Australian Prime Minister Scott Macron dismissed the allegations as lying.
Canberra:
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday dismissed allegations by French President Emmanuel Macron and others, saying he does not believe he has lied since being elected to parliament in 2007.
Macron said this month that Morrison had lied to him over Australia’s decision to scrap a billion-dollar deal with France to build a new fleet of Canberra submarines.
Morrison’s criticism intensified this week when he announced that his government would spend $178 million ($129.6 million) to support electric vehicles, three years after he criticized the technology.
But when asked on Friday, Morrison denied his accusations of lying.
“No, I can’t believe I have, no,” Morrison told 3AW radio. “It’s politics. People scoff at me all the time… I’ve long learned in public life not to be skinny, not to be bitter.”
Morrison cannot afford to question his integrity as he has to return to the polls by May 2022.
Widely viewed polls show Morrison’s coalition government trailing the opposition Labor Party, while a Guardian Essentials poll published this week showed voter acceptance of the prime minister at its lowest level in 18 months.
The survey showed Morrison’s approval rating has fallen from a high of 65% in February to 48% now.
Allies have also questioned whether they can trust Morrison, with EU President Ursula von der Leyen questioning earlier this year whether the bloc could hold a trade deal with Australia until trust is repaired.
In a show of solidarity with France, the European Union last month postponed the next round of talks on a free trade agreement for the second time.
France has said Australia did not attempt to notify the cancellations until the day Canberra announced its agreement with the United States and Britain. Morrison denies this, and messages sent to Macron a week before the announcement have been leaked to local media.
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