Election 2022 live: PM reacts to ‘unusual’ Chinese spy ship movement
The PM has warned an “unusual” Chinese spy ship spotted off the coast of Australia is “clearly” gathering intelligence.
Federal Election
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The two women vying to guide Australia’s foreign policy after the election have spoken about how they would manage the relationship with China, as they went head-to-head at the National Press Club.
It comes as a Chinese spy ship is spotted off the coast of WA in what Defence Minister Peter Dutton called an act of “aggression”. Scroll down for more.
In other federal election news today:
■ Police will investigate how Kim Jong-un impersonator crashed a secure campaign event for the Prime Minister minutes after he had left
■ The PM dodged singing protesters outside a community event in Melbourne
■ Mr Morrison vowed to change his ways if he was re-elected, saying he knew he could be a bit of a “bulldozer”
■ Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese blasted his comments as desperate, saying he would instead be a “builder”
■ The PM defended his security team after a former High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands said he was “manhandled” by the Prime Minister’s security
■ Voters won’t know the true cost of Labor’s policies until the final days of the campaign, with Mr Albanese firm the information won’t be released until after the Coalition launches it campaign – slated for Sunday
■ The Labor leader will pledge to boost protection for the Great Barrier Reef with $194.5 million in funding set aside for coral protection programs
■ The Coalition unveiled a plan to make foreign criminals pay for the costs of their detention
■ The campaign for Josh Frydenberg’s seat is going down to the wire, with the Treasurer paying models $30 an hour to parade ‘Keep Josh’ billboards in his blue ribbon seat of Kooyong.
Follow our rolling updates below and have your say in our comments section
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PM REACTS TO CHINESE WARSHIP
Mr Morrison has stressed there has been no breach of Australian borders by a Chinese spy ship off the coast of WA.
“The first thing I want to make very clear is this is freedom of navigation,” Mr Morrison said.
The Haiwangxing was detected near Exmouth, where a joint Australian and United States naval intelligence station – Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt – is based.
The ship has since begun travelling north up the coast. Defence Minister Peter Dutton earlier labelled the ship’s presence an act of “aggression”.
Mr Morrison said the ship was “able to be in these places”.
”They’re not in our contiguous zone, they’re not in Australian waters or anything like that,” he said.
“But it is unusual for a PLA navy (boat) to come this far south near Exmouth and to be tracking where they’re tracking us.
“It is clearly a ship that is an intelligence gathering chip, they’re looking at us and we’re keeping a close eye on them and that’s what we also do.”
Mr Morrison said the event had highlighted the “serious times in which we are living”.
“So when you look at this event in the context of the many other acts that the Chinese government has undertaken towards Australia then that is obviously concerning.
“And it only continues to highlight why it is so important, of course, we remain calm about these matters, and that we continue to remain confident in the ability of our defence forces and our surveillance capabilities.”
“It’s not the first time, it won’t be the last time I suspect we’ll see it many more times.”
When asked whether he agreed with Mr Dutton that it was an act of aggression, Mr Morrison said it was of concern when viewed in the context of other behaviour.
“I certainly don’t believe that, when you take it together with the many other coercive acts and the many statements that have been made which have been attacking Australia’s national interests, you could describe it as an act of bridge building or friendship” he said.
The Prime Minister made the comments as he was touring a Yarra Valley winery to spruik funding that would help Australians producers find new international customers.
China was one of the nation’s biggest wine consumers until new trade restrictions.
Wineries will have access to grants of up to $25,000 to export their products under a re-elected Coalition government after China slapped trading restrictions on Australia
Victoria has 635 wineries, South Australia 654 and New South Wales 401. Across the country there are 2164.
The funding commitment will go towards small and medium producers, who can apply for grants to promote their wines internationally.
The industry has been working to find new buyers across the globe, with China one of the nation’s biggest purchasers of wine prior to slapping trade restrictions.
“Our plan for a strong economy and stronger future backs in our world-leading wine producers to uncork new markets and create jobs in our regions,” Mr Morrison said.
Eligible claims include travel expenses for promotion visits, costs of free samples, participation in trade fairs and market or advertising.
WONG TAKES ON PAYNE OVER CHINA
Australia will not back down from China and relations will only improve if Beijing stops its economic coercion and follows the rule of the law in the Pacific, both women vying to guide the nation’s foreign policy after the election say.
Senator Wong and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne have gone head-to-head at a debate at the National Press Club on Friday.
It comes on the day the Defence Minister confirmed a Chinese warship has been seen lurking near Australian waters.
As China’s new ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian told Sky News on Friday that he looked forward to “future possibilities”, Senator Wong said the world had “changed”.
“Our relationship with China has changed because China has changed,” she said.
“ … From Mr Putin’s illegal and immoral war against the people of Ukraine to a more expansionist and aggressive China in our region, the world has changed. Our region is being reshaped.
Senator Wong said China could work to improve its relationship with Australia by stopping trade sanctions and complying with the international rulings for the South China Sea.
Senator Payne said Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine could not be repeated in the Pacific region.
“Consistency has been vital. Under the Morrison government, Australia has not blinked,” she said.
“We will continue to seek a constructive relationship with China, but it has to be a relationship in which our sovereignty and our interests are respected and in which no party is coerced or subjected to pressures that breach international rules.”
The pair clashed over the Solomon Islands’ new security pact with Beijing during the debate.
Senator Wong slammed the Coalition for being “inconsistent” in its response to the development.
“Your government has also lurched from respecting the Solomon Islands’ sovereignty and saying ‘we can’t throw our weight around’ to making comparisons about Cuba and the Prime Minister issuing threats about red lines,” she said.
Senator Payne said the government had been working for an “extended period of time” on concerns over China’s pursuit of a greater security presence in the region.
BUT WHAT’S HIS BIRTHDAY WISH?
We can only imagine what the Prime Minister wished for when blowing out the candles of a cake presented by members of the Beveridge Community Centre in Victoria.
Not only was it Friday the 13th but Mr Morrison’s 54th birthday.
As protesters sang to him outside the centre, Mr Morrison stayed inside, pitching to working-class voters.
Mr Morrison said his government was best suited to deliver for growing suburbs and stop them from becoming pockets of disadvantage.
He said he knew about the issue, having studied applied economic geography at university.
Maybe Mr Morrison was hoping for voters giving him time to change – earlier in the day, he admitted he could be a “bit of a bulldozer” in a sudden change of tone in the campaign’s final week, and said he would change some of his ways should he be re-elected.
LABOR GOING ALL-OUT TO WIN MELBOURNE SEAT
The Labor Party has flooded the Melbourne seat of Higgins after polling showed the party was in reach of snatching a seat which has been the territory of Liberal royalty for more than 70 years.
Victoria’s popular former Labor premier Steve Bracks was one who answered the call to campaign in the electorate after Labor issued a call-out for volunteers last week to doorknock and hand out vote-to-vote cards at pre-poll booths in the inner-suburban seat.
‘YOU’RE NOT IN CONTROL OF WHAT PEOPLE ARE WEARING’
Mr Albanese has defended Mark Dreyfus over his attendance at an event marking the end of Ramadan where some apparently ethnic Han Chinese people dressed as members of the oppressed Uyghur Muslim community.
A photo of Mr Dreyfus, who would likely be Attorney-General under a Labor government, at the event was posted last week on the Facebook page of the Labor-aligned Mayor of Greater Dandenong, Jim Memeti.
Mr Albanese said he was not aware of the issue, but reiterated that Labor would take a tough stance on Chinese human rights abuses.
“What I will say is we’ve been very consistent, including Mark Dreyfus, has been consistent, about the need to stand up for Australian values and Australian values are about human rights,” he said.
“Australia values human rights, we have spoken out about the treatment of Uyghurs … we’ll continue to do so.
“If you turn up at events you’re not in control of who is at those events and what they’re wearing.”
CHINESE SPY SHIP IN ACT OF ‘AGGRESSION’
A Chinese warship has been identified off the coast of Western Australia a week out from election day.
The vessel was detected near Exmouth, where a joint Australian and United States navel intelligence station – Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt – is based.
The ship has since begun travelling north up the coast.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton told a Perth news conference the path of the warship was “very concerning” and he called it an “aggressive act”.
“It is a Chinese warship with intelligence gathering capability,” Mr Dutton said.
“It is obviously very strange that it has come this far south and it is hugging the coastline as it goes north.”
He denied he was revealing the warship now to help the Coalition’s election chances – but then insisted the Coalition was better placed to protect Australians than Labor.
PM MET BY DRAGON-SINGING PROTESTERS
Protesters singing ‘April Sun in Cuba’ have descended on Prime Minister Scott Morrison as he arrived in Melbourne’s north.
In a reference to his 60 Minutes interview, the protesters sang the Dragon classic to Mr Morrison as he arrived for a community event in Beveridge, where the federal government has committed to build a major freight terminal.
However, Mr Morrison’s security detail slipped him in and out the back door of the centre to avoid the protesters.
The Coalition hopes it can win the safe Labor seat of McEwen by appealing to working-class voters in the area, capitalising on anger with Victorian lockdowns.
In a direct pitch to the working-class areas he is targeting, Mr Morrison said his government was best suited to deliver for growing suburbs and stop them from becoming pockets of disadvantage.
The Coalition has sought to wedge its opponent on the Beveridge terminal, because Labor believes a similar hub should be built in Melbourne’s western suburbs first.
Trucking companies and other industry leaders have also backed the western-suburb plan as a priority.
A moving billboard has also been circling the area accusing Mr Morrison of failing the elderly.
In Melbourne’s north, Mr Morrison was approached by Dushyanthy Govender, chair of the Mitchell Multicultural Community Association Incorporated.
She asked the Prime Minister what he was doing to help multicultural communities.
Speaking to News Corp after, Ms Govender said she found his answer evasive.
“I would’ve like more information,” she said.
Ms Govender said there had been no support for these communities in the pandemic and that they feel isolated in the area.
BULLDOZER? I’M A BUILDER, SAYS ALBO
Anthony Albanese has slammed Scott Morrison as “desperate” and says if Mr Morrison is a bulldozer, he would describe himself as “a builder”.
Speaking on Fitzroy Island off the coast of Cairns, Mr Albanese said Mr Morrison’s vow to change his style of leadership was a sign that his government lacked ideas and positivity.
“If you look up desperation online, you’ll see a photo of Scott Morrison,” he said.
Mr Albanese urged Australians to vote for a change, describing the different ways he would take a “builder” approach to government.
“We can’t just have three more years of the same,” he said.
“Nothing quite says the law of diminishing returns like Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison.”
The Prime Minister earlier made a major pivot, admitting he knew he would need to do things differently should he be re-elected, and said he could be a “bit of a bulldozer”.
Mr Albanese said it was a fitting way to describe the Prime Minister.
“A bulldozer knocks things over,” Mr Albanese said. “I’m a builder. That’s what I am, and if I’m elected Prime Minister I’ll build things in this country – better infrastructure, a response to climate change, people’s living standards.”
Mr Albanese went on to spray Mr Morrison for not having a plan, yet asking Australians to trust him to change after years in power.
“He will just get more arrogant, more out of touch, less trustworthy,” Mr Albanese said.
“What he’s saying is, ‘if you vote for Scott Morrison, I’ll change’. Well, if you want change, change the government.”
Mr Albanese and his partner, Jodie Haydon, then fed 15-year-old Tommy the Turtle at the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre.
KIM JONG-UN IMPERSONATOR CRASHES PM’S EVENT
Police will investigate how a man dressed as Kim Jong-un was able to crash a Prime Minister’s campaign event held in a secure Melbourne facility.
Anti-communist party activist and Queensland Senate candidate Drew Pavlou has claimed responsibility for the incident, during which the impostor declared Liberal MP Gladys Liu a communist.
In a shock visit after Scott Morrison had already left, the man walked into the manufacturing facility in Melbourne and thanked people for “supporting the communist candidate”.
He declined to give his real name, and refused to leave when asked.
“Don’t tell the Supreme Leader what to do,” he said. “I support Gladys Liu.”
The man said he wanted to be known as his moniker Howard X.
Police will probe how he entered the building, a secure facility where visitors were required to wear lab coats while entering.
The performance came just minutes after the Primer Minister was asked about whether his government’s rhetoric and handling of China had lost him support among Chinese Australians.
Asked if she was worried about the rise of China, Ms Liu launched a strong defence on the loyalties of Chinese Australians but would not comment on the Chinese government specifically.
Mr Morrison said he was always careful to make the distinction between China’s government and its people.
“I talk about the assertive and aggressive nature of the Chinese government,” he said. “Not the Chinese people.
“That’s why I draw a sharp and distinct line between the actions of an authoritarian government that is seeking to be coercive against Australia and to interfere in our region, and the wonderful Chinese people.”
When asked about the rise of China, Ms Liu attacked anyone who suggested Chinese Australians were not Australians or suggested they were not loyal to the country.
“That is offensive (and) divisive” she said.
When asked whether the Coalition’s approach to China was affecting voters in her electorate, Ms Liu deflected the question.
“I can tell you when you talk to Chinese people in Australia, you don’t start by asking whether they are holding a Chinese passport, visiting this place, or come to help their children look after children.
“I have seen a lot of people throughout my three years as a member of parliament at citizenship ceremonies. And I hear them pledge loyalty to Australia.
“If anyone suggests that Chinese Australians are not Australians and still have the loyalty and want to do things that is bad for Australia I think that is offensive, divisive and un-Australian.”
‘I CAN BE A BIT OF A BULLDOZER’, MORRISON ADMITS
The Prime Minister has admitted he can “be a bit of a bulldozer” and says he will have to change some of the ways he works if re-elected.
Mr Morrison was questioned on his leadership at a campaign stop in Melbourne, asked whether he had been telling Australians what they should do rather than listening to them.
He said Australians had been able to see him work in different ways over the past three years, including because of the pandemic.
“I can be a bit of a bulldozer when it comes to issues and I suspect you guys know that too,” Mr Morrison said.
“Over the last few years, it has been pretty important to ensure we’ve been able to get through some of the most important things that we’ve had to do.”
Mr Morrison pointed to negotiating security agreements as an example of this.
“You’ve got to be pretty determined to be able to land those sorts of things,” he said.
“But that doesn’t mean … As we go into this next period, on the other side of this election, I know there are things that are going to have to change in the way I do things.
“Because we’re moving into a different time. We’re moving into a time of opportunity and working from the strong platform of strength that we’ve built and save in our economy.”
CHINA FOCUS SILLY, SAYS DEPUTY LABOR LEADER
Deputy Labor Leader Richard Marles has responded to questioning over meetings with Chinese embassy officials saying it’s nothing but a “desperate and silly” attempt by the Coalition government to distract from their own national security record.
In the past five years, Mr Marles has met with Chinese embassy officials on five separate occasions, an investigation by The Australian revealed on Friday.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has had just two meetings with the previous Chinese ambassador and one with his replacement since she took over the portfolio in August 2018.
“All of this has gotten pretty desperate and a bit silly,” Mr Marles told reporters.
“It would be good if the government put as much focus into its relationship in the Pacific as it does into my diary.”
PM DEFENDS SECURITY TEAM AFTER EX-DIPLOMAT ‘MANHANDLED’
The Prime Minister has responded to being approached by a former High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands who said Scott Morrison had lost his vote.
Trevor Sofield was appointed to the role in 1982 and ran into Mr Morrison at a cheese cafe in Tasmania during a campaign stop.
But he did not get to talk to the leader after being held back by his security detail.
Mr Morrison said he had not known at the time Mr Sofield was a former high commissioner and always followed the advice of his security team.
“I note he had worked with us the in the 1980s and I’m sure he had many opinions on that,” he said.
But Mr Morrison defended his record, saying he had worked to improve Australia’s relationship with the region from being “colonial”.
“I have sought to change the way we have dealt with the Pacific,” he said.
Mr Morrison would not say whether he would talk with Mr Sofield, but defended his security detail when asked whether they were protecting him from political embarrassment.
“I follow the protocols as always,” he said.
“I have great faith in the team that protects me every single day.
“It was only a few weeks ago, about 200m from the very site we were at yesterday, when two of my protection leads were involved in a very serious car accident.”
WHY ALBO WON’T RELEASE COSTINGS
Mr Albanese’s claim it would be “untenable” to reveal the official price tags any sooner than next week flies in the face of Labor’s 2019 campaign, when it released costings attached to its plans two days before the Coalition’s event.
The Opposition Leader, fresh from being voted the winner in the final leaders’ debate of the campaign on Wednesday night, spent Thursday in Queensland – including in the seats of Flynn and Brisbane.
During the debate Prime Minister Scott Morrison used questions around Labor’s costings in a bid to sully the waters for Mr Albanese.
Sensing it was a weak spot on which they could capitalise, the government dispatched Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham on Thursday, with the pair slamming Labor over a lack of transparency.
“(Voters can go to the) Treasury and Finance Department website and see the independent analysis and verification for 22 Coalition policies, but if they go looking for any Labor policies they won’t find them,” Senator Birmingham said.
“Mr Albanese is being tricky with Labor’s policies and costings.”
But the Opposition Leader, in a testy press conference in Gladstone, said the question about “comparators” between Labor and the Coalition could not be answered before the government had laid out its full agenda at the launch.
“We will release all of our costings like other oppositions have, in the usual way, at the usual time,” Mr Albanese said.
There are just nine days to go in before official polling day, with more than a million Australians already lodging their ballot.
Labor’s campaign has argued Tony Abbott released the Coalition’s costings just three days before the 2013 election.
In 2016 Labor released its costings on the same day the Coalition launched its campaign.
In 2019 Labor under Bill Shorten released its policy costings two days before the Coalition launch, and then worked in the costs of the policies Mr Morrison announced on the day.
On Thursday, Mr Albanese’s campaign went to Gladstone for the first time this election, touring Southern Oil’s Northern Refinery and committing $100m in equity to the Queensland government to build a battery manufacturing hub in the Central Queensland city.
After taking a Gibe at the LNP’s embattled candidate for Lilley while in the seat of Flynn, the Opposition Leader flew into Brisbane to campaign alongside his candidate for Brisbane and Lilley MP Anika Wells at a prepoll station in Chermside.
To mark International Nurses Day, Mr Albanese – along with his partner Jodie Haydon – met with some nurses to pay tribute to their efforts through the pandemic.
The campaign is expected to be in Cairns on Friday.
The Coalition campaign launch – a late-stage rally where the Prime Minister gets unfettered attention and may make new announcements – is slated to take place in Brisbane on Sunday.
MORRISON TO GET TOUGHER ON BORDER PROTECTION
Foreign criminals will be forced to pay their own immigration detention costs under a re-elected Morrison government.
The move is part of a six-point border protection plan which comes amid intelligence warnings of a heightened risk of people smuggling.
The Australian reported that Joint Agency Taskforce Operation Sovereign Borders has flagged that “opportunistic maritime people smuggling ventures may look to test Australia’s deterrence, disruption and response capabilities” after the May 21 election.
The Coalition, which will officially launch its campaign on Brisbane on Sunday, has released its 15-page “plan for protecting our borders”.
Under the plan, foreign criminals will be required to pay their own immigration costs for accommodation, food and healthcare.
It is estimated it could save taxpayers $216m a year based on 1300 current detainees with criminal histories. The average time spent in detention by all detainees is 689 days and costs $456 a day.
After the Greens on Thursday released its immigration policy, which would abolish the Australian Border Force, end offshore detention and scrap boat turnbacks, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews warned Labor would be pressured to soften border protection measures.
Ms Andrews said a change of government would mean a “change to Australia’s strong border protection policies”.
Mr Albanese has maintained the ALP would replicate the government’s border security approach on turnbacks and offshore detention centres.
In the final leaders’ debate on Wednesday, Mr Albanese defended his position on borders after Mr Morrison warned that Labor’s decision to abolish temporary protection visas would weaken border security.
“The key to keeping our borders strong are the elements of the plan that would turn back boats, which we support, offshore processing, which we support, and settlement in third countries, which we support,” Mr Albanese said.
“Anyone who comes by boat will not get any visa here in Australia, they won’t be allowed to settle here in Australia. We have the same position on all of those issues.”
WHY THE POLLS MAY BE WRONG
Pollsters are finding it difficult to get a proper read on key electorates, with fed-up voters refusing to answer calls in the final run-up to the election.
An exclusive YouGov poll shows Labor is headed towards a convincing election victory, predicting the opposition will claim nine seats off the government and take 80 in total. It needs only 76 to form government.
Several pollsters who spoke to News Corp said the traditional marginal seats where Liberal and Labor are battling it out, and the “teal’’ seats where tight races are on between Liberals and Climate 200-backed independents, were being bombarded by thousands of calls from pollsters.
Traditionally it takes at least three calls to get one person to agree to a telephone survey, meaning each pollster conducting telephone polling needs to make around 3000 calls to get 1000 responses.
RedBridge Group director Kosmos Samaras said it’s particularly hard to get an idea of how many people intend to vote for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.
“The Palmer voters are very difficult people to poll because they don’t want to take part in the political process,’’ he said.
Young voters more likely to ignore calls from unknown phone numbers were also likely under-represented in polling.
SCOMO SPENDS 54TH BIRTHDAY ON CAMPAIGN
Scott Morrison is spending his 54th birthday hundreds of kilometres away from his wife and daughters, but has used the occasion to open up and get personal about what life is really like for the Morrisons.
The Prime Minister is starting Friday in Melbourne, and with eight days to go until most Australians head to the polls, is likely to start upping the pace as he blitzes across the country.
“As Jen said (to me this morning), it’d be a pretty rare day that we’re all together on my birthday. It sort of goes with the territory – that’s how it is, but that’s fine,” Mr Morrison told 2Day FM.
“We’ll take the time (to celebrate) on another occasion when we get together.”
Host Erin Molan, who the Prime Minister has worked closely alongside in their crusade to crack down on online bullying, said she had considered a tilt at politics but was put off by how hard it would be to do with children at home.
Molan asked Mr Morrison how he found the balance between running the country and being a father.
Mr Morrison in response spoke glowingly about his wife Jenny.
“This just wouldn’t be possible without Jen. She is the foundation and bedrock of our family,” Mr Morrison said.
Co-host Dave Hughes asked the Prime Minister about whether his daughters ever “criticised his personal habits”, to which Mr Morrison laughed.
INSIDE THE WORLD OF SCOTT MORRISON
“They look at me with what I’m wearing and, particularly now they’re becoming teenagers, and just go … ‘really’?” Mr Morrison said.
“The worst thing is Jenny joins in.”
Mr Morrison also added that both his wife and daughters “have always hated my driving”.
“They prefer Jenny to drive, and as PM you’re not allowed to drive a car … I wouldn’t be surprised if it was an elaborate setup and Jenny told the AFP I’m not allowed to drive,” he said.
PM BACK IN LIU TERRITORY FOR TECH BOOST
The ultra-marginal seat of Chisholm has been visited by the Prime Minister as he looks to protect Liberal Gladys Liu from a well-financed Labor offensive.
Mr Morrison is touring Extel Technologies, which specialises in Hi-Tec manufacturing such as microchips and computer boards.
Their staff include specialists in robotics, software and skilled factory workers. Mr Morrison announced a series of new investment to improve supply chains and the manufacturing industry.
This includes $15 million for a support system that will let Australia better forecast shortages and other market issues.
Australia's Chief Scientist will also be commissioned to developer a national plan for semiconductors which are vital to modern technology and computing.
The Coalition has also committed $27m for 18 projects that will encourage locally-made semiconductors and water treatment chemicals.
Another $53m will go towards hubs for animal health research, including vaccines. S "securing our supply chains is a fundamental part of keeping Australia stronger and more secure,” Mr Morrison said.
“The strength of our supply chains matter because they affect every single part of our economy.
“We make things in Australia and we make them well – our supply chains are the backbone of our manufacturing industry and that’s why my government will always invest in strengthening them.”
CHANGE IN GOVT ‘OPPORTUNITY FOR CHINA’
Australia’s longest serving foreign minister Alexander Downer said a change in government would be "welcomed" by communist China.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, relations between China and Australia have deteriorated over a series of provocative trade tariffs imposed by Beijing upon Australian exports.
The trade blows followed an Australia-led diplomatic push to launch an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
Wine, beef, lobsters, coal and barley were among the products hit by Chinese sanctions and relations were further strained after the Coalition axed China’s Belt and Road agreement with the Victorian government over national security concerns.
Mr Downer said due to the current government’s strength on China, any new administration would be welcomed by the Communist country.
“The Chinese leadership doesn’t like the Morrison government because it stood up to them,” Mr Downer told Sky News Australia’s Chris Kenny.
The last thing Australia needs is for both government and opposition to be "closing down options" with China,’’ he said.
“When the Chinese tried to bully Australia with trade sanctions, the Morrison government didn’t flinch, they’ve been really very resolute in dealing with China.
“Any change of government in Australia, as the Chinese would see it, would have to be an opportunity for them.”
Mr Downer pointed to Labor’s record on foreign affairs and their history in dealing with China.
“Whether Labor in government would provide that opportunity, well if they win we will see,” he said.
“Because they are very unclear about what they would do.
“Their history is not a history in being robust in standing up to the Communist regime in Beijing, so who knows.”
Mr Downer served as foreign minister in the Howard government from 1996 until 2007.
LIBS’ LAUNCH EVEN WEIRDER AD
The Liberals have unleashed what could be this campaign’s weirdest ad yet in their latest attack on Labor, nine days out from the election.
An animated character playing Labor leader Anthony Albanese appears obsessed with taxes in “The Lord of the Flip-Flops: The Return of the Taxes”, a parody of fantasy adventure film Lord of the Rings.
Clad in nothing but red shorts, the Albanese character says: “Taxes, yes taxes. We will tax all of them, so much money” before another voice chimes in: “You can’t tell them. It’s the only way we get precious votes”.
The attack ad accuses Labor of flip-flopping on policies such as coal, saying it would win them votes in Queensland but not inner city Melbourne.
It comes after the Liberal Party has accused Labor of lying in a advertisement after the Opposition aired a commercial which featured clips of Mr Morrison repeatedly saying, “that’s not my job”.
Labor's campaign is a lie. pic.twitter.com/yNtic9Dqlm
— Liberal Party (@LiberalAus) May 10, 2022
‘KEEP JOSH’ FOOT SOLDIERS DEPLOYED
Josh Frydenberg is paying promotional models $30 an hour to work as human billboards in a desperate bid to hold on to his once blue-ribbon seat of Kooyong.
A job advertisement for “Walking Board Staff” was posted to Seek by Super Performance Promotions last month, the Australian reported.
It explained that the Kooyong camp was looking for casual workers to walk the streets of the Melbourne electorate between 7.30am and 6pm while wearing “Keep Josh” billboards.
The billboards weigh 7kg and feature a photograph of the Treasurer on the back. Each shift lasts for four hours and comes with a total pay packet of $120.
HOWARD STILL HOPEFUL OF MORRISON MIRACLE
Former Prime Minister John Howard said he was still hopeful of Mr Morrison pulling off an unexpected victory, despite polls showing Labor will win the election.
Jumping on 2GB this morning to promote The Menzies Movies, of which he is host, Mr Howard said it was “very hard to tell” a clear victor and was doing “everything” possible to “get Scott Morrison elected”.
“I think it’s going to be very hard to tell. I think it’s very tight. The longer in power you are, the harder it is,” he told host Ben Fordham.
“A lot of people who are undecided … will think who’s better able to run the Australian economy? That’s for them. It's a democracy. It’s a wonderful thing, democracy.
“I think Scott Morrison has done a terrific job in difficult circumstances.
“I think they (Morrison and Frydenberg) are far better at running the economy.”
Mr Howard refused to speculate about who might lead the Liberal party in the circumstance that they lose the election, saying “I’m not in the business” and was focusing on getting Mr Morrison through.
ALP PLAN TO TACKLE SLAVERY
Labor would ensure major companies importing goods from China guarantee supply chains are free from Uygur forced labour camps if it wins government, The Australian has reported.
Under the plan, an independent antislavery commissioner would publish an annual list of countries, regions and industries that have links with high levels of slavery.
“Companies importing from these places would be required to prove goods are not made with forced labour,” opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said.
The Morrison government’s Modern Slavery Act, introduced in 2018, requires businesses with revenues of more than $100m to assess their risks of having slave labour in their supply chains.
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