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Scott Morrison has stridently defended his integrity and personal conduct in the wake of the French President accusing the Prime Minister of lying about a $90 billion submarine contract.
- Scott Morrison says he raised Australia's concerns about the submarine deal with Emmanuel Macron several times
- The Prime Minister says the French government has been "sledging" Australia
- Mr Macron launched an extraordinary attack on Mr Morrison on the sidelines of the G20 Summit
Mr Morrison said he had personally raised with Emmanuel Macron several problems with the French project, as well as Australia's assessment that the conventionally powered Attack Class submarine was no longer suitable for the strategic environment.
The French President launched an extraordinary attack on Mr Morrison on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rome, furious he had been kept in the dark about Australia's plans to acquire nuclear submarines built by the United States or the United Kingdom, as part of the new AUKUS defence pact.
Asked on Sunday if Mr Morrison had lied to him, Mr Macron responded: "I don't think, I know."
But the PM is insistent he raised with Mr Macron, on multiple occasions, Australia's concerns about Australian content in the project, delays and cost blowouts.
The key conversation, according to Mr Morrison, was a dinner between the pair at the Elysée Palace in June – about three months before the Attack Class submarine contract was sensationally scrapped.
"After our dinner that night, the French defence system swung into full action and engaged in a full court press with all of our officials and others, including the Defence Minister and others," Mr Morrison told reporters at a shipyard in Glasgow.
"So their very response indicated that the discussion I'd had with President Macron, the night before … and the briefing that was provided back into the French system, they swung into gear and began to raise issues.
"They were responding to the issues that I had raised at our dinner."
Mr Morrison said he was not prepared to "personalise" the dispute, but noted the comments from Mr Macron made it clear "the level of offence is still very great".
The Prime Minister took at aim at what he described as the "sledging" of Australia by the French government, rejecting Mr Macron's assertion that he had lied to him.
"I think the statements that were made questioning Australia's integrity, and the slurs that had been placed on Australia — not me, I've got broad shoulders, I can deal with that — but those slurs, I'm not going to cop sledging of Australia," Mr Morrison said.
"I can deal with whatever people throw at me. But Australia has a proud record when it comes to our defence capability."
But Mr Macron's criticism on Sunday was directed at the PM, not at Australia. Mr Macron paid tribute to Australia's common values and its service during the two world wars.
The Prime Minister was asked why a text message from Mr Macron to the PM had been leaked to Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The text, reportedly authored by Mr Macron two days before the AUKUS pact was announced, reads: "Should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarines ambition?"
Asked by the ABC why the text had been leaked, Mr Morrison said he would not "indulge your editorial".
"We had sought such a call, and indeed President Macron indicated he wasn't available at that time, and was concerned that the nature of the call related to the contract and whether it would be proceeding or not," he said.
"He had communicated that to me several days before — I would have preferred to have said, told him directly, but that opportunity, that call wasn't offered."
But Mr Morrison confirmed that even two days before the AUKUS deal was announced, Mr Macron had still not been informed that Australia would ditch the French contract for nuclear-powered submarines built by the US or UK.
Mr Morrison said there was a unanimous view within Australia's defence establishment the French-manufactured submarines would have fallen short of what Australia needed to tackle the changing "strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific".
"This submarine, when it went in the water, would be obsolete almost the minute it got wet," he argued.
"This was a highly secure decision, a highly secure announcement over which we had held these things incredibly tightly. Not just for many months, but in Australia's case for more than a year.
"But at the end of the day, I'm going to take the tough decisions to ensure Australia gets the best defence capability and you've got to have the strength to put up with the offence that sometimes that may cause.