Morrison pushes back on Joe Biden’s claims handling of axed French sub deal was “clumsy”
Scott Morrison declares Australia made the ‘right decision in our interests’ in exiting its $90bn submarine deal with French company Naval Group.
Scott Morrison has pushed back against Joe Biden’s claim that Australia was “clumsy” in exiting its $90bn submarine deal with French company Naval Group, declaring Australia made the “right decision in our interests”.
The Prime Minister described the US President’s comments on Friday as a “candid conversation” with French President Emmanuel Macron and reiterated that Australia officials had kept the US administration “up to date with the status of our conversations and discussions” with the French government.
Mr Morrison – who approached Mr Macron in the G20 leaders’ lounge on Saturday to shake his hand and clear the air – said Australia had to “ensure we had the right submarine capability to deal with our strategic interests”.
“It was always a difficult decision for Australia. We worked closely with the US and United Kingdom and we kept them up to date – the (US) administration - with where we were at in our various discussions with France,” he said. “I had the opportunity to see President Macron … and exchange our greetings and shook hands and that followed the conversation we had (last Thursday). So we’re on our way back there.”
Mr Morrison said he had put his arm on Mr Macron’s shoulder and told him he looked forward to “catching up” in coming days.
“He was happy to exchange those greetings. We’ve known each other for a while and it’s just a process of being on the road back,” he said.
“What’s it’s about … is its two like-minded countries who have a lot of shared interests … following us not proceeding with that contract, finding those projects we will now work together on.
“France will pursue its interests and we’ll pursue ours. And there’s a great deal of overlap between those two things. It’s not surprising there’s a significant degree of disappointment about these events.”
Mr Morrison on Saturday met British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the G20 to discuss the AUKUS military pact and the French response and said “the fact is (it is in) the overwhelming interests of both countries that we continue to go forward in so many other projects”.
With senior Australian officials concerned about Mr Biden’s assessment of the AUKUS wash-up, Mr Morrison said the Australian government had kept the US administration in the loop and would be patient in repairing the France-Australia relationship.
Mr Morrison, who caught up with Mr Biden in the G20 leaders’ lounge, was scheduled to attend the US President’s G20 global summit on supply chain resilience on Sunday.
In his first G20 bilateral meeting, Mr Morrison met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo after Jakarta raised questions about the AUKUS military pact and nuclear submarines agreement. A read-out of the meeting said the “leaders discussed common challenges in the Indo-Pacific, and both welcomed increased US economic engagement in Southeast Asia as part of its focus on the Indo-Pacific”.
Mr Widodo invited Mr Morrison to visit Jakarta next year.
With France trying to increase its influence in the Indo-Pacific following the fallout with Australia and the US, Mr Macron also met with key regional leaders including Mr Widodo, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Meeting in Rome for the first in-person G20 summit since the pandemic struck, leaders of the world’s largest economies endorsed a US-led global minimum tax stopping big business from hiding profits in tax havens and the faster deployment of vaccines in poorer countries.
The G20 leaders, with China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Japan participating virtually, endorsed a push to extend debt relief for developing nations and made a commitment to vaccinate 70 per cent of the global population by mid-next year.
During the first G20 session on the Global Economy and Global Health, which focused on supporting developing nations out of the pandemic, Mr Morrison said the world must end the Covid-19 pandemic and “make sure we don’t have another one”.
Mr Morrison, who led international calls for an independent global investigation into the origins of Covid-19, said “this is not about blame but understanding how it came about”.
“We also need enhanced surveillance, and a stronger, more independent and more transparent WHO. We support the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response’s recommendation to give the WHO broad power to investigate pathogens with pandemic potential, in all countries, without prior approval,” he said.
Mr Morrison strongly backed the G20’s commitment to vaccinate 70 per cent of the world’s population by mid-2022.
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