A French Minister for Foreign Trade in Australia. Take a moment to appreciate what that represents.
The last visit was before the submarine contract, before AUKUS, before the years of tension that nearly buried the Franco-Australian relationship. Nicolas Forissier arrived in Perth on April 19 for a five-day tour. His first stop was here, in Western Australia. Not Canberra, not Sydney, but Perth.
He is, in his own words, the first European minister to visit Australia since the signing of the EU-Australia free trade agreement on March 24. He made sure to highlight this. Several times. This is not mere protocol rhetoric but a deliberate political signal.
France has long been the main obstacle to this agreement. Farmers, post-AUKUS resentment, a certain structural mistrust towards a country that chose Washington and London over Paris. Forissier is here to turn the page, and he has chosen to do so visibly, physically, by travelling the country from north to south.
It must be noted that the choice to start in Perth is not insignificant.
What really happened in five days
The tour had a packed agenda. It was not a courtesy visit.
During his stop in Perth, Forissier met with economic and political stakeholders from Western Australia, including members of Parliament gathered in the France-Australia friendship group: Hon Lauren Cayoun MLC and Hon Phil Twiss MLC at the forefront. An evening with the French community concluded this first leg. Ambassador Pierre-André Imbert was present. (I will return to this.)
In Adelaide, another image will remain: a meeting with the Federal Minister for Trade Don Farrell, organised in the Clare Valley, around wines and cheeses from both countries. Symbolic? Undoubtedly. But the press release that came out of it was much less so.
The two ministers have confirmed several concrete advances. Export Finance Australia and Bpifrance Assurance Export have opened formal negotiations for a memorandum of understanding — paving the way for co-financing of industrial projects between the two countries. InfraVia, supported by the French government, has announced an investment in the Core Lithium Finniss project in the Northern Territory. And a Franco-Australian level 1.5 dialogue on economic security will be held in Paris in May.
These are no longer frameworks for cooperation. They are industrial commitments.
In Sydney, in front of journalists, Forissier articulated what underpins everything else. Democracies must organise themselves to avoid becoming 'hostages' of critical minerals, he said, in a world he bluntly described as 'violent and uncertain'. China dominates rare earths and has already threatened to restrict its exports in response to trade tensions with Washington. The question is no longer theoretical. It is operational.
Perth at the heart of the matter
One must understand one thing: the action is not taking place in Canberra. It is taking place in Perth.
Western Australia is home to the most advanced projects in the country. Lynas operates the Mount Weld mine, the richest rare earth deposit in the world outside of China, and has just installed a processing unit in Kalgoorlie. Iluka is building Australia's first integrated rare earth refinery in Eneabba, with a government loan of 1.65 billion Australian dollars. Hastings is making progress on the Yangibana project. The Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia is funding research on the extraction of rare earths from clays.
In May, the Critical Minerals Australia Conference takes place in Perth. This is where the ASX-listed juniors, mining services companies (the METS), research institutes, and government agencies like Austrade and the NAIF are located.
For a European company looking to establish itself, Perth is the essential entry point. Not an office in Paris reading reports.
A page turns, another opens.
There is a personal dimension to this visit that the dispatches have not really captured.
Pierre-André Imbert, the French ambassador who has patiently rebuilt the Franco-Australian relationship after the AUKUS shock of 2021, is leaving his post this week. He is joining the Élysée as Secretary General, the highest position in the French civil service, serving as the principal advisor to the President of the Republic. Several Australian political figures spoke at the farewell evening to pay tribute to him, including Zoe McKenzie MP, who thanked him on behalf of the parliamentary group Friends of France for his personal commitment to advancing the ratification of the free trade agreement.
This is a significant departure. Imbert embodied a certain idea of the French presence in Australia: discreet, tenacious, and rooted in the long term. His elevation to the Élysée says something about the quality of the work done here.
Forissier's visit is part of this handover. It says: we continue, and we accelerate.
What it concretely changes
For French and European companies looking at Australia, this week validated several things.
The free trade agreement is real, and France has signalled its support for its ratification; which was not guaranteed just six months ago. Tariffs on critical Australian minerals (lithium, manganese, rare earths) are dropping. Bilateral financing mechanisms are being put in place. Franco-Australian investments are now being elevated to a political level.
The window is open. But a window does not stay open indefinitely.
The United States has already committed $8.5 billion to concrete projects through their agreement with Canberra. Japan has been funding for years. France is arriving with a recoverable delay, but on the condition of turning statements into actions in the short term.
C'est le travail concret que nous faisons chez Confluence Pacific. Depuis Perth, nous aidons les entreprises européennes à construire une présence réelle en Western Australia : rencontres avec les bons interlocuteurs, présence aux événements qui comptent, lecture du terrain local. Les secteurs varient (énergie, mines, infrastructure, services, investissement) mais la logique reste la même. L'Australie ne se négocie pas à distance. Le ministre français du commerce extérieur Nicolas Forissier l'a compris en ouvrant sa tournée ici.