Scott Morrison warns a military base in the Solomon Islands from China is ‘a red line’ for Australia

As Scott Morrison copped more heat over China’s deal with the Solomon Islands, he revealed when Australia would act if China moved into the Pacific.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been forced to fend off more questions about when he last spoke to his Solomon Islands counterpart, as concerns mount that Beijing could build a military base within Australia’s backyard.

Hours after his deputy Barnaby Joyce revealed that if he was to disclose information about Mr Morrison’s conversations with Manesseh Sogavare he faced years in jail – Mr Morrison dodged questions about the timing of his last interaction.

He remains adamant, however, that China will not encroach any further.

“He (Mr Sogavare) was very clear in his latest communication with me not that long ago that he has no intention of putting a naval base on the Solomon Islands, and so we have always upped the investment across the Pacific,” he said.

“The most important discussions I’ve had have been with other Pacific nations that share Australia’s view... and they have been also directly communicating those views to the Solomon Islands government.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Alice Springs. Picture: Jason Edwards

“This is a shared concern... I share the same red line that the US has when it comes to these issues.”

Mr Morrison also hit back at a new attack ad targeting Chisholm MP Gladys Liu, which claims she had used misleading signs in the colour of the AEC, spreading misinformation on WeChat and has been forced to hand back $300,000 in donations because the donors were deemed a security risk.

Mr Morrison said Labor was attacking her “because she is Chinese”.

“It’s a desperate ploy by the Labor Party, who has been caught out actually running their own policies and speeches past the Chinese government, before they’ll even talk to the Australian Prime Minister.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visits Wallies Lollies in Box Hill South, Victoria with Gladys Liu, member for Chisholm. Picture: Jason Edwards

Labor has also continued to dodge questions about their own foreign policy, as Senator Penny Wong continued the party’s assault on the Coalition over the Solomon Islands security deal with China.

Asked when she would unveil their alternate foreign policy plan, Senator Wong said now was not the time.

“With all due respect, I’m not gonna make that announcement here today,” she said.

“We’re making a different announcement here today.”

Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong MP. Picture: Tim Hunter.

But Senator Wong said voters should “anticipates” they will see “more resources and more energy from a Labor government.”

Senator Wong acknowledged that the looming policy announcement needed to address the fact that China has changed to become “much more aggressive”.

“And so the question is, how does Australia respond? What we’ve got to do is secure our region we have to shore up our region.

“So I can tell you what we wouldn’t have done, we wouldn’t have cut foreign aid and development assistance, which is important to development and national security, by almost $12bn which is what the Coalition has done.

“We wouldn’t have cut bilateral aid to the Solomon Islands by 28 per cent on average per year.

“We wouldn’t have mocked Pacific Island nations about water lapping at their doors, which is what Peter Dutton did standing next to Scott Morrison, and we wouldn’t have thumbed our nose at Pacific leaders when they told us in the Pacific Leaders Forum two years ago that climate change is their number one national security issue.

“So yes, I do think there is a different approach. Do I think this is easy? No, it’s not.

“It’s serious business, which is why it shouldn’t be the subject of shrill scare campaigns.”

Originally published as Scott Morrison warns a military base in the Solomon Islands from China is ‘a red line’ for Australia