Relations between the Federal Government and the French company designing Australia's future submarines have hit a new low, with the Defence Minister declaring she will hold the group to account on its local industry commitments.
The Minister's blistering attack followed comments from France-based Naval Group questioning the capability of local suppliers, and suggestions Australian businesses may not get half of the value of contracts under the $80 billion program.
Naval Group Australia chief executive John Davis told The Australian newspaper on Thursday that the company "didn't know the Australian market before we joined the program".
"Now we have a much deeper insight, and we recognise there is a lot more work to be done than we anticipated," he said.
A furious Defence Minister Linda Reynolds expressed her disappointment at the comments and said she would discuss the Government's expectation of strong Australian industry involvement when she met her French counterpart in Europe on Friday.
