CANBERRA, Sept 17 ,2021: Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday he had raised the possibility that Australia might scrap a 2016 submarine deal with a French company in talks with the French president in June, rejecting French criticism that it had not been warned.
Australia on Thursday said it would scrap the $40 billion deal with France’s Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines and would instead build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with U.S. and British technology after striking a trilateral security partnership.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described the decision as a stab in the back.
On Thursday, Morrison said France had been informed of the decision ahead of the announcement but France denied that.
Morrison on Friday acknowledged the damage to Australia-France ties but insisted he had told French President Emmanuel Macron in June that Australia had revised its thinking on the deal and might have to make another decision.
