- Prime Minister Scott Morrison touches down in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and says he will not discuss Australia’s recent submarine deal with the French President
- He said there are no plans to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, following the scrapping of a $90 billion submarine contract.
- Mr Morrison has defended Australia’s decision and told reporters at JFK airport that it would be naive to think France would not be disappointed
- When asked about trade talks with the European Union, Mr Morrison said it will be worked through in “the weeks and months ahead”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flown to the US for the United Nations General Assembly.
He said there are no plans to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, following the scrapping of a $90 billion submarine contract.
Last week, Australia signed an agreement with the US and Britain for nuclear submarine technology, therefore dropping the program with France to build up to 12 submarines.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian labelled the move as a “stab in the back”.
Yesterday, France dropped its meeting with UK defence secretary in backlash over the deal.
Mr Morrison has defended Australia’s decision and told reporters at JFK airport that it would be naive to think France would not be disappointed.
He stated that now is not the right time to meet with Mr Macron, even though US President Joe Biden has suggested a phone call between the pair to smooth over relations.
“It was not possible for us to be able to discuss such secure issues in relation to our dealing with other countries at that time,” Mr Morrison said.
“We had made it very clear, I had made it very clear, that a conventional submarine would no longer be meeting our strategic interests and what we needed those boats to do.”
When asked about trade talks with the European Union, Mr Morrison said it will be worked through in “the weeks and months ahead”.
“It’s not an easy thing to do, to get an agreement with the European Union on trade, I think everyone understands that,” he said.