Politics

Scott Morrison Claimed President Macron’s Criticism Of Him Is A ‘Slur’ And Sorry, What?

Imagine thinking being called a 'liar' is a slur.

by Michelle Rennex  2 November 2021
Scott Morrison Macron Slur G20 Submarines AUKUS

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As we already know, Scott Morrison is having a terrible time at the G20 summit, with world leaders ignoring his handshakes and local newspapers sledging Australia’s lack of climate change plans.

But it’s actually French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about ScoMo’s integrity that have gotten under the prime minister’s skin. So much so, that Morrison has claimed that the criticism of his integrity is a “slur”. Yes, a slur.

After deciding to terminate Australia’s $90-billion submarine contract with France in favour of the AUKUS nuclear sub agreement, Macron told reporters at G20 that Morrison blindsided and lied to him, which is “very bad news for the credibility of Australia”.

“I don’t think, I know [he lied],” Macron told reporters.

“The AUKUS deal was very bad news for France — but not just for France, because I think it’s very bad news for the credibility of Australia and very bad news for the trust that great partners can have with the Australians.”

“I think this is detrimental to the reputation of your country and your prime minister.”

In response to Macron’s comments, Morrison instantly went on the defensive and said he didn’t agree with the French President’s claims of being blindsided.

Sharing his side of the story, Morrison explained that he told Macron of the AUKUS deal during a dinner at the Élysée Palace when the new deal was struck in June. At this dinner, Morrison claims he shared the concerns he had about the current French submarine agreement.

“At that point, I made it very clear that a conventional diesel-powered submarine was not going to meet Australia’s strategic requirements. We discussed that candidly,” said Morrison.

“At our dinner, I gave the opportunity for the French to respond to the matters that I had raised, and that process took place over the next few months. Now we eventually formed the view that we would agree to disagree, that the Attack class submarine would not meet our requirements.”

ScoMo was then accused of leaking private texts between himself and Macron that conveniently supported his dinner story claims. In the message published in the Daily Telegraph yesterday, Macron allegedly asked Morrison “Should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarine ambitions?” two days before the AUKUS pact was announced.

When asked about the leaked message, the prime minister declined to comment on how the message found its way to the press but held firm that Macron was aware of the deal. Therefore, Morrison found Macron’s criticism of his character to be offensive.

Following Macron’s claims that Morrison is a liar, the Prime Minister said he was hurt by “statements that were made questioning Australia’s integrity and those slurs that have been placed on Australia”.

“I don’t wish to personalise this… But those slurs, I’m not going to cop sledging at Australia,” said Morrison. “I’m not going to cop that on behalf of Australians.”

Unsurprisingly, Morrison clearly wasn’t listening to what Macron was actually saying because not a single “slur” or “sledge” was directed at Australia. Macron simply called ScoMo a liar for how he handled the AUKUS submarine deal — or should I say l*ar.

Now, if the prime minister could just forget about submarines and focus on, I don’t know, maybe working on a plan to save the environment that would be great.