On September 16, this Australian government abruptly announced the cancellation of the future submarine program. This decision was deliberately kept secret for months, even years. Even as the French president, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs and defence, countly high level working groups, as provided by the intergovernmental agreement, myself on the ground, were engaging regularly in good faith with our interlocuters.
One should try to say we should have understood by ourselves that some ambiguous attitudes should have made us realise, in fact, we should have been able to read in coffee grounds. This is fiction.
What is a hard fact is that still on the 3 August, French and Australian ministers of foreign affairs and defence, had a dialogue, and they agreed a joint communique. It was available to the public and widely acclaimed for its ambition.
It agreed the following sentence, the two countries underline the importance of the future submarine program. Do you agree on such a communique when there’s the slightest doubt on something so massive as the official backbone of your co-operation? Maybe on Mars, but not that I know on this planet.
The deceit was intentional.
Because there was far more at stake than providing submarines, because it was a common agreement on sovereignty, sealed with the transmission of highly classified datas, the way it was handled was plainly a stab in the back.
But the way this Australian government decided to turn its back on our solemn and far reaching partnership without ever frankly consulting with France, when there were countless opportunities, without having shared frankly and openly, or having looked for alternatives with France, is just out of this world.
