Scott Morrison starts US trip with win on Austria
Scott Morrison’s campaign to calm European concerns about the French submarine deal has been boosted through a partnership with Austria.
Scott Morrison’s diplomatic campaign to calm European concerns about the dumping of the $90bn French submarine contract and a Paris-led bid to scuttle the Australian-EU free-trade agreement is being given a significant boost with the signing of a strategic partnership with EU member Austria.
The partnership commits Austria to co-operate in working with Australia on the EU-FTA negotiations among a raft of trade, industry, education and security agreements.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz will sign the bilateral strategic agreement with the Prime Minister in New York.
In the face of a furious French campaign to persuade its fellow EU members to “reconsider” the EU-Australia FTA – which has been in negotiations for three years – Mr Kurz is meeting Mr Morrison to seal the deal.
The Prime Minister is continuing to try to mend regional and European relations over the fallout from the sudden announcement of the new Australian, UK and US (AUKUS) defence partnership and nuclear submarine deal.
In New York, he is meeting European national leaders, including Mr Kurz, and institutional leaders including those from the European Commission and NATO.
On arrival in New York, Mr Morrison said it was understandable that France was disappointed with the submarine decision but said the strategic defence and trade issues should be kept separate.
“The foreign affairs chief from the European Commission, said you don’t mix apples and pears. And I think that’s a pretty good summary of the situation,” Mr Morrison said.
“These issues will be worked through in the weeks and months ahead.
“I mean, it’s not an easy thing to do, to get an agreement with the European Union on trade. I think everyone understands that,” he said.
“The Canadians have been trying to secure one for some time and they’ve also not made much progress there.”
Mr Morrison said Australia had commercial relationships all over Europe, and in particular defence contracts.
He said Australia was looking forward to establishing more commercial relationships in Europe
“I’m particularly looking forward to the discussions with the Austrian Chancellor, to that end. So we’ve got a lot of great relationships here, a lot of great friends, and I’m looking forward to spending time with them,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr Morrison and Mr Kurz will be meeting personally for the first time in New York, but the pair have developed a strong “virtual leaders’ relationship” out of the so-called “first movers” nations on combating the Covid-19 pandemic.
En route to New York, the Prime Minister spoke to Indonesian President Joko Widodo and reassured him that the new trilateral agreement would help “provide peace and stability in the region”.
Mr Morrison said the new agreement and Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines would aid “a strategic balance in the region”.
An Australian team to explain the new arrangements and provide greater detail will be dispatched in Jakarta within two weeks.
Mr Morrison reassured President Widodo that Australia would keep all its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation agreements.
Facing a furious reaction to the cancellation of the $90bn French diesel submarine contract and attempts to derail the Australian-EU free-trade talks, Mr Morrison is also reaching out to European national and institutional leaders in official meetings in New York on the first working day of his five-day trip, including with NATO and the European Commission.
Mr Morrison will also begin the tour with a formal bilateral meeting in New York with the US President.
Singapore has signalled to Mr Morrison and Defence Minister Peter Dutton that Australia’s strongest strategic partner in the region is not concerned about the acquisition of nuclear submarines.
The Singapore government already hosts nuclear-powered submarines in its ports and is a strong strategic partner in Southeast Asia.
Both Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, and Defence Minister, Ng Eng Hen, have reassured the Prime Minister and Defence Minister in separate calls about Singapore’s position.
Singapore’s neighbours, Indonesia and Malaysia, have expressed concern about Australia acquiring US nuclear-powered submarines. Singapore made the distinction between nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines when assessing the new deal.
Australia has pledged not to have nuclear weapons nor breach any nuclear agreements.
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