‘Clumsy’: Biden’s swipe at Australia’s handling of French subs deal

US President tells Emmanuel Macron Australia’s dumping of French subs deal was ‘clumsy’ and ‘not done with grace’ as he arrives for G20.

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and US President Joe Biden (L) meet at the French Embassy to the Vatican in Rome on October 29. Picture: AFP

President Joe Biden took a veiled swipe at Australia’s handling of its relations with France on Friday, admitting to President Emmanuel Macron that he believed Australia had kept France “informed” of its intention to tear up a critical submarine contract.

The Australian understands there are growing frustrations inside the Morrison government over Mr Biden’s remarks, with concern the US President may have been kept in the dark by senior members of his administration about the AUKUS process.

In the lead-up to the AUKUS announcement last month, senior US officials were kept up to date about the concept of the military pact and status of Australia’s $90bn contract with French company Naval Group.

In a clearly awkward meeting with the French president, their first in person since France withdrew its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra in the wake of the announcement of the AUKUS security pact, Mr Biden conceded US treatment of France had been “clumsy”.

“The answer is – I think what happened was to use an English phrase … clumsy, it was not done with a lot of grace,” president Biden, in Rome for a G20 leaders meeting, told reporters as he sat next to Mr Macron.

“I was under the impression that France had been informed long before, that the deal was not going through … that certain things had happened that hadn’t happened” he said, in comments that suggest the president had been misinformed by his own staff or somehow by Australia or the UK.

Asked by a reporter if the Franco-American Alliance had been repaired, Mr Macron remained silent, later saying the two leaders had “clarified what needed to be clarified”.

“Now what’s important is to be sure that such a situation must not be possible for our future,” Mr Macron said, in English.

President Biden publicly told the French president France was an “extremely, extremely valued partner … and a power in itself” with the “same values”.

Mr Macron and Mr Biden are due to meet again on Saturday – along with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel – to discuss their response to the Iranian nuclear program. There are currently no plans for Mr Morrison to meet with Mr Macron or Mr Biden in Rome or at the COP26 summit in Glasgow next week.

Asked by a reporter if the Franco-American Alliance had been repaired, Mr Macron remained silent. Picture: AFP

The mid-September announcement of a new security pact between the UK, US and Australia, which will see greater military co-operation among the three nations and Australia acquire US or UK designed nuclear powered submarines, infuriated France, which had signed a US$66bn contract with Australia in 2016 build diesel powered submarines.

France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called the cancellation a “stab in the back” at the time. “We had established a relationship of trust with Australia, this trust has been betrayed,” Mr Le Drian had said.

Mr Biden’s admission adds to confusion about how much and when the President, who forgot Scott Morrison’s name when he announced the deal in Washington on 15th September, knew about the security pact, which was kept secret from the media and even well connected outsiders over months of negotiations.

John Kerry, the President’s special envoy on climate change and former secretary of state, told French media earlier this month the US leader had not been “aware” the deal would irritate France. “He literally had not been aware of what had transpired,” Kerry said.

Earlier in the day the president had met Pope Francis and Italian prime minister Mario Draghi. The President, a churchgoing Catholic, said the issue of abortion hadn’t arisen in the 90 minute meeting with the Pope.

“No, it didn’t. It came up — we just talked about the fact that he was happy I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving Communion,” the President said.

Morrison’s first bilateral meeting at G20

Mr Morrison held his first bilateral meeting at the G20 summit on Saturday, holding talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo before the “family photo” in Rome.

In the first in-person meeting between the leaders since Jakarta raised questions about the AUKUS military pact and nuclear submarine arrangements, Mr Widodo said he was “very happy to meet you again” and welcomed the new ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership with Australia as a way to strengthen their relationship. He said he appreciated Australia’s vaccine support after 1.2 million doses arrived last week. Overall, more than 155 million vaccine doses have been administered in Indonesia, with Mr Widodo saying the virus situation was now “greatly improved”.

Mr Morrison discussed his push for greater online safety during the meeting, calling on Mr Widodo to use the G20 Presidency to promote the issue ahead of next year’s summit in Bali.

Morrison touches down

Mr Morrison said he will put Australia’s “interests first” and resist pushes to phase out coal production and power generation at the G20 leaders’ summit and UN climate change conference, declaring he would not engage in “any mandates or bans”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives in Rome for the G20 on October 29. Picture: Adam Taylor

India, China, Russia and other resource nations and developing economies were likely to also resist attempts to impose timelines on the phasing out of coal.

Speaking in Rome, the Prime Minister said “every time you come to these events there’s all sorts of bits of paper that’s flying around well before”.

“I’m sure the final communique will be worked through over the next few days and Australia’s policy on these issues will be crystal clear and you can expect the Australian government, whether in Rome or Glasgow, will always put Australia’s interests first,” Mr Morrison said.

With Mr Johnson expressing concern that next week’s COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow could fail in its ambition, Mr Morrison said “it all depends on what your expectations are”.

“Australia’s taking steps forward, we’re taking strong steps forward. I think this is a good opportunity to align and discuss what our various plans are, and learn from each other,” he said.