Macron still bitter about submarine call
PARDONNEZ, Monsieur Macron, tu me fais chier avec tes conneries. (Translation: Pardon me, Mr Macron, you’re pissing me off with your bullsh*t). The French President is clearly still riled by the Morrison government’s decision to place Australia’s national defence interests ahead of diplomatic niceties and dump Malcolm Turnbull’s idiotic plan to spend $90bn converting French nuclear-powered submarines into Australian diesel-powered subs.
According to the French leader, Morrison’s decision to tear up the dumb contract and sign up to the AUKUS agreement with our natural allies, the UK and the US, was provocative and risked “nuclear confrontation” with China.
Forgetting that the contract was loaded in France’s favour from the get-go, Macron told a press conference before last week’s APEC summit in Thailand that France had been helping Australia achieve “freedom and sovereignty” because the French submarines could be built and maintained domestically.
Macron, whose country has a nuclear submarine fleet which apparently isn’t a threat to anyone, even had the temerity to suggest that the French were still interested in flogging submarines to Australia.
The strategic decision by Morrison was correct and was even endorsed by Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese when he took office. The decision on whether the deal to deliver our future nuclearpowered submarine fleet is with the British or the Americans will be made next year after the current defence review is completed.
Taking advice from the French, as much as we may enjoy their contributions to the world of wine and cuisine, would be unwise as historians well know.
Immediately before World War II, France had the largest standing army with the greatest number of tanks in the world but they surrendered to the Germans in barely six weeks.
The French subs deal was baggage Australia didn’t need to sign in 2016 and it certainly wasn’t necessary for Macron to bring it up six years later.
China has long shown it needs no provocation to give Australia the cold shoulder. Albanese spent 32 minutes with China’s leader-for-life Xi Jinping in Bali during which time he managed to rattle off a number of points through an interpreter and to which, again through an interpreter, Xi responded with a diplomatic noncommittal. Subtract the time taken for the two-way translations and those 32 minutes shrink significantly.
Hardly a breakthrough but Albanese later muddied things by claiming Taiwan, our friend and ally, was ineligible to join the world’s largest trading bloc.
Was this a pay-off for getting to see Xi? Our allies, particularly Japan, South Korea and Taiwan need to know. Otherwise, Albanese’s diplomatic dance is as productive as Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen’s grandstanding giveaway trip to Egypt’s Sharm elSheikh resort for COP27.
Which goes to show that neither Albanese or Bowen should be allowed out without supervision.