Diplomatic relations exist between Australia and France, as well as the historical contacts, shared values of democracy and human rights, substantial commercial links, and a keen interest in each other's culture.
The two countries maintain diplomatic relations in each other's countries. France is also one of Australia's closest neighbours with less than 700km separating the two countries between New Caledonia and Norfolk Island.
History
Monthly value of Australian merchandise exports to France (A$ millions) since 1988Monthly value of French merchandise exports to Australia (A$ millions) since 1988
The legacy of Australian involvement on French soil in the First and Second World War plays an important role in the bilateral relationship. Over 45,000 Australians[citation needed] lost their lives on French soil in the two conflicts. Each year, many Australians travel to the Western Front to commemorate the thousands of Australians who were killed and injured there in World War I.
Dialogue and practical cooperation between France and Australia has been strengthening on many fronts in recent years[when?], including on key global security issues such as arms control and disarmament, non-proliferation and counter-terrorism. The Pacific region, where both countries have direct interests, continues to be an important focus of bilateral engagement. Commercial links are substantial and France is an increasingly important source of direct investment and technology, including in the defence sector, for Australia.
Both countries experienced strained relations when Australia enacted sanctions on France from 1983–1986 and again on 1995–1996.[1]
There has been an expansion of the defence relationship between Australia and France in recent years. On 14 December 2006 a new Defence Cooperation Agreement between the two countries was signed, providing a framework for further cooperation. Australia and France regularly participate in combined force training exercises and France provided support to the Australian-led INTERFET operations in East Timor. Australian and French forces have co-operated in the Pacific and Southern Oceans, including for emergency and disaster relief and operations against illegal fishing. Australia and France have also cooperated at various levels in the coalition against terrorism, including as founding members of the Proliferation Security Initiative to combat the trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. In 2008, it was announced that France and Australia would strengthen their defence cooperation further in the Pacific region.[2]
Institutional links are encouraged within the framework of the 1977 Australia–France Agreement on Cultural and Scientific Cooperation. The Australian Embassy in Paris administers the Australia–France Foundation, which promotes cultural exchanges between the two countries and publishes a quarterly newsletter 'L'Australie en France' promoting Australian activities in France. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Cultural Awards Scheme has also promoted cultural relations between Australia and France.
Australia has made a significant contribution to the Musée du quai Branly, a major international museum dedicated to the world's indigenous arts and cultures that opened in Paris in June 2006. A permanent installation of works by eight Australian Indigenous artists commissioned by the Australian Government has been incorporated into the structure of one of the main buildings of the museum.[3]
Short-term visitors arriving in Australia from France since 1991 (monthly).
Australia and France have maritime borders between their territories. The locations of these boundaries were formalised through the Australia–France Marine Delimitation Agreement which came into effect on 10 January 1983.
François Hollande visited Canberra in November 2014 after the G20 Summit in Brisbane. Meeting with Tony Abbott, Hollande reinforced the strong bonds forged between the two nations in both world wars, stating that "we will have an opportunity to recognise the sacrifice of Australian soldiers who came to save France twice, and we will never forget this."[6]
In April 2016, the Australian Government decided to purchase the Attack-class submarine, a conventionally powered variant, of the Barracuda-classnuclear submarine designed by DCNS to replace its Collins-classdiesel-electric submarines currently in service. Twelve submarines were to be constructed in Adelaide by ASC Pty Ltd at a projected cost in excess of A$50 billion.[7] Admiral Christophe Prazuck, Chief of the French Navy, stated after the deal was completed that Australia was 'one of the French navy's four main partners along with the US, UK and Germany'.[8] In September 2021, the deal was cancelled with the signing of the AUKUS security pact.[9]
During a 2018 visit to Australia, President Emmanuel Macron stated his desire to create a strategic alliance between France, Australia and India, in the Indo-Pacific region.[10]
In response to Australia joining the AUKUS defence pact with the UK and the US announced on 15 September 2021 (blindsiding France), which also involved the cancellation of the submarine deal with French defence contractor Naval Group, France recalled Ambassador Jean-Pierre Thébault on 17 September 2021.[9] French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stated that "This exceptional decision is justified by the exceptional gravity of the announcements made on 15 September by Australia and the United States".[9] Thébault returned to Australia in October 2021.[11] The submarine deal was worth A$50 billion to build 12 new submarines in Adelaide and was announced in 2016 under then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.[12] When asked by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age whether he thought Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had lied over the affair, Macron said: “I don’t think, I know.”[13]
In February 2022, the updated version of France's Indo-Pacific strategy stated France would cooperate with Australia on a case-by-case basis; officially removing it from the list of its strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific region. French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian at the time called the pact a “stab in the back”. “Australia’s decision in September 2021, without prior consultation or warning, to break off the partnership of trust with France that included the Future Submarine Programme (FSP), has led to a re-evaluation of the past strategic partnership [between] the two countries,” the French government explains.[14]
Following the 2022 Australian federal election, the newly-elected Labor government led by Australian Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese agreed to pay €555 million (US$584 million) in compensation to Naval Group for the cancelled submarine deal. In response, French defense minister Sébastien Lecornu welcomed the settlement and expressed France's willingness to rebuild its relationship with Australia. In addition, Albanese announced plans to travel to France to reset bilateral relations between Australia and France.[15][16][17]
In July 2024, Australia's flag carrier Qantas launched flights from Sydney to Paris via Perth. As of 2024, the Perth to Paris leg is the world's sixth longest flight and is the only nonstop service between Australia and France.[18]
French influence on Australia
Politically, the relationship between France and Australia has remained strong throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Public sentiment took a dive, however, in the 1970s during the French nuclear testing in the Pacific on Moruroa.
French is still one of the most commonly taught foreign languages at Australian high schools, though, as an optional course, very few students continue to study it through to completion. Thus, it is rare to find people who are truly fluent in the language. Telopea Park School, an Australian public school, recognised and supported by the French government, is a unique education partnership in Australia.[19]
Each year, around forty French films are sold to Australian distributors for commercial release, not including films released on DVD. SBS buys the rights to distribute over 70 French films annually for broadcast on free-to-air TV, and generally screens one or two French films per week.[citation needed] The Alliance Française French Film Festival is an annual event jointly organised by the Alliance Françaises of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide and is supported by the French Embassy.
Treaties
A significant number of Australia–France bilateral treaties include: treaties concerning the war and its aftermath, science, defence, taxation, trade, extradition, and the Antarctic. The April 2016 purchase of submarines from France was also part of a treaty.[20] This purchase was cancelled after Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom entered on 15 September 2021 into the AUKUSsecurity pact, which also involves acquisition by Australia of nuclear powered submarines.[21]
Transport links
Qantas, the flag carrier of Australia, operates nonstop flights from Perth to Paris. These flights carry the numbers QF33 and 34, with the Perth to Paris leg being the sixth-longest flight in the world as of July 2024.[22]
Foreign relations of Australia are influenced by its position as a leading trading nation and as a significant donor of humanitarian aid. Australia's foreign policy is guided by a commitment to multilateralism and regionalism, as well as to build strong bilateral relations with its allies. Key concerns include free trade, terrorism, refugees, economic co-operation with Asia and stability in the Indo-Pacific. Australia is active in the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations. Given its history of starting and supporting important regional and global initiatives, it has been described as a regional middle power par excellence.
Bilateral relations exist between Australia and Japan.
The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty is a 1951 collective security agreement initially formed between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. It requires the parties to maintain their "capacity to resist armed attack", consult with each other on security matters in the Pacific and declares that an armed attack on any of the parties "would be dangerous to [each signatories] peace and safety" and that each signatory "would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes". It also provides for a council of the signatories foreign ministers, in which the implementation of the treaty can be discussed.
Australia and the United States are close allies, maintaining a robust relationship underpinned by shared democratic values, common interests, and cultural affinities. Economic, academic, and people-to-people ties are vibrant and strong. At the governmental level, relations between Australia and the United States are formalized by the ANZUS security agreement, the AUKUS security partnership and the Australia–United States Free Trade Agreement. They were formally allied together in both World War I & World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the War on Terror, although they had disagreements at the Paris Peace Conference. Australia is a major non-NATO ally of the United States.
Exceptionally strong relations exist between the Commonwealth realms of Australia and the United Kingdom, marked by historical, cultural, institutional, extensive people-to-people links, aligned security interests, sporting tournaments, and significant trade and investment co-operation.
Consular relations between China and Australia were first established in 1909, and diplomatic relations were established in 1941. Australia continued to recognise the Republic of China (ROC) government after it lost the Chinese Civil War and retreated to Taiwan in 1949, but switched recognition to the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 21 December 1972. Chinese Australians have been a significant minority group in the country since the Qing dynasty.
Jean-Yves Le Drian is a French politician who served as Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs in the governments of Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex (2017–2022) and as Minister of Defence under President François Hollande (2012–2017). A former member of the Socialist Party, he had been an Independent from 2018 before founding Territories of Progress in 2020.
The Attack-class submarine was a planned class of French-designed submarines for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), expected to enter service in the early 2030s with construction extending until 2050. The project, which would have replaced the Collins-class submarines, began in 2007 as the Future Submarine program. In 2020 it was estimated to cost A$90 billion and would have been the largest and most complex defence acquisition project in Australian history.
Brazil–France relations are the bilateral relations between the Federative Republic of Brazil and the French Republic.
Australia and Chile enjoy friendly relations, the importance of which centers on the history of Chilean immigration to Australia. In 2016, over 26,000 Chilean-born people lived in Australia. Chile is geographically the closest country in the Americas to Australia, and both administer several islands in the South Pacific. The two nations are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Cairns Group and the OECD.
Pakistan–France relations are the bilateral, cultural, and international relations between Pakistan and France. The relationships are based on military, defence, cultural, educational cooperation, and economic ties. Trade between the two countries is generally increasing with time.
France–Israel relations are the bilateral ties between the French Republic and the State of Israel. In the early 1950s, the two countries maintained close political and military ties. France was Israel's main weapons supplier until the French withdrawal from Algeria in 1962. Three days before the outbreak of the Six-Day War in 1967, the government of Charles de Gaulle imposed an arms embargo on the region, mostly affecting Israel.
France–United Arab Emirates relations are the foreign relations between France and the United Arab Emirates.
Australia–North Korea relations refers to the existing bilateral relationship between Australia and North Korea. Relations were officially established on 31 July 1974 when Australia extended diplomatic recognition to North Korea under the Whitlam government. Overall, relations have been stressed and at times, tense, due to Australia's historical involvement in the Korean War and military alliance with the United States, and contemporary disputes such as North Korea's nuclear weapons program and accusations of human rights abuses by both sides.
France and Indonesia established diplomatic relations in 1951. The indirect relationship between France and Indonesia commenced during the early 19th century colonial Dutch East Indies. Since 2011 France and Indonesia have formed a strategic partnership.
France–Qatar relations are the bilateral relations between France and the Qatar. The first embassy to be established was the Qatari embassy in France in 1972, and the first bilateral agreement was signed in 1974. Qatar has marked various concurrences with France, covering all areas such as cultural, political, economical, academic, scientific and military agreements. The nations are tied in a key discourse protocol, where conversation over various issues of significance to the two capitals are occurring consistently.
Diplomatic relations exist between Australia and Spain. In the 2016 Australian Census, 120,952 Australian residents claimed Spanish descent, while 15,391 indicated they were born in Spain. Both nations are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
AUKUS, also styled as Aukus, is a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States intended to "promote a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable." Initially announced on 15 September 2021, the partnership involves two lines of effort referred to as pillars. Pillar 1 focuses on Australia acquiring nuclear-powered attack submarines and the rotational basing of US and UK nuclear-powered attack submarines in Australia. Pillar 2 entails the collaborative development of advanced capabilities in six technological areas: undersea capabilities, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence and autonomy, advanced cyber, hypersonic and counter-hypersonic capabilities, and electronic warfare; and in two broader functional areas: innovation and information sharing.
The Franco-Greek defence agreement refers to the defence agreement signed between France and Greece on 27 September 2021, which includes a mutual defence clause should either be attacked by a third country. The agreement was accompanied by a defence procurement deal worth €3 billion where France would supply Greece with frigates and corvettes. It was signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, French Defence Minister Florence Parly, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias. It was ratified by the Greek Parliament on 7 October 2021 by a vote of 191 for to 109 against.
↑ Vey, Jean-Baptiste; Rose, Michel (2 May 2018). Grebler, Dan (ed.). "Macron wants strategic Paris-Delhi-Canberra axis amid Pacific tension". Reuters. French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday called for the creation of a new strategic alliance among France, India and Australia to respond to challenges in the Asia-Pacific region and the growing assertiveness of China.
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