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One of the four police officers who saved Cleo Smith has detailed the moments of the rescue.

Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine recounted how the officers forced open the door of a house in Carnarvon, in WA, to find the little girl sitting there.

LIVE UPDATES: Cleo Smith found – latest developments

"I asked three times and then she looked at me and said, 'my name is Cleo'. And that was it. Then we turned around and walked out of the house," he said.

After that, he took her to a police car and called her parents.

"It was a wonderful feeling to make that call," he said.

"To be able to give them that news and say they can make their way to the hospital and we will meet them there. That was fantastic. It was an honour to be able to witness that reunion."

After seeing Cleo hours after her rescue, he described her as "a little energiser bunny".

"How she has that much energy, I wish I did, I am about ready to go to sleep. Very sweet, energetic girl."

He said Cleo was "very trusting and very open" with all the police.

"We all wanted to take turns holding her. It was a really good experience."

The senior sergeant said it was "no doubt" the best moment of his career.

WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson expressed his profound gratitude to the community of Carnarvon in a joyous press conference after the rescue of little girl Cleo Smith, releasing the first picture of the little girl in hospital.

In the picture, she is smiling and waving on a hospital bed.

Mr Dawson also praised Cleo's family, the police, the wider community and the media for their support.

"To those of you who have been hoping, wishing, and praying that we were able to find little Cleo alive and give her back to you in your arms is just a wonderful, wonderful day, and it is a day that we all hope for," Mr Dawson said.

"I am just so proud of the team I have behind me."

Cleo is now safe and well.

"As you can see, she is alive, she is safe, and she is back with mum and dad," he said.

"We said we wouldn't give up, we said we would keep on searching, and we dared to hope."

Police Minister Paul Papalia heaped praise on the officers involved in the search.

"If you feel the need to thank God today, thank God for the West Australian police force," he said.

"Cleo's rescue wasn't the result of a sighting, a suspicious event, it was the result of hard police grind."

READ MORE: Moment Cleo Smith found caught on bodycam

READ MORE: Finding of Cleo Smith 'a miracle', leading criminologist says

CLEO SMITH FOUND: WHAT WE KNOW

• At 12.46am (AWST) overnight, police broke into a locked home in Carnarvon, Western Australia, where four-year-old Cleo Smith was found alive and well. 
• A 36-year-old man was found not far from the home, and has been taken into custody. He is assisting police with inquiries. 
• Police have said the man has no connection with Cleo Smith's family. 
• Investigators were acting on information received that night, but it has not been disclosed yet what led them to that address. 
• Cleo has been reunited with her family.

Tonight on Channel 9 at 8.40pm Finding Cleo: A Nine News Special will have all the latest updates from a remarkable day. Watch live on Channel Nine or 9Now here

The first photo of missing Cleo Smith has been released by police after she was dramatically rescued 18 days after disappearing from a remote WA campsite.

The striking image of Cleo, four, in hospital in a photo was released by police, hours after she was found.

It shows a smiling Cleo, covered with a blanket, lying on a bed while eating an icy pole.

READ MORE: Four-year-old Cleo Smith found alive after vanishing three weeks ago

LIVE UPDATES: Cleo Smith found – latest developments

She's waving at the camera and appears happy and healthy.

Her mother, Ellie Smith, wrote on social media Cleo has seen the photo and "thought it was beautiful".

The mum was responding to a post on a Facebook page for Carnarvon, where somebody suggested the town should take down the missing Cleo posters now she has been found.

READ MORE: Police detail how Cleo Smith was rescued.

"Cleo has seen her photo she thought it was beautiful," Ms Smith wrote.

Her mother had posted repeatedly on social media pleading for the return of her child.

Earlier today she expressed her joy in an Instagram post, showing a photo of Cleo and a caption which read: "Our family is whole again".

READ MORE: Nation weeps and celebrates as little Cleo found 'alive and well'

CLEO SMITH FOUND: WHAT WE KNOW

· At 12.46am (AWST) overnight, police broke into a locked home in Carnarvon, Western Australia, where four-year-old Cleo Smith was found alive and well.

· A 36-year-old man was found not far from the home, and has been taken into custody. He is assisting police with inquiries.

· Police have said the man has no connection with Cleo Smith's family.

· Investigators were acting on information received that night, but it has not been disclosed yet what led them to that address.

· Cleo has been reunited with her family.

READ MORE: Cleo Smith rescue makes front pages all over the world

Tonight on Channel 9 at 8.40pm Finding Cleo: A Nine News Special will have all the latest updates from a remarkable day.

Watch live on Channel Nine or 9Now here

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he will "treat all former Prime Ministers with respect" following an extraordinary broadside from predecessor Malcolm Turnbull in which he was called a liar.

The PM is currently in Dubai en-route to Australia after attending the COP26 summit in Glasgow where the French delegation claimed Mr Morrison lied to them about Australia's plans to scrap a $90 billion submarine deal.

When asked about Mr Turnbull's comment, Mr Morrison refused to be drawn into a tit-for-tat commentary.

"Australia made the decision not to go ahead with the contract for submarine that was not going to do the job that Australia needed to do, and I'll never make any apologies for that decision," Mr Morrison said.

"As you know, I always treat all former Prime Ministers with respect, and I'm going to continue to do that."

READ MORE: Four-year-old Cleo Smith found alive after vanishing three weeks ago

The retort comes after Mr Turnbull said the Prime Minister had a personal history of lying.

"Oh, he's lied to me on many occasions," Mr Turnbull said when asked about the spat between Mr Morrison and French President Emmanuel Macron.

"I mean there's quite a few examples in my book, but he's — Scott has always had a reputation for telling lies."

Mr Turnbull, who was replaced by Mr Morrison as leader of the Liberal party and Prime Minister in 2018 after an acrimonious three-way leadership battle, said disingenuous behaviour would always reflect badly on a leader.

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"But when you do that, as the leader of the nation, internationally, it reflects on us all," he said.

"Now look, deceiving people is bad wherever you do it, but when you do it at an international level, it has much graver ramifications."

Mr Morrison was due to speak this morning after Australia signed up to a 100-nation agreement to end deforestation by 2030, but instead changed plans and opted to start the journey home.

The spat over the cancellation of a $90 billion deal to buy diesel submarines from France's Naval Group in favour of nuclear-powered vessels made available through a new alliance with the US and the UK has boiled continuously on the sidelines of world leader meetings in Europe this week.

Asked by journalists on Monday whether he thought Mr Morrison lied to him about the deal, Mr Macron said: "I don't think, I know".

READ MORE: NSW drops travel barrier between Sydney and regions for the vaccinated

Mr Morrison denied having lied and labelled the French President's criticism "slurs" and "sledging", in a detailed rebuttal on Tuesday accompanied by a message leaked to media purporting to show Mr Macron knew the deal was at risk before he was told.

"Should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarines ambitions?" Mr Macron reportedly asked, two days before the AUKUS coalition was set to be announced as Mr Morrison was trying to set up a call.

US President Joe Biden has admitted the handling of the landmark agreement that will allow Australia to buy nuclear-powered submarines using US and UK technology was "clumsy".

But Mr Morrison has insisted the dumping was essential for Australia's national security and bound to upset the French no matter how it was handled.

Mr Morrison insisted he made Mr Macron aware aware Australia was considering alternatives to the French deal when they had dinner in the Élysée Palace after the G7 meeting in June.

He said a "full-court press" from the French defence system in the immediate aftermath was proof of that but a joint French-Australian statement in late August — a little more than two weeks before the AUKUS announcement — "underlined the importance of the Future Submarine program".

Mr Morrison said approaching the US about using their nuclear-powered submarines was "always an option" but defended the initial French deal.

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