Recalled French ambassador accuses Australia of treason in the making

France’s recalled ambassador to Australia has likened Canberra’s actions to treason after the Morrison government dumped a $90 billion submarine contract with Paris and instead decided to build nuclear-powered submarines with the United States and Britain.

France on Saturday has taken the extraordinary step of recalling its ambassadors from Australia and the US, as the fallout grows from a new defence pact that has infuriated French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age hours before he was recalled, France’s ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, did not rule out suspending talks to allow French troops greater access to Australian military bases after his nation was “stabbed in the back”.

France’s Ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, says “the crime was prepared for 18 months”. Credit:Getty

“Adding insult to the process... we have very reliable reports from the independent press, which I thank, about the fact that all this was in the making for 18 months. Which means we have been blind-sided intentionally for 18 months…. The crime was prepared for 18 months,” he said.

“If the reports that were published… on the treason in the making and the intentional double language, is true - and it has not been contradicted - then it is a major breach of confidence and a very bad signal.”

Mr Thebault, the first French ambassador ever to be recalled from Australia, confirmed that Defence Minister Peter Dutton only contacted his French counterpart about the decision after it was reported by media outlets on Wednesday night, adding there were “no warnings whatsoever” during the 18 months that the plan was being hatched between Australia, the US and Britain.

He slammed Australia for allowing a meeting to go ahead between Mr Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne late last month with their French counterparts where they spoke about enhancing defence ties between the two countries.

“It is us, through letters that were sent by the President [Macron] some months ago to the Prime Minister [Scott Morrison], who proposed to look at more ambitious and new ambitious cooperations,” Mr Thebault said.

“We thought that we were opening a new avenue for a substantial deepening of our bilateral cooperation. In the meanwhile, just 15 days after, we were stabbed in the back.... The most symbolic and key project that was symbolising a link between a European country and Australia was cancelled without any forewarning. This is really very sad.

“For us clearly, such a decision announced without any prior consultation â€" not just a phone call, but real consultation due to the scope of the consequences â€" marks a real breach of trust.”

The extraordinary move follows the Morrison government’s decision to tear up a $90 billion contract to buy 12 French submarines in favour of a new nuclear-powered fleet using technology from the US and United Kingdom under a new partnership called AUKUS.

Mr Thebault, the French ambassador to Australia, and Philippe Etienne, the ambassador to the US, will return for “consultations”.

The directive is to be the first in a rolling series of protests from Paris, which is furious at Australia for abandoning the contract and the US for benefiting from the switch.

While Australia was free to make its own sovereign decisions, Mr Thebault said: “this is not what you do a partner and even less to a friend”.

French President Emmanuel Macron in Sydney in 2018. Credit:AFP

He said the move was “not only contrary to the letter, but also the spirit, of the cooperation which had prevailed between France Australia”.

“Now Australia has decided to turn its back on this. OK, at least in terms of decency [it] would have justified prior substantial, not only warning, but discussion. That never was initiated, that never took place,” he said.

“You can’t tell me it was impossible for Australia to engage, even at a very confidential level, to a discussion.

“You can’t understand the depth of our anger and sense of having been disrespected. I can tell you we have received thousands of reactions from the [Australian] public which are apologising for this bad behaviour.”

The French ambassador also revealed that his government had asked Australia “at the very high level” whether they would be interested in nuclear-powered submarines and it “received no answer”. He said France has “a high level of expertise in nuclear reactors” and Australia never asked its partner what it thinks about that.

Asked if France was betrayed, Mr Thebault said: “You use the word betrayal. I don’t want to speak about ethics, I just say it is not only not decent, but it is amazing.”.

“This is sad, this is not the Australia that we know, we respect, and that we continue to respect.”

Mr Thebault pointed out that after a China’s foreign affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian last year used a fabricated image to accuse Australian soldiers of murdering Afghan children on Twitter, France was the first country denounce Beijing.

“So we thought we were mates… and looking after each other’s backs. Unfortunately, our back wasn’t covered,” he said.

He also raised doubts about the deal between Australia, the US and Britain, calling it a “project about a project”.

“It needs two years to be developed. We obviously wish well such a project.”

Anthony Galloway is foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via Twitter or email.

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