Text Message With President Macron About Submarine Leak To Media, Australian PM Reaps Criticism

JAKARTA - Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, attacked French President Emmanuel Macron's credibility when a newspaper quoted a text message suggesting France was anticipating "bad news" about the now-canceled submarine deal.

An Australian newspaper cast doubt on President Joe Biden's explanation to President Macron last week if the US leader thought France had been informed long before September's announcement that their A$90 billion, equivalent to US$66 billion, submarine deal with Australia would be scrapped.

President Macron this week accused PM Morrison of lying to him at a dinner in Paris last June about the fate of a five-year contract with France's state-owned Naval Group to build 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines.

Australia scrapped the deal when it allied with the US and UK to acquire a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines built with US technology.

PM Morrison told Australian journalists who had accompanied him to Glasgow, Scotland for the UN climate conference, that he explained to President Macron over dinner that conventional submarines would not meet Australia's evolving strategic needs.

Two days before PM Morrison, President Biden, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the nuclear submarine deal, PM Morrison attempted to ring Macron with the news. However, the French leader replied to texts saying he was not available for calls, The Australian newspaper reported.

President Macron asked: "Should I expect good or bad news for our shared submarine ambitions?", the newspaper reported Tuesday.

A journalist asked why PM Morrison decided to leak the text message after President Macron accused him of lying, but the prime minister did not answer immediately.

"I'm not going to spoil your editorial on it but what I will say is this: We were contacted when we were trying to arrange a call and he explained he was concerned this would turn out to be a phone call that could result in Australia's decision not to proceed with the contract", said PM Morrison, quoting the Daily Sabah November 2.

French officials say their government has been blinded by the cancellation of a contract which French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described as a "stab in the back."

President Macron said the nuclear submarine deal was very bad news for Australia's credibility and very bad news for the trust that great partners can have with Australia.

Meanwhile, President Morrison said Macron's allegations of lies, which the prime minister denies, were a slur against Australia. Most Australian observers see it as a personal insult to him.

"I don't want to personalize this, there's no element of that from my point of view", said PM Morrison.

"I have to say, I think the statements made question Australia's integrity and the humiliation that has been placed on Australia, not mine. I have broad shoulders, I can handle it, but the slur, I'm not going to tackle Australia's sled. I'm not going to do that. it's in the name of the Australian people", said PM Morrison.

President Biden told President Macron the handling of the Australian submarine alliance was "awkward" and "not done with great care".

"I had the impression France had been told long in advance that a (French) deal would not be reached. I honestly told God didn't know you didn't", President Biden told President Macron.

However, the 15-page document negotiated by the White House National Security Council with Australian and British officials, details how long the world will be notified of the trilateral submarine deal, The Australian reported.

Separately, Defense Secretary Peter Dutton confirmed the United States and Britain were kept informed of Australia's deal with France, saying the three nuclear propulsion allies were working very closely together.

"There is a strategy of no surprises", Dutton told Radio 2GB Sydney.

Meanwhile, Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian prime minister who signed the French submarine contract and regards President Macron as a personal friend, accused News Corp newspapers, including The Australian, of bias against PM Morrison's conservative government.

PM Morrison "could distort and leak text messages here and leak documents there to his stenographic friends in the media, but ultimately the failure here is due to dishonesty," Turnbull said.

Former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop warned that the government's leaking of President Macron's text messages would increase bilateral tensions and could undermine international trust in Australia.

"The president of France is going to have an election. There are all sorts of pressure on him and I think for us to lower the tone by leaking private text messages, am I right?" said Bishop, who was secretary of state and a Cabinet colleague of PM Morrison from 2013 to 2018.

"I'm afraid the whole world will look at Australia and say: No. Can Australia be trusted in a contract not to leak private messages?" he added.

In response, opposition leader Anthony Albanese, who is targeting to replace Morrison as prime minister in elections scheduled for May, echoed Bishop's criticism of the leaked text.

"The leak of this text message is a sizeable escalation of the conflict. Diplomacy requires trust and it requires serious engagement among leaders", he added.

To note, French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault, who was recalled to Paris in protest at the cancellation of the submarine contract, will outline France's complaints about the government's behavior when he speaks at the National Press Club of Australia on Wednesday.

Yesterday, Secretary of State Marise Payne had her first meeting with Thebault since her return. Minister Payne said in a statement the two had constructive discussions and their meeting was an important step in advancing bilateral relations.