Paul Kelly is prostrate at the Coalition alter today:
Scott Morrison misled Emmanuel Macron over the submarine issue and Macron’s fury has become a political tornado – it has driven Joe Biden into full-scale appeasement of the French and has become a damaging issue for Morrison over truth and trust.
The real danger here is Biden, not Macron. Biden’s apologies to Macron are at variance with the facts and are craven. The latest Biden-Macron rapprochement in Rome saw their collective convenience at throwing Morrison under the proverbial political bus.
That can happen when emotions run high. But this transcends emotions. Macron loathes the AUKUS agreement. In his remarks, he mocked Australia entering the AUKUS deal. It symbolises American rejection of France’s credentials, Australia’s repudiation of a defence contract vital to France, and is a personal insult to Macron’s quest to elevate France as an Indo-Pacific power.
And? We all know leaders lie all the time, especially to one another. The trick of diplomacy is to not get caught doing it. The Liar from Shire put himself in the position where he has been caught and that is his own fault. Any consequences for Australia should be punished at the ballot box.
To wit:
Some of the nation’s most experienced former diplomats have criticised Scott Morrison’s handling of the AUKUS submarine fallout, saying he failed to prioritise the need for careful diplomacy.
Career diplomat John McCarthy said French President Emmanuel Macron crossed a diplomatic line in branding the Prime Minister a “liar”, but Mr Morrison should have exercised restraint in reacting to the inappropriate personal sledge.
The former ambassador to the US, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Mexico and Vietnam, and former high commissioner to India, said diplomacy was “not something that is merely left to officials”.“In this country, diplomacy is underestimated at the highest levels,” Mr McCarthy said. “It is something that has to be at the forefront of the thinking of the most senior people of the country, and … this is evidence it wasn’t.
Enter a scorned Malcolm:
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has joined French President Emmanuel Macron in calling Scott Morrison a liar over the cancellation of a $90 billion submarine contract, saying the Prime Minister had a reputation for being dishonest.
In a fierce criticism of his former colleague, Mr Turnbull said Mr Morrison had lied to him when they worked together in government but had committed a graver mistake by being dishonest on an international level.
…“Oh, he’s lied to me on many occasions,” Mr Turnbull said when journalists asked him about the events on the sidelines of the summit.
“Scott has always had a reputation for telling lies.”
Morrison is telling lies right now at COP26. Australia has no decarbonisation policies to meet its pork-barreled net-zero 2050 pledge.
Nobody should be surprised at the spreading hatred. This is not only what the Liar from the Shire does. It is who he is. He lied to take power in his election fear campaigns and he’s lied non-stop ever since:
- he lied and gaslighted about bushfires;
- he lied and gaslighted about rape in parliament;
- he lied and gaslighted about COVID failures;
- he lied and gaslighted about vaccines failures;
- he lied and gaslighted China to the point of madness (to our great relief).
Aussies, Chinese, Americans, Brits and French all hate the Liar from the Shire because relationship carnage always trails such disordered personalities.
