Australia says France knew of concerns it had over submarines

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said France was aware of Australia’s concerns on the capability of submarines being built by the European nation, defending his government’s decision to sign a new deal for nuclear-powered ones.
 

Australia understands France’s disappointment but the decision was made on “sovereign, national defense interests,” Morrison told reporters on Sunday. It would have been “negligent” to not opt for submarines with supreme capabilities, he said.

“Ultimately, this was a decision about whether the submarines that were being built at great cost to the Australian taxpayer were going to be able to do a job that we needed