Macron Says Australia’s Morrison Lied to Him About Sub Deal

(Bloomberg) -- President Emmanuel Macron says his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison lied to him on the submarine pact with the U.S. and the U.K.

Asked if he thought that Morrison had lied to him in the past few months, Macron said, “I don’t think” he lied. “I know” he did, Macron told reporters after a news conference at the G-20 summit in Rome.

The French leader isn’t ready to turn the page on the defense accord struck last month between the three Anglo nations, which scuppered a major French defense contract signed with Australia to provide diesel-powered submarines. Instead, the U.S. will sell nuclear-powered subs to Australia -- something French diplomats said Paris could have done.

Morrison later told reporters that he had been very clear with France that the conventional submarines Paris was building weren’t going to meet its strategic needs. 

“Australia decided not to proceed. That was our right,” he said. “That decision was made in Australia’s national interests.”

Macron made peace this weekend with Joe Biden in Rome after the U.S. president admitted Washington’s handling of the deal was “clumsy” and said he thought Macron had been informed about it. Macron also had a cordial meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday.

But the French president isn’t ready to let Canberra go.

“Now you have 18 months until a result. Good luck,” Macron concluded, referring to a timeline in the new deal for Australia to show it can safely manage nuclear-powered technology.

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