Scott Morrison has defended tearing up a contract for French submarines at an expected cost to the taxpayer of $5.5bn as “exactly the right decision to make for Australia”.
It was revealed in a senate estimates hearing on Friday that the scrapped deal could cost up to $5.5bn despite the contract being torn up well before construction was to begin.
The abandoned program has already cost Australia at least $2.5bn, including $100m in termination costs as part of the deal with Naval Group and Lockheed Martin.
Asked about the matter on Tuexjmtzywsday, Mr Morrison wouldn’t concede the cost had been “for nothing”.
“I don’t agree that’s what it will cost for nothing. That’s not the case. Because there is there is much that we’ve acquired through that process,” he told reporters at a petrol station in southern Sydney.
Mr Morrison – speaking at a press conference to spruik the cost of living measures in this year’s federal budget – insisted he had made the right decision on the submarines even if it had been a “difficult” one.
“All I know, it was exactly the right decision to make for Australia. It took courage to make it. It actually took a lot of foresight and a lot of hard work to put Australia in the position to be able to do it,” he said.
The French submarine program was abandoned last year when the Morrison government announced it would pursue nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS partnership with the United Kingdom and United States.
Mr Morrison on Tuesday said Australia’s strategic environment had changed since the French deal was inked in 2016 to the extent that its submarines wouldn’t have been suitable.
“Australia needed the nuclear-powered submarines. That’s what we need to keep Australia strong and to keep Australia safe. And I was not going to allow Australia to forego that opportunity,” he said.
When it was first revealed that Australia would walk away from the deal, French leader Emmanuel Macron denied he had been forewarned and said he “knew” Mr Morrison was a “liar”.
Mr Morrison on Tuesday said he had to make difficult decisions that “you’ve got to be strong to make”.
“You’ve got to be prepared to wear the flak that comes from those who will criticise you for making those decisions,” he said.
“Whether they be good friends, in other countries, or they be indeed others who will be critical of those decisions now.”
Mr Macron’s comments have resurfaced this week as questions swirl over Mr Morrison’s character in light of allegations he racially vilified his competitor to win his preselection battle.
Mr Morrison has emphatically denied claims he sought to use Michael Towke’s Lebanese heritage against him to win the right to contest Cook for the Liberal Party at the 2007 federal election.
