The settlement comes after the federal government cancelled a $90-billion deal to purchase twelve French submarines.
Australia will pay French shipbuilder Naval Group an $830 million settlement after the federal government cancelled a $90-billion deal to purchase 12 French submarines.
“It brings the total cost of the former government’s failed policy to $3.4 billion. This is a saving from the $5.5 billion that Senate estimates was told would result from that program,” he said. Albanese said he intended to have “an honest relationship with France and one that is based upon integrity and mutual respect”, and finalising the deal would allow the two countries to reset and move the relationship forward.“France is a key partner for Australia. We share those historical ties going back to the first World War, and we share common interests in a stable Indo-Pacific region because France is, of course, an Indo-Pacific nation.
Last week, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton revealed he had been in talks with the United States government over a plan to purchase two Virginia-class nuclear submarines by 2030, to avoid that capability gap, though naval experts have questioned whether such a deal would be possible given the already-existing production demands on the US assembly line.