Thread by @GrayConnolly

Our relationship with the French will recover but, while nuke submarines are right (and 50 years overdue) for Australia, this matter was handled in a boorish & impolitic way. Esp as the French were building us a diesel version of their nuclear submarine

theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence…

I did a thread a few days ago on the Barracuda submarines themselves - our next generation of submarines should always have been nuclear boats, and wisdom suggests we have the French tender for that, along with the UK & US:

https://twitter.com/GrayConnolly/status/1438254104891965442

Australia has had (and always will have) an intimate defence & security relationship with the UK & USA. But we also have close defence relations with the French, Japan, Israel, Singapore, Korea, Gulf Kingdoms, etal. We do not have to choose here. They are all Allies as well.

The French are resolutely independent (esp after 1940). They retain (in)formal empire & will never depend on anyone else for their security - why the French have their own nukes, their military & defence base is so large, aggressively collect intelligence & operate globally eg👇

For Australia, enmeshed as we are in the UK-USA based alliance, we still also operate with a wide variety of NATO & other allies ie the Dutch in Afghanistan, the French all over the Middle East, the Singaporeans, Koreans & Japanese in our region, etal ad infinitum

TL:DR - we can be very close allies with the UK & USA and we will always be. We should also - as 26m people at the bottom of the world on our own massive island - always be in the 'friend acquisition basis'.

Finally, good allies behave courteously to each other. The French tend to Australia's thousands of war dead with great care & concern. The French have always been there for us when needed. They are hard negotiators but in a fight, a 'no fuss' ally. We have treated them very badly