Marles was due to meet with French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu on the sidelines of the Forum on Saturday evening.
Lecornu told delegates that the election of the Albanian government, along with the re-election of the Macron government, had provided an “interesting opportunity” to build a new framework.
The bilateral relationship bottomed out last year when President Macron said former Prime Minister Scott Morrison had lied about Australia’s intentions regarding submarine contact.
Mr. Lecornu alluded to this when he said: “France is proud to be reliable and keep its word. Even when things are difficult.”
Australia’s current Collins submarine fleet was to be replaced by a conventional fleet built by Naval Group, but this agreement was abandoned by the Morrison government, which decided to look for nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS partnership.
Addressing the media in Sydney on Saturday, Albanese said his government had reached a fair and equitable agreement with Naval that would “command a line” under the broken contracts. As part of the deal, Australia will pay Naval Group € 555 million ($ 830 million).
“It simply came to our notice then [Emmanuel] Macron and I are grateful for these discussions and for the cordial manner in which we are re-establishing a better relationship between Australia and France, “Albanese said.
It was initially thought that the change to the French deal would cost taxpayers up to $ 5.5 billion, but Albanese says the total has been reduced to $ 3.4 billion, given the money already paid.
“It still represents extraordinary waste on the part of a government that was always big on the announcement but not good on delivery,” he said.
He said some details of the deal would remain confidential due to its commercial nature.
with AAP