The French are unhappy about the subs, but do we even care?

Our previous failed prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has weighed into the fracas by standing up for the French and telling us that our Prime Minister has made a mess. Really? President Joe Biden seemed to remember the details and told reporters that it was “clumsy” and he thought the French had been told all about it before. This is from the same man who could not remember Scott Morrison’s name when the nuclear submarine deal was announced. No wonder he is never allowed to be too close to reporters and when he is off script he sounds a bit muddled.

I suspect most Australians don’t give a fig about the French and their upset leader. Remember that thousands of Australians still visit the war cemeteries of both wars. Thousands of our young men died defending the French people especially on the Western Front. Lest we forget.

Alasdair Cameron, Woodend, Vic It’s invariably hard to identify the truth in a “he says-he says” argument. In their latest statements, the Prime Minister and other government ministers have spoken of the need to keep secret their intention to abandon the contract with France, which seems to confirm that they did actually deceive the French by withholding this information. The discussion and media coverage has focused almost entirely on the cancellation of the contract, but little has been divulged about how the AUKUS deal was struck with the US and UK. Whose idea was this? Who initiated the discussions which led to this deal? If it was Australia, would this not lend further weight to the French argument that they were deceived? Deliberately withholding information with the intention of deceiving can be construed as lying. Vive la verite.

Vincent Burke, Adelaide, SA

The government is doing little to abate French perceptions of “l’Australie perfide” with the leaking of private texts between Scott Morrison and Emmanuel Macron. Our Prime Minister’s justification, that “this submarine was not the submarine that Australia needed”, dodges the question of why Australia signed up for it, while Barnaby Joyce’s claim that “we didn’t steal an island, we didn’t deface the Eiffel Tower. It was a contract” betrays an obliviousness to the fact that you are supposed to abide by contracts.

Patrick Ball, Fern Tree, Tas

Scott Morrison has been reduced to playing a humiliating game of “I said, he said” on the international stage. Now he’s claiming the French President sledged Australia and he won’t tolerate it. Say what? President Macron clearly and very publicly sledged Morrison, not Australia or the Australian people. Morrison has gone beyond spin to plain untruths and it seems he would rather hide behind the flag than take any personal responsibility for his actions. As for the opposition: where the bloody hell are you?

Martin Klavins, Crafers West, SA

Woke work

Carl Rhodes (“The real reason to worry about woke capitalism”, 30-31/10) suggests large corporations that practise philanthropy are undermining democracy by depriving governments of funds through their tax avoidance strategies, low wages and extortionate CEO and executive remuneration. This is an admirable observation but it is doubtful governments would direct money, even if they had more, to areas such as climate change and assisting third world countries. Large corporations should be able to be both good corporate citizens and philanthropists.

Anne Di Lauro, The Gap, Qld

Boo to the circus

With all the usual poseurs piling on to bad mouth Gladys Berejiklian we didn’t need Troy Bramston’s contribution, (“Train wreck Berejiklian evidence is damning”, 2/11). The counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption process ignores the rules of evidence repeatedly and the commissioner stops Gladys from arguing her case in response for various “reasons”. All in all this showcase beat-up by ICAC just feeds the unthinking, unprincipled nonsense generated by those with malice as their engine. Having watched a fair slice of the proceedings I reject the methods ICAC uses and the media circus that fuels it. Gladys is systematically denied the opportunity to explain and defend herself and is being whipped with recordings of her phone conversations obtained by secret phone taps. Counsel assisting insists on pushing interpretations of the contents and the significance of same as if he has a better grasp of Gladys’s thinking than Gladys herself.

Keith Johnson, Ballina, NSW

Long after those who have trawled through telephone transcripts and the entrails of Gladys Berejiklian’s private life have transitioned to obscurity she will be remembered as a politician who tried to put the people first. The political class has few champions; Gladys is one of the few.

Kim Keogh, East Fremantle, WA