The French President on Sunday accused Australia’s Prime Minister of lying about the AUKUS submarine deal, which saw France lose a $37 billion deal to build 12 submarines.
Mr Macron was furious after Australia terminated the deal to build the 12 subs, and instead negotiated a new defence pact with the US and the UK, known as AUKUS.
When the French President was asked whether he thinks the Australian Prime Minister lied, he replied “I don’t think, I know”.
He added that this dispute was “Detrimental to the reputation of [Australia] and the Prime Minister”, reducing the credibility of the country.
Scott Morrison has denied lying about the $90 billion dollar submarine contract that was cancelled six weeks ago
This comes as Australia rejected their submarine deal with France, instead partnering with the United Kingdom and the United States, buying nuclear submarines.
The Australian Prime Minister says he was very clear in expressing that French submarines were not going to meet the country’s strategic interest.
The pact scuppered a deal signed by Australia in 2016 for France to build 12 conventional submarines.
It is widely seen as an effort to counter China’s growing military might. China has condemned the agreement as “extremely irresponsible”.
