Berliner Boersenzeitung - Australia agrees payout, ending France submarine spat

EUR -
AED 4.301287
AFN 81.44339
ALL 97.256009
AMD 449.811505
ANG 2.095736
AOA 1073.85222
ARS 1477.940942
AUD 1.803279
AWG 2.107889
AZN 1.993701
BAM 1.953222
BBD 2.364779
BDT 143.240935
BGN 1.955488
BHD 0.441494
BIF 3444.056046
BMD 1.171049
BND 1.498023
BOB 8.093318
BRL 6.427422
BSD 1.171254
BTN 100.545289
BWP 15.626108
BYN 3.832941
BYR 22952.566647
BZD 2.352595
CAD 1.601662
CDF 3378.477078
CHF 0.934963
CLF 0.028729
CLP 1102.472637
CNY 8.402159
CNH 8.407151
COP 4724.598476
CRC 591.519247
CUC 1.171049
CUP 31.032807
CVE 110.435723
CZK 24.646142
DJF 208.119278
DKK 7.46113
DOP 70.321496
DZD 151.801189
EGP 58.17504
ERN 17.56574
ETB 158.999254
FJD 2.635799
FKP 0.857976
GBP 0.860645
GEL 3.173499
GGP 0.857976
GHS 12.176536
GIP 0.857976
GMD 83.725272
GNF 10136.602595
GTQ 9.003117
GYD 245.036573
HKD 9.191777
HNL 30.740172
HRK 7.535737
HTG 153.217766
HUF 400.135721
IDR 19124.172215
ILS 3.933586
IMP 0.857976
INR 100.584702
IQD 1534.074608
IRR 49330.45253
ISK 142.5409
JEP 0.857976
JMD 186.933265
JOD 0.830294
JPY 171.034095
KES 151.654056
KGS 102.407981
KHR 4708.789116
KMF 492.482493
KPW 1053.944246
KRW 1611.387514
KWD 0.357591
KYD 0.975995
KZT 608.416944
LAK 25236.113109
LBP 104926.0187
LKR 352.384883
LRD 234.797199
LSL 20.914548
LTL 3.457804
LVL 0.708356
LYD 6.311669
MAD 10.557598
MDL 19.758583
MGA 5187.748456
MKD 61.548104
MMK 2458.666288
MNT 4196.572684
MOP 9.4702
MRU 46.496549
MUR 52.697379
MVR 18.01863
MWK 2033.532616
MXN 21.858689
MYR 4.95881
MZN 74.899788
NAD 20.915244
NGN 1796.378115
NIO 43.035823
NOK 11.878205
NPR 160.872662
NZD 1.952839
OMR 0.450265
PAB 1.171254
PEN 4.175372
PGK 4.873615
PHP 66.298969
PKR 332.870935
PLN 4.251202
PYG 9333.68037
QAR 4.263323
RON 5.061741
RSD 117.120162
RUB 92.170582
RWF 1679.284723
SAR 4.391868
SBD 9.76295
SCR 16.524742
SDG 703.210794
SEK 11.172917
SGD 1.498533
SHP 0.920261
SLE 26.347631
SLL 24556.322981
SOS 669.262708
SRD 43.624514
STD 24238.356559
SVC 10.248473
SYP 15225.897194
SZL 20.914644
THB 38.199145
TJS 11.272921
TMT 4.110383
TND 3.393118
TOP 2.742719
TRY 46.841837
TTD 7.938522
TWD 34.092991
TZS 3091.795081
UAH 49.001822
UGX 4201.454453
USD 1.171049
UYU 47.007954
UZS 14866.470538
VES 130.317003
VND 30617.084439
VUV 138.685518
WST 3.03537
XAF 655.081163
XAG 0.031848
XAU 0.000351
XCD 3.164819
XDR 0.811651
XOF 652.274564
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.569864
ZAR 20.914666
ZMK 10540.846381
ZMW 28.372067
ZWL 377.077403
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Australia agrees payout, ending France submarine spat
Australia agrees payout, ending France submarine spat / Photo: DAVID GRAY - AFP/File

Australia agrees payout, ending France submarine spat

Australia unveiled a substantial compensation deal with French submarine maker Naval Group Saturday, ending a contract dispute that soured relations between Canberra and Paris for almost a year.

Text size:

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the French firm had agreed to a "fair and an equitable settlement" of 555 million euros (US$584 million) for Australia ending a decade-old multi-billion-dollar submarine contract.

The agreement drew a line under a spat that caused leader-level recriminations and threatened to torpedo talks on an EU-Australia trade agreement.

"It permits us to turn a page in our bilateral relations with Australia and look to the future," said French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu.

Albanese said he would travel to France soon to "reset" a relationship beset by "pretty obvious" tensions.

The tussle began in September 2021, when Australia's then-prime minister Scott Morrison abruptly ripped up a long-standing contact with the French state-backed Naval to build a dozen diesel-powered submarines.

He also stunned Paris by revealing secret talks to buy US or British nuclear-powered submarines, a major shift for a country with little domestic nuclear capability.

The decision drew fury from French President Emmanuel Macron, who publicly accused Morrison of lying and recalled his ambassador from Australia in protest.

Relations were on ice until this May when Australia elected centre-left leader Albanese.

Since coming to office, he has rushed to fix strained relations with France, New Zealand, and Pacific Island nations, who objected to the previous conservative government's foot-dragging on climate change.

"We are re-establishing a better relationship between Australia and France," Albanese said, after speaking to Macron about the settlement.

"I'm looking forward to taking up President Macron's invitation to me to visit Paris at the earliest opportunity."

Speaking on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, Lecornu said France valued its "friendship" with Australia.

"Just because a government in the past did not keep its word, it does not mean we have to forget our strategic relationship," he said.

"Australia has a new team in power, we are happy to be able to work with them."

- Arms race -

The submarine contract had been the centrepiece of Australia's race to develop its military capabilities, as it fears the threat from a more bellicose China under President Xi Jinping.

In total, the failed French submarine contract will have cost Australian taxpayers US$2.4 billion, Albanese said, with almost nothing to show for it.

The promised nuclear-powered submarines are likely to cost many billions more, but would give Australia the ability to operate more stealthily and -- armed with sophisticated cruise missile capabilities -- pose much more of a deterrent to Beijing.

But there remains deep uncertainty about how quickly they can be built.

The first US or British submarines likely will not be in the water for decades, leaving a long capability gap as Australia's existing fleet ages.

The choice of contractor will have a significant economic impact and strategic implications, closely enmeshing the Australian navy with that of the chosen nation.

Former defence minister and now opposition leader Peter Dutton said this week that he had decided to source the submarines from the United States, an unusual revelation given the sensitivity of ongoing talks.

The current government has insisted no decision has yet been reached and has vowed to remain a close partner of the United States.

Meanwhile, Albanese has also made tentative steps to conduct the first ministerial-level talks with China in more than two years, after a range of bitter political and trade disputes.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said in Singapore Saturday said Australia wanted "respectful" relations with all countries in the region, adding: "This includes China."

"Australia values a productive relationship with China. China is not going anywhere. And we all need to live together and, hopefully, prosper together," he said.

Marles, however, rejected a pointed question from a Chinese military official who asked if the so-called AUKUS deal with the United States and Britain to supply submarine technology was a new defence alliance.

"AUKUS is not a mini-NATO," Marles said. "It's not an alliance."

(B.Hartmann--BBZ)