French President Emmanuel Macron says he was lied to by Prime Minister Scott Morrison over the abandoned $90 billion French submarine deal.
The extraordinary accusation came on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Sunday (Rome time).
Asked by reporters if he thought he was lied to by Mr Morrison, Mr Macron bluntly replied: “I don’t think, I know.”
"It is now his decision to see how he will move.
"With the French deal, negotiated by Malcolm Turnbull, Australia had definitely an option to produce in Australia, to have submarines, conventional submarines, and to get the submarines with a clear and reliable period of time.
"And to be in a situation to monitor itself, the submarines. Now you have 18 months before reports. Good luck."
Mr Morrison rejected Mr Macron's accusation, telling reporters, "No" and, later, "I don't agree with that".
Australia in September announced it was cancelling its 2016 contract to acquire conventional submarines from French company Naval group.
Instead, the government would look at the feasibility of acquiring technology for nuclear-powered vessels from the US and the UK under an AUKUS pact.
The announcement angered France, which responded by temporarily recalling its ambassadors from Australia and the US.
The accusation comes as Mr Morrison made his climate pitch to the G20 ahead of the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow.
Mr Morrison told reporters in Rome he would "always stand up for Australia's interests" and maintained Australia has begun the process of repairing its relationship with France.
When asked to clarify whether in their discussions he had told the French president he was considering ending the contract, he said: "I was very clear that the conventional submarines were not going to be able to meet our strategic interests, and that we would need to make a decision in our national interest."
"Yeah, that's not the question, though," the journalist said.
"But that's my answer," Mr Morrison replied.
He said he is not surprised by the “level of disappointment” expressed by Mr Macron, and said he had spoken to the French president a number of times during the G20 summit.
“I'm sure we'll speak a bit more before I head back to Australia,” he said.
Mr Morrison also claimed Australian journalists had seen the French president, and "were getting selfies with him" - an accusation rejected by a reporter.
"First of all, we weren't taking selfies with President Macron," they said, to which Mr Morrison replied, "I must have been misinformed".
Mr Morrison maintained he doesn't resile from Australia's decision "for one second".
“These decisions are difficult. Of course, it has caused disappointment and it has caused an impact on the relationship with France," he said.
“But I'm not going to put that interest higher than Australia's national interest, and I don't think any Australian would expect me to do the same - would expect me to surrender that interest for the sake of another."
When asked about the accusation in Australia, acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce told reporters he is going to "back the prime minister".
"We didn’t steal an island. We didn’t deface the Eiffel Tower. It was a contract. And contracts have terms and conditions and one of those terms and conditions and propositions is that you might get out of the contract," he told reporters on Monday.
"We got out of that contract. We got out of it because the best outcome for our nation and the protection of our nation was to go to the platform that we now have, that we’re now going towards building."
Mr Joyce said while he understands the sentiment and the views of the French people, he is "certain that with time, like all things, we can get over this and move on".
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also defended Australia's actions as necessary to protect its strategic interests.
"He's [Scott Morrison] has made very clear that he hasn't [lied]," Mr Frydenberg told the Nine Network on Monday.
Mr Morrison has again referred to a dinner meeting he held with Mr Macron earlier this year, where he maintains he clearly flagged Australia was moving away from the French submarine design.
“As I've said on numerous occasions, I explained very clearly that the conventional submarine option was not going to meet Australia's interests," he said.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said Mr Morrison had contradicted himself about what Mr Macron was told and when.
"That fact is that President Macron has said very clearly and unequivocally that Scott Morrison did not tell him - he can't have made it any clearer," he told reporters on Monday.
"It is important that Australians have a leader on the world stage who is trusted - whose word can be counted."
US President Joe Biden had previously conceded the and that he was unaware France had not been given advanced notice of Australia's decision.
Morrison talks up low-emissions technology
Meanwhile, Mr Morrison has stressed the need to ensure developing countries have access to low-emissions technologies to tackle climate change.
Australia signed agreements with Indonesia and South Korea to boost the adoption of cleaner technology during the G20 summit.
"Unless the technologies are both affordable and scalable in developing countries, then you will not see the emissions fall in those countries," he told reporters before leaving Rome for COP26 talks in Glasgow.
G20 leaders agreed in a final statement to commit to net zero emissions "by or around mid-century", removing a reference to 2050.
There was a pledge to stop the financing of overseas coal projects, but no date was set for the phasing out of coal in leaders' own countries.
With AAP.
