mr Turnbull’s comments come after a day of back-and-forth between Mr Morrison and French President Emmanuel Macron, who accused Mr Morrison of lying about dumping their $90bn submarine contract in favour of a nuclear powered pact with the US and the UK.

Less than 24 hours after the public accusation, private text messages, presumably leaked from the Prime Minister’s Office, emerged, essentially undermining Mr Macron’s statement.

Speaking from Glasgow, Mr Morrison said he “would not cop a sledging” from Mr Macron and he had tried to set up a call with him before the AUKUS announcement in September that led to the diplomatic fallout.

“(Mr Macron) made it pretty clear he was concerned that this would be a phone call that could result in a decision by Australia not to proceed,” Mr Morrison said from Glasgow.

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

In discussion with the Hudson Institute in New York, Mr Abbott said the decision to scrap the deal was within the realm of reasonable, and that he wished he could have made the same decision when he was at the helm.

“It was an extraordinary decision, a decision that I wish I had been able to make in my time as prime minister, but all credit to Scott Morrison for being able to do this,” Mr Abbott said.

“This AUKUS deal complements all the other things that are happening … I always think that if your friends are stronger, that’s better for you and Australia will be a stronger friend, once this AUKUS deal is brought to fruition.

“The contract we signed with the French had lots of exit ramps, and all we’ve done is take one of the contractual exit ramps that we were perfectly entitled to take.

“And whatever we are required to pay to the French under the contract, we will certainly pay and if that’s hundreds of millions of dollars, we will gladly pay it because that’s what they owed.”

Former prime minister Tony Abbott rushed to Scott Morrison’s defence as the debate over the submarine deal continues. Picture Kym Smith

Meanwhile, Mr Turnbull said Mr Morrison should cease hitting back and apologise.

“Firstly, because he did very elaborately and duplicitously deceive France,” he said.

“We had a relationship of the deepest trust and confidence with France – the French shared with us some of their most secret technology on submarines. It was a partnership between two nations as a cornerstone of France-Indo-Pacific strategy and to be double dealing with them the way Morrison did was shameful.

“I mean (US President) Joe Biden has acknowledged that.

“Morrison’s conduct has done enormous damage.”

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said Mr Morrison should apologise for his ‘sneaky duplicity’.

Mr Morrison told reporters in Glasgow that during dinner in June with Mr Macron he had clearly told the French President that conventional submarines would no longer meet Australia’s strategic interests and any decision to transition to nuclear-powered ships would be in Australia’s national interests.

“The (French) submarine contract was a significant investment decision taken five years ago. At that point … the attack class submarine was the right decision,” Mr Morrison said from Glasgow.

“But there have been significant changes which have completely changed the game.”

Mr Turnbull said Mr Morrison should have dealt with Mr Macron “honestly” instead of “dropping hints”.

Mr Macron and Mr Morrison engaged in a war-of-words ahead of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. Picture: Adam Taylor

“What we should have done, and nuclear propulsion for submarines has always been an option for us … but what we should have done was had an honest and open conversation,” Mr Turnbull said.

“An honest person would have sat down with France, brought in the Americans … and said ‘look, we think we should move to nuclear propulsion’.

“The French submarine that we were working on was actually designed as a nuclear submarine and it was Australia’s request that it had conventional diesel electric propulsion.

“All Scott needed to do was to be honest and open, and that’s exactly what Biden has criticised him for because there wasn’t consultation.

“If we had an honest and open conversation, we wouldn’t have any of these problems. This is all the product of Scott’s duplicity.”

The relationship between the two leaders has been in the diplomatic deep freeze since the announcement of the AUKUS deal. Picture: Adam Taylor