Scott Morrison said there was 'not an opportunity' to speak with Emmanuel Macron 'at this time', as he touched down in New York.
Mr Morrison spoke briefly to reporters on the tarmac, where he was quizzed on whether he would be talking with Mr Macron after Australia pulled out of a submarine deal with France, infuriating the European nation.
"No, there's not an opportunity for that at this time. I'm sure that opportunity will come in time," Mr Morrison said. "Right now I understand the disappointment and they're working through the consultations with their ambassador's return to Paris and we'll be patient with that." Australia last week joined with the United States and United Kingdom to form the AUKUS alliance, a new trilateral security partnership between the three nations, with France only told about the pact just a few hours before it was publicly announced. The first initiative of AUKUS will be collaboration on future nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy. The announcement signified Mr Morrison would tear up a $90 billion submarine contract made with France, prompting the European nation to recall its ambassadors to Australia and the US. "It would be naive to think a decision of this nature was not going to cause disappointment, obviously, to the French," Mr Morrison said. "And we knew that would be the case and it was not possible for us to be able to discuss such secure issues in relation to our dealings with other countries at the time." Mr Morrison said he made it clear in recent months conventional submarines no longer met Australia's strategic interests. "And at the end of the day, you have to do things that are in Australia's national interest, and our security interests. And that had to be paramount," he said. "And we chose not to go through it, because we believed to do so, would ultimately not have been in Australia's interest." US President Joe Biden will speak with Mr Macron in the coming days, where the pair are expected to"discuss recent developments and our ongoing work together on a range of issues".
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