Coalition: New FOI documents on HMAS Toowoomba incident a ‘deep embarrassment’ for Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese is under fire as new emails about an “unsafe and unprofessional” move from China cast shadows on his meeting with Xi Jinping.

The Prime Minister’s office was aware a Chinese warship had injured Australian divers days before Anthony Albanese had a one-on-one with Xi Jinping, but questions over whether the matter was raised remain unanswered.

The Coalition’s foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said a tranche of emails, released under Freedom of Information laws this week, add to the “deep embarrassment” surrounding the way Mr Albanese has handled the issue.

The documents, requested by former senator Rex Patrick, provide the most detailed account yet of the November 14 interaction between HMAS Toowoomba and Chinese destroyer Ningbo in international waters off the Japanese coast.

But it’s the timing of the emails that has raised eyebrows with the Coalition.

Divers from the HMAS Toowoomba were injured by Chinese sonar pulses in November.

An email from Prime Minister and Cabinet assistant secretary Edwina Stevens on November 15 reveals that the head of Military Strategic Commitments had described to her what had happened a day earlier in the East China Sea.

“The HMAS Toowoomba was en route to Japan ….It was trailed by a PLA (People’s Liberation Army) warship,” she said in an email.

“HMAS Toowoomba underside became tangled in some fishing nets and debris so it had to stop to clear.

“To do so, it gave all appropriate signals, by radio and flag …. The PLA craft acknowledged but did not stop at an appropriate distance and, when the divers were in the water, activated a (water) sonar, at least twice – it did not stop when HMAS Toowoomba requested it to.”

The emails also confirms Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office and Defence Minister Richard Marles’ office were informed.

Anthony Albanese and Xi Jinping had a one-on-one at the APEC Summit in San Francisco just days after the naval incident. Picture: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images/AFP

On November 16 local time, Mr Albanese had a one-on-one meeting with Chinese President Mr Xi on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in San Francisco. The Prime Minister has never revealed whether he raised the incident with Mr Xi despite repeated requests.

The incident was only made public on November 18 when Mr Marles released a statement, describing the incident as “an unsafe and unprofessional interaction”.

Senator Birmingham said Mr Albanese needed to be accountable and transparent on such an important issue.

“This FOI adds to the deep embarrassment surrounding this issue … There should be no hesitation from (Mr) Albanese to stand up for our navy personnel and plainly raise Australia’s concerns at the danger they were placed in by Chinese naval actions,” he said.

“Mr Albanese showed weakness and let Australians down by not raising Australia’s concerns with President Xi when he had the timely opportunity to do so face-to-face.”

Simon Birmingham says Mr Albanese has to come clean. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The release of the emails comes just a week after China’s diplomat in Canberra insinuated that the People’s Liberation Army-Navy had not been to blame for the incident. Xiao Qian pointed the finger instead at Japan, which the government has denied.

The documents reveal HMAS Toowoomba detected that Ningbo had turned its hull-mounted sonar on when it was 2.2km from the ship despite repeated warnings that Australian divers were in the water and requests to remain clear of at least 5km.

The Chinese vessel acknowledged the Toowoomba’s communications but closed to a range of 1.4km.

At the time of the incident, the government said the divers had sustained mild injuries but did not provide further details.

Emails to PM&C state the divers “reported mild headaches and eardrum irritation”.

The FOI documents show that on November 16, PM&C was sent an email confirming Mr Marles and Senator Wong had discussed the incident and Mr Marles wished to make a statement.

Talking points from the defence department state: “The Australian government will take appropriate action to raise its concerns regarding this incident with the government of China.”

The government has routinely maintained the matter was raised through diplomatic channels.

Originally published as Coalition: New FOI documents on HMAS Toowoomba incident a ‘deep embarrassment’ for Anthony Albanese