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Old 7th Oct 2021, 21:35
  #478 (permalink)  
Gnadenburg
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Eden Valley
Posts: 2,148
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Originally Posted by ehwatezedoing
Yfact is your country bailed out from a signed contract! You are the bad guys. What is the value of a contract if anyone can bail out of it freely like that!? Although, as you all would like to be, it won't be that "free" in this case.
Nonsense. It's been well published and brought to the Australian publics attention for 18 or so months, that we were at a point in the contract whereby termination more affordable. The diplomatic outburst from the French Government, claiming betrayal and back-stabbing was in fact, not a contractural reality.

The security of the Indo-Pacific has changed. The Australian government has recognised this and has been brave in the face of previous incompetence. The UK, US and Australia have common strategic interests in the region. To be crude, all have spilt blood on Australian soil in her defence, whereas the French could go either way for their own interests, as they did in WW2. Yes, that's crude, however, French foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific post-1940 is very relevant to Australia's future security.

BTW, the French Government have cancelled military projects too. Many expensive projects cancelled for the same reasons Australia did- changing strategic circumstances and cost overruns driving a massive capability risk. You could start with Alsace battleships and move up to swing-wing Mirages etc etc.

The French government would have been better served by asking Australia to honour its contractural commitments. Not the irrelevant tantrums. Australia would have been better explaining its concerns that the cost and risk was too much and it needed help from its traditional Allies- and then ordered a half a dozen more Airbus tankers.
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