Aukus pact: Australia pays $830m penalty for ditching non-nuclear French submarines

The French defence minister welcomed the settlement deal on Saturday afternoon.

The agreement was forged by the new Labor government just three weeks after the federal election. Albanese confirmed it was not reached before the election by the former government and kept confidential.

Part of a text message exchange between the two leaders was released to several Australian media outlets in an apparent attempt to blunt the idea France had been completely blindsided by the cancellation.

The Aukus announcement also forced the UK and the US into damage control with France. The French defence minister last year cancelled talks with her UK counterpart after the deal was announced, while the US president, Joe Biden, had a 30-minute call with Macron to mend relations after France recalled its ambassador from Washington.

With AFP