French ambassador to return to Australia after submarine deal row

French Foreign Minister tells parliament the ambassador would return to ‘help define our relationship with Australia in the future’.

France’s ambassador to Australia is to return to Canberra, after a diplomatic protest over the federal government’s decision to scrap its $90bn deal to buy French submarines.

Jean-Pierre Thebault, who had been the French Ambassador in Canberra since 2020, was recalled last month after France expressed outrage at being left out of the new nuclear submarine deal between the US, UK, and Australia.

However on Thursday (AEDT) Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told parliament he had “now asked our ambassador to return to Canberra with two objectives: helping to define our relationship with Australia in the future … and firmly defend our interests in the implementation of Australia’s decision to terminate the submarine program”.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne welcomed the announcement, while conceding there was much work to be done to repair the bilateral relationship.

“We will work with France to move forward with our relationship. We recognise this will take time and ongoing engagement following our submarine decision,” Senator Payne said.

“The return of the Ambassador is a welcome step in this process. “France continues to be a critical partner for Australia. We look forward to continuing to work together and to ongoing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.”

Scott Morrison on Thursday stressed that Australia’s relationship with France was “bigger than a contract.” The Prime Minister said the “time would come” when he would speak to French President Emmanuel Macron.

He said he was looking forward to “getting on” with Australia’s diplomatic relationship following confirmation the French ambassador would return to Canberra.

“France has a significant and long standing role and future here and we welcome that,” he said.

“It’s a matter of picking up on things we were working on and continuing on with them. Because they’re very significant, they’re wide-ranging. They’re very much in our interests and France’s interests.”

Defending Australia’s withdrawal of the $90bn submarine contract, Mr Morrison said it would have been impossible to avoid hurting the French.

“Australia makes decisions in our national interest,” he said.

Mr Morrison spectacularly dumped plans to build 12 French-designed conventional submarines with the AUKUS announcement that Australia would acquire eight nuclear-powered boats with help from the US and Britain.

The decision infuriated French President Emmanuel Macron, and raised questions about the extent to which Australia could be trusted to fulfil its major inter­national contracts.

Australian, US and UK officials have now embarked on an 18-month process to determine which submarine Australia will buy – the Astute or the Virginia, or a combination of the two.

Mr Le Drian accused Australia of back-stabbing and the United States of betrayal, calling the move reminiscent of the unilateralist attitude of Mr Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump.

The French Foreign Minister told the ABC: “We discover(ed) through the press that the most important person in the Australian government kept us in the dark intentionally until the last minute and was not willing to at least have the decency to enter conversation about the alternative..

“This is not an Australian attitude towards friends. Maybe we’re not friends.”

John Kerry, Mr Biden’s special climate envoy, told French television this week the US President “had not been fully aware” of the impact the AUKUS deal would have on the French government.

“He literally had not been aware of what had transpired,” Mr Kerry told French broadcaster BFMTV.

The row has threatened to derail free trade talks with the EU, with Europe last week announcing the 12th round of talks had been shelved until November. To literally add insult to injury, the announcement was made as Trade Minister Dan Tehan was en route to the talks.

With trade in goods and services between the two economies representing almost $58bn and $41bn respectively, Mr Tehan implored the EU to continue with the talks, with the benefits for both parties in the finalisation of the deal.

Paris also recalled its envoy to Washington over the furore.

But French president Emmanuel Macron later ordered the French ambassador to Washington to return to his post after a call with US President Joe Biden, which helped soothe tensions.

France however made clear it was not in as big a rush to mend fences with Australia, and kept its envoy to Canberra in Paris.

France’s anger stemmed not only from the loss of the submarine deal, but also the shattering of an alliance with Australia that it saw as a cornerstone of its Indo-Pacific security strategy.

Labor MP Tanya Plibersek expressed relief at the news, expressing hope the relationship between the two countries can be repaired.

“Our relationship with France is very important; one it is not only a major European power, it’s a major Pacific power,” she told Sky News this morning.

“It’s very clear that our government did not handle the submarine contract very well and it’s a real shame it came to this.

“I’m very pleased that the French ambassador is returning and let’s hope that we can repair the relationship.”

Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie said Mr Thebault’s return was a “very good start,” but couldn’t resist a jibe that he had only gone on a “holiday for a couple of weeks”.

“I thought we just let him have a holiday for a couple of weeks before we brought him back again,” she told Channel 9’s Today.

“So look, I think it’s a very good start and it’s great he is coming back to Australia and it will be a start of mending that relationship, there’s no doubt about that.”

With AFP