Australia Defence Minister says looming French election part of fury over AUKUS deal

Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton recently suggested that the reason France remains “frustrated” about Canberra scrapping the bilateral submarine deal is because of the looming election. On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron called Australian PM Scott Morrison, more than a month after Canberra announced that it would explore nuclear submarine capabilities through the AUKUS partnership. Macron had told Morrison his decision had “broken” trust between the two nations. 

"It is now up to the Australian Government to propose tangible actions that embody the political will of Australia’s highest authorities to redefine the basis of our bilateral relationship and continue joint action in the Indo-Pacific," Elysee Palace said in the statement.  

In contrast, a spokesperson for Morrison described the phone call as having been a “candid discussion”. Now, speaking on Friday, Dutton reportedly reiterated Morrison’s sentiments and called the phone call between the two leaders “productive”. According to The Weekend Australian, Dutton also suggested that there was an election-seized reason as to why the French continued to voice their anger. 

The Australian Defence Minister noted that France has got an election in April of next year and said that the politicians and elections always make for an interesting mix. “So I think once we get through that next year, hopefully, we can continue with steps to normalise the relationship, but that’s the situation at the moment,” Dutton added. Further, the defence minister also went on to say that Australia “understood” France’s frustration, however, he added that ultimately the submarine decision had been made in the national interest. 

Australia-France relations 

Australia backed out of the French submarine deal due to a trilateral security partnership "AUKUS" between the US, UK and Australia. Under this trilateral security partnership called AUKUS, Australia would acquire a nuclear-powered submarine. Soon after the multibillion-dollar submarines deal was dropped by the Australian side, France recalled its ambassadors from Australia. But earlier this month, Morrison welcomed the decision of French authorities to return its ambassador to Australia. 

Meanwhile, France has said that it will not support the controversial AUKUS deal. Envoy Christophe Penot said that not only the tri-lateral “approach was not suitable” for France, but the multi-million submarine deal also threatened to escalate the regional conflict in the Indo-pacific. Speaking to the Japanese News outlet, Penot asserted that the AUKUS deal could force countries to choose between China and US-geo-political rivals competing for power in the Indo-pacific region. 

(Image: AP)