This article was originally published on September 23, 2021.
Op-ed. It is unusual for a former Prime Minister of a country to criticize the decisions of a successor Prime Minster in the opinion pages of a foreign newspaper. While I have long-been fiercely critical of the current conservative government of Australia in our domestic political debate on the overall direction of our country's foreign policy, in the years since I left office I have rarely put pen to paper to ventilate such criticism abroad.
But given the Australian government's gross mishandling of its submarine replacement project with France, as well as the importance I attach to Canberra's strategic relationship with Paris, I believe I have a responsibility as a former prime minsiter to make plain my own perspective on this most recent and extraordinary foreign policy debacle by the current Australian government.
I believe the Morrison Government's decision is deeply flawed in a number of fundamental respects. It violates the spirit and letter of the Australia-France Strategic Framework of 2012 and later enhanced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2017. It fails the basic contractural obligation of Australia to consult with the French Naval Group if Australia decided to radically change the tender specification from twelve conventional submarines to eight nuclear-powered ones.
France's long-standing experience
It is wrong that Australia has not offered France the opportunity to re-tender ( in part or in whole) for these nuclear boats, despite the fact that France has long-standing experience in making them. Beyond these basic beaches, Scott Morrison also failed to adhere to basic diplomatic protocols in not officially notifying the French government of its unilateral decision prior to the public announcement of the cancellation of the contract. And finally, there is Canberra's failure to comprehend the repercussions of this decision for France itself - and for broader international solidarity in framing a coordinated response to China's rise.
Australia's relationship with France has a long and intimate history. Nearly 50 000 of our sons lie buried in French soil in the defence of France and Belgium in the killing fields of the First World War. These were military theatres in which nearly a quarter of a million Australians had served. Indeed, in 1914, this represented fully 5 % of our entire national population. We were also allies together in the Second World War against fascist Germany - including military campaigns against the Vichy in both the Pacific and in the Middle East.
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