‘Stabbed in the back’: Paris vents its anger at AUKUS alliance nuclear sub deal

The French government has accused Australia of betrayal for cancelling $90bn worth of French-designed submarines.

A French Barracuda-class submarine. Picture: Naval Group

The French government has accused Australia of betrayal for cancelling $90bn worth of French-designed submarines, blasting the move as “contrary to the spirit and the letter” of co-operation between the two countries.

The decision is a major blow to Australia’s relationship with a key Indo-Pacific partner, with France’s former ambassador to the US declaring his country had been “stabbed in the back”.

Scott Morrison stunned French President Emmanuel Macron when he phoned him on Wednesday night to tell him Australia would not proceed with the massive defence investment.

“To say he was disappointed was an understatement,” senior government sources said.

The Prime Minister said he hoped Australia and France could continue their strong partnership in the Indo-Pacific “once we move past what is obviously a very difficult and disappointing decision for France”.

He said he understood France’s position, but declared: “As Prime Minister I must make decisions that are in Australia’s national ­security interests.

“I know that France would do the same. And I know ultimately that will be understood.”

Government insiders pointed to the strength of the Australia-Japan relationship, five years after the government decided not to purchase Japanese subs, as evidence that the Australia-France relationship would be restored over time.

The Attack-class boat – a diesel-electric variant of France’s Barracuda-class nuclear boat – would have been the world’s largest and most expensive conventional submarine. The program had for years been troubled with delays, cost blowouts, contractual difficulties, and disputes over Australian industry participation.

Australia has already sunk about $2.67bn into the Attack-class submarine, and will also pay a portion of the $1bn committed for 2021-22. Australian officials declined to provide further details to protect the government’s negotiating position.

Mr Morrison said Australia had acted in good faith in its dealings with the majority French government-owned Naval Group. He said he had also raised the prospect with Mr Macron in June – after sealing the nuclear sub deal with the US and the UK – that a diesel-electric submarine might no longer meet Australia’s needs.

“I was able to set out very clearly that there were very real issues about whether a conventional submarine capability would be able to address those going forward,” Mr Morrison said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drien and French Defence Minister Florence Parly condemned Australia for the decision in a joint statement on Thursday, accusing Australia of undermining the relationship between the countries.

“The decision is contrary to the letter and the spirit of the co-operation that prevailed between France and Australia, based on a relationship of political trust as well as the development of a very high-level defence industrial and technological base in Australia,” the ministers said.

They also hit out at the Biden administration for leaving France out of the new AUKUS defence pact with Australia and the UK at a time of “unprecedented challenges in the Indo-Pacific region”, saying the move “shows a lack of coherence that France can only note and regret”.

France’s former ambassador to the US Gerard Araud was less diplomatic, accusing the US and UK of undermining relations with Paris. “The world is a jungle. France has just been reminded this bitter truth by the way the US and the UK have stabbed her in the back in Australia,” he tweeted, adding: “ C’est la vie.”

When they were first announced in 2016, the government said the French subs would cost $50bn, but the estimated cost rapidly rose to $89.7bn, as key contractual milestones were missed.

The Auditor-General had been so concerned it warned Defence it should consider walking away from the French-built boats.