Federal election live: Peter Dutton fires up on war and says Australia won’t cower to China
Peter Dutton has fired up on his claim Australia should be prepared for war, as a key Coalition MP has been hit by a family death.
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Defence Minister Peter Dutton said now is not the time to “be weak” and Australia wouldn’t “cower” given hostilities from China in the Pacific combined with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
“The comment I made yesterday, I have sort of plagiarised and taken that comment, I’ve used it many times before, it goes back to something like the 5th century and it’s a statement of the obvious,” Mr Dutton said.
“We need a strong defence industry, which is why we are investing into Helimods and Boeing and many other companies as part of that $270 billion spend. We are increasing the numbers within the ADF and the point I was making yesterday is if we want peace to prevail in our region, we want to make sure that we have stability – nobody wants conflict – we want a normalised relationship with China, but Australia is not going to cower, we are not going to sacrifice our democracy, our freedom of speech, our support of human rights.
“We have been very clear and on Anzac Day yesterday we commemorate the most important day in our national diary and the sacrifice that those troops made in Gallipoli and they have made in every conflict since have been about protecting our values and the values of our allies and friends and that work continues,” he said.
“We’re not going to sacrifice our democracy, our freedom of speech, our support of human rights — we’ve been very clear,” he told reporters.
His portfolio predecessor, Christopher Pyne, declared last year that Australia would likely be dragged into a war with China within five to 10 years but Mr Dutton refused to comment on a timeframe on Tuesday.
Instead, he said Australia was focused on forging relationships with allies including the US, UK, Japan and India.“There are many countries who are worried about what they see in the Indo Pacific,” Mr Dutton said.
TRAGEDY HITS COALITION CAMPAIGN
The Coalition campaign has been hit by tragedy while Prime Minister Scott Morrison is in Townsville spruiking his party's promise to build hydrogen hubs there and at Gladstone.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor was meant to be with the Prime Minister for the announcement, but Mr Morrison revealed Mr Taylor was forced to return home at the last minute after learning his father had died.
“I also extend on behalf of the government sincere condolences to Angus Taylor and his family with the passing of his father yesterday,” the PM told reporters.
“Angus was scheduled to be here with us today and let me know when he was en route, literally, here when he learned of his father’s passing.”
Just five minutes before a press conference three years ago, LNP federal Queensland MP Philip Thompson was told the heartbreaking news his friend had died by suicide.
It was one of his mates who he had served with in Afghanistan. He powered through the press conference, without telling anyone, and was later elected to the Queensland seat of Herbert.
Choking back tears, Mr Thompson reflected on that moment, while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
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“I found out right before we came out that my friend died by suicide,” he said, visibily emotional.
“I was reflecting on that this morning because the PM, before we came out, said ‘you don’t have to go out, you don’t have to speak to the media’.
“I didn't tell the press what was happening,” he continued, adding all he could think about was the family of his friend.
“I did the press conference because I wanted to be a part of some sort of change, to help people. To stand up and go, bad things happen and we’ve got to do better.”
Meanwhile, the PM’s plane has broken down in Townsville before he was due to go to his next stop on the campaign trail.
But determined not to hold up his schedule, Mr Morrison swapped the Boeing Business Jet he had been flying in for the media’s plane, about 12.30pm.
PM REVEALS HOW WAR WOULD START
The PM said any war involving Australia would begin with cyber attacks to undermine critical infrastructure, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned.
Mr Morrison said the government had introduced laws protecting critical assets including energy supply in a move to boost national security.
“In any conflict, as we saw, indeed, in Ukraine, the first things that happened was cyber attacks conducted by the Russian Government to undermine whether its power supplies or other critical infrastructure in Ukraine,” he said in a Townsville press conference on Tuesday.
“Now in Australia, these are the things that we must continue to protect.” Mr Morrison, who had earlier said the first shot fired in any conflict is actually in “bits and bytes, it's not in bullets”, added the government was working closely with banks and the business community “to support their protections”.
He said a $10b investment in cyber defence and offence was “absolutely vital” to national security.
“And it's a ‘now’ investment,” he said.
“It builds up multiple points of operations across the country, which ensures that we're in a far more proactive position and this is one of the key reasons I must stress why a strong economy is so, so important.”
More on the China and Solomon Islands issue here
PM BACKS DUTTON’S WAR WARNING
Mr Morrison backed up Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s comments on preparing for war, saying increased aggression from China and Russia threatens global peace.
Speaking with Sydney’s 2GB, the Prime Minister sought to reassure Australians he didn’t believe a conflict was imminent.
“What Peter was saying yesterday I think was important. Of course no one wants to see a war and no one believes that is about to happen,” he told 2GB.
“I want to reassure Australians about that. We prepare for these things to ensure stability and peace within our region.”
“That's why we did the AUKUS agreement with the United Kingdom and the United States.
“That's why we drove the step up of the Quad, which is the partnership we have with India and Japan, the United States and ourselves.
“All of this was to provide...effective working relationships in the region to ensure we can prevent those very outcomes.”
Mr Morrison denied claims that Australia would never be able to defend itself against the military might of China.
“It's not just been the military things that we do. I just mentioned two really important initiatives, which were groundbreaking,” he said.
“I mean, no one else in the world has been able to get access to the military technology that the United States have, particularly for nuclear-powered submarines since the British in 1958."
LABOR’S PACIFIC DEFENCE PLAN
The Labor government has announced a package to address Australia's diplomatic and military relationships in the Pacific.
They have allocated $6.5 million for the establishment of the Australian Pacific Defence school and $32 million to expand the ABCs broadcasting in the Pacific.
An Albanese government would commit $525m in development assistance for Pacific countries and Timor-Leste over the next four years.
The funding pledge - as part of a broader policy package - will help address the decade's worth of development gains that have been lost due to the Covid pandemic.
It will include $5m for the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, to strengthen regional health preparedness in the Pacific and Timor-Leste.
A new Australia-Pacific Defence School will also be established to provide training for members of defence and security forces from Pacific Island nations.
The aim to ensure the country’s defence engagement in the region delivers practical support for the region’s needs and builds deeper institutional links between the Australian Defence Force and its regional counterparts.
The new defence school will be cost $6.5m over four years.
A Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership will also be established in a bid to support climate and clean energy infrastructure projects in Pacific countries.
Labor has been on the attack over the Morrison government's efforts in the Pacific since the Solomon Islands struck a security pact with the Chinese government.
Opposition Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong on Tuesday also revealed that a Labor government would install regular bipartisan Parliamentary Pacific visits to demonstrate that stronger Pacific partnerships are in Australia's national interest.
Ms Wong said such bipartisans visits were under taken by Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop, but claimed they had since been abandoned by Mr Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
“Australians understand this is a time of risk. They understand it's a time of uncertainty and they want a government that does the work,” she said.
MORRISON ‘DROPPED THE BALL IN PACIFIC
“Scott Morrison has dropped the ball in the Pacific, he had the intel and he didn't act. As a result, Australia is less safe today than it was a couple of weeks ago,” Labor campaign spokesman Jason Clare said at a press conference today.
“The Chinese have slipped in because he failed to act.”
“He should have picked up the phone and spoken to the Solomon Islands, it's not hard.”
“He made 50 phone calls to get Matthias Corman the job at the OECD, but he couldn't pick up the phone to talk to the Solomon Islands when they were on the verge of signing a security pact with China.”
“You've got the Foreign Minister of Australia hiding under her desk with the phone pulled out and they send some bloke called Zed.
“Is this Pulp Fiction or national security?"
PM HITS LABOR’S ‘FARCICAL PLAN’
The Prime Minister has slammed Labor’s “farcical” plan to combat Beijing's influence in the Pacific.
“I mean, it's farcical. Their answer to solving the Solomon Islands problem is to have Q&A in Honiara,” Mr Morrison laughed.
“I don't think that's a true reflection or an understanding of the challenges that we face there.”
“No Australian government has stood up more firmly to the Chinese government's coercion of our region and Australia and our government.”
He accused Labor of playing politics with the Pacific, insisting the opposition did not have a real plan to tackle Beijing’s influence in the region.
“There is one difference (between Labor and the Coalition). I sent in the AFP, the Labor Party wants to send in the ABC when it comes to their Pacific solution,” he told reporters in Townsville.
“They have a Q+A solution in the Pacific.
“What we have is real investment in our partnerships with the region.”
Labor’s spokesman for international development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, lashed Scott Morrison’s comments.
Mr Conroy defended Labor’s push to showcase the ABC, ridiculing the Prime Minister’s statements.
‘ABC v COMMUNIST PARTY RADIO’
“This is all about filling the void that this government created when it withdrew the ABC shortwave service that is now being reported to be filled by Chinese communist radio programs,” he said.
“So this is a comprehensive strategy to project Australian identity voices and values into the Pacific.
“Can I say, unlike Mr Morrison, Labor wants Australian voices in the Pacific, not the voices of the Chinese Communist Party … which is clearly what Mr Morrison wants.”
Mr Conroy said Labor would promise to having a foreign minister and pacific minister committed to the region.
“Mr Morrison chose to send foreign minister, Marise Payne to a Liberal party fundraiser instead of sending her to the Solomon Islands,” he said.
“This demonstrates the lack of commitment to the region by Scott Morrison. “And let me remind people of what the leader of Fiji said about Prime Minister Morrison. He said that Morrison's insulting behaviour would push nations towards China.”
MORRISON LISTS PACIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS
Asked if a re-elected Morrison government would do more, Mr Morrison said his “first and foremost” concern was for Australia’s national interest and for Solomon Islanders.
“I am concerned that they can become compromised,” he said.
“I am concerned about the broader regional security of all our Pacific family.”
In a lively defence of his record, Mr Morrison listed off his achievements in the region, which included the opening of six additional embassies in the region and protecting Pacific Island nations fisheries.
“I could understand Labor's criticisms If I hadn't been the first Prime Minister to go back into the Solomon Islands since Kevin Rudd or more so the first one for a direct bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Vanuatu since Bob Hawke.”
Asked what he would do if his so-called red line in the Pacific was breached, Mr Morrison refused to be drawn.
“It would not be responsible for me to speculate in public about what Australia, the United States and others would be doing in circumstances such as that,” Mr Morrison said.
“That would not be in Australia's national interest to do so any more than it would be in the United States' national interest or the interests of regional security."
‘NOTHING NEW IN LABOR PLAN’
It comes as Foreign Minister Payne argued Labor’s plan overlooked engagement that was already occurring.
“There’s nothing new in Labor’s plan today. We’ve actually done some of the things that they’re talking about and they appear to be ignoring,” she told the ABC.
She also denied a security pact between the Solomon Islands and China was a slap in the face to Australia in a fiery television interview.
The Foreign Minister on Tuesday came under fire from Sunrise host David Kosh who questioned why the Honiara would accept the deal if Canberra remained its security partner of choice.
“You're painting this big rosy picture that they love us and they obviously don't,” Koch asked. Senator Payne hit back but acknowledged it while the deal was “deeply disappointing”.
“I don't think I am painting a rosy picture because this is a deeply concerning decision,” she said.
“The Solomon Islands have made its own decision in relation to this deal.”
But Ms Payne refused to be drawn on suggestion from Defence Minister Peter Dutton that Beijing may have bribed the Pacific nation’s government.
DEFENCE EXPERTS’ BACK DUTTON WAR WARNING
Meanwhile, Australian security experts have agreed with Mr Dutton’s assessment the nation must “prepare for war” to protect peace.
But they have warned the nation’s current “one punch” and “boutique” military force is not yet equipped for a conflict with China.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings said Mr Dutton was “trying to shake the complacency out of people” on China.
“It really couldn’t get more serious,” he said. But he said Australia would likely have to lean on the US for support as the ADF was not in a position to effectively combat threats closer to home.
“The real dilemma that we have is there’s a huge amount of money being invested in new military equipment, but we’re not going to see it for 10 to 15 years,” he said. More on this story here
TURNBULL TURNS HOSE ON DUTTON
Mr Morrison’s predecessor Malcolm Turnbull didn’t hold back in his assessment of the government’s dialled up rhetoric.
“Peter Dutton’s rhetoric is becoming more and more bombastic and belligerent,” he told ABC’s RN.
“It’s just a pity that he doesn’t match it with actual preparation and work.
“It’s as though he wants to have a sensation – he thinks the object to him being the defence minister is having a sensational headline in a tabloid newspaper.”
Mr Turnbull, who was ousted by the Coalition in 2018, invoked Mr Morrison’s now infamous response to the black summer bushfire crisis in his criticism of the government’s handling of the issue.
“I mean, the Pacific is not our backyard, it's where we live, it's our neighbourhood," Mr Turnbull said.
“And so you have to use engagement, you have to use diplomacy, you have to be persuasive, you have to go and visit these countries, get to know these leaders, spend time with them.
This is a hose you have to hold, to put it bluntly.”
Labor leader Anthony Albanese agreed, telling Perth’s 6PR the government’s chest beating meant nothing if Australia continued to ignore the Pacific on climate change.
“I think Malcolm Turnbull put it pretty well this morning,” he said.
“The truth is what’s happened in the Solomons is an absolute failure of foreign policy and that’s been recognised by Julie Bishop, by Malcolm Turnbull and by other commentators and experts.”
HADLEY BLASTS ALBANESE ON VISAS
Mr Albanese has defended Labor's opposition to temporary protection visas during a heated exchange on live radio.
Sydney's 2GB Radio host Ray Hadley on Tuesday savaged the Labor leader over his policies for boat arrivals.
Labor has for years supported offshore detention and boat turnbacks, which make up two of the three pillars of the Coalition’s operation sovereign borders.
But Labor doesn't support temporary protection visas for asylum seekers because they can leave people in limbo. Hadley pressed Mr Albanese on how he would deal with boat arrivals without the visas.
"There's a boat off northern Australia. They can't be turned back. So they'll come to Australia," he said.
Mr Albanese replied: "They won't come to Australia" and said they would be sent to offshore detention in Nauru.
But Hadley persisted, saying “They'll go straight from the boat to Nauru would they? Good luck."
Mr Albanese said Labor would have the same policy as the Coalition, prompting a furious tirade from Hadley.
PM AHEAD AS LEADER, LABOR LEADING POLLS
Mr Morrison is ahead of Mr Albanese as the preferred prime minister despite a drop in his approval ratings caused by foreign policy issues connected to China’s deal with the Solomon Islands.
An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows Labor leading the Coalition 53-47 on a two-party-preferred basis, meaning Labor would hypothetically secure majority government if the election were held now.
The poll shows popular support for the Coalition rising a point to 36 per cent, while Labor also lifted a point to 37 per cent.
The small gain for the major parties corresponds with a drop in support for left- and right-wing minor parties, with the Greens falling a point to 11 per cent and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation falling a point to 3 per cent.
Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party remained at 4 per cent while support for other minor parties and independent candidates stayed at 9 per cent.
In terms of who is the preferred leader, Mr Morrison increased the margin over Mr Albanese for the second week in a row.
PM TESTS HIS BAKERY SKILLS
Mr Morrison has tried his hand at rolling croissants and assembling macarons at a bakery in Townsville. Mr Morrison visited Jean-Pierre Wholesale Artisan Bakery during a trip to Townsville on Tuesday.
He commented “that smells fantastic” before piping filling onto macaron shells and assembling the baked goods.
He also made biscuits and rolled croissant pastry at the bakery while speaking with head chef Jean-Pierre Danoy.
Mr Morrison did not wear gloves during the visit, instead rolling the pastry with his bare hands.
He also opted to wear a baseball cap instead of a hair net. The bakery has recently secured a $25,000 federal government grant for its energy consumption reduction project.
MORRISON SLAMS ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACK
Mr Morrison has slammed “sickening” trolls for leaving anti-Semitic comments on Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s Facebook page.
Mr Frydenberg – who is Jewish – has already had his corflutes graffitied with swastikas as the election campaign turns ugly.
But Sydney radio host Ben Fordham revealed on air the trolls had now taken to plastering his online profile with “disgusting comments”.
“I've noticed some disgusting anti Semitic comments that have been sent the way of the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, including this one on Facebook: The world would have been a better place if your grandparents never survived the Holocaust,” the 2GB host began.
“You would think that there would be a line drawn in the sand when it comes to these kinds of disgusting comments.”
The Prime Minister agreed: “That is sickening”. “Josh is a dear friend of mine. I spent Passover with Josh and his family.
“This sort of place has no place in Australia, and it is deeply concerning.
“This is not the view of Australia. This is a minority of the people whose intolerance knows no bounds.”
Late last year, Mr Morrison told parliament Mr Frydenberg still requires 24/7 protection because of anti-Semitic threats against him.
PM MUM ON DEVES MEDIA BAN
The Prime Minister also declined to address reports Liberal HQ had barred controversial candidate Katherine Deves from speaking to the media.
Ms Deves, who has become a lightning rod for criticism for her views on transgender people in sport, has been forced to repeatedly apologise comments made on social media.
In a string of now-deleted tweets, the Warringah candidate suggested trans teenagers are “surgically mutilated”, that surrogacy is “a vanity project” and “a human rights violation” and that trans activists are “the Rainbow Reich.”
Mr Morrison told 2GB he had been in touch with the embattled candidate amid reports she had received death threats for her views.
“I‘ve been consistently very supportive of her and the reason for that is she’s raising this important issue of women and girls in sport.
“ I think it’s a very common sense position,” the Prime Minister said.
“I‘ve been in contact with Katherine just to make sure she’s okay.
“The point she‘s making are pretty obvious and what I’m surprised about is the reaction to her comments … and the way people have basically tried to take her out.”
ATTACK ON MARLES A ‘PILE ON’
Labor has laughed off concerns over Richard Marles’ record on China as the party pledges to combat Beijing’s influence in the Pacific.
A string of media reports have highlighted the Labor deputy’s past comments, including unscripted remarks where Mr Marles praised China’s human rights contribution.
The Australian reports he made the off the cuff comments during a Q&A session following a speech at Oxford University in 2017.
But former leader and frontbencher Bill Shorten dismissed the report as an unwarranted “pile on”.
“The fact of the matter is that before Covid you couldn't go to China without tripping over a Coalition Minister hanging out there,” he told Nine.
It comes as Labor ramps up its attack on the Coalition, accusing the government of “dropping the ball” in the Pacific, following a security deal with Solomon Islands and China.
“So we are saying, if we are elected, we will use the resources of government and apply ourselves to the job of government – which is to ensure Australia’s place as the partner of choice in the Pacific,” foreign affairs spokesperson Penny Wong said.
“We do that because we understand in the face of China’s increased assertiveness and aggression … one of the key ways in which you ensure Australia’s security is to secure our region. Mr Morrison has dropped the ball on that task.”
MARLES JOINS DUTTON ON WAR WARNING
Australia should “prepare for war” in light of global uncertainty spurred by the looming threat of China and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Defence Minister Peter Dutton has warned.
Deputy Labor Leader Richard Marles, highlighting his party was on the same page as the Coalition on national security, said “we certainly need to prepare”.
But Mr Morrison refused to engage on the issue, choosing not to take questions from journalists during his visit to Darwin including whether it was “appropriate to talk about preparing for war” on Anzac Day.
The bipartisan agreement that Australia was facing its most complex period of strategic uncertainty since World War II comes after Mr Morrison on Sunday said Australia would join the US and regional allies to ensure China didn’t build any bases in the Pacific.
The Chinese embassy in the Solomon Islands on Sunday asserted the idea of a so-called” military base were “misinformation fabricated by those people with ulterior motives”.
The backdrop of the controversial security pact between Beijing and the Solomon Islands comes alongside the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin — who Mr Dutton described as “somebody who is willing to kill women and children”.
The Defence Minister gave his frank assessment of the global landscape after a Dawn Service in Queensland, and said it was important to be “realistic that people like Hitler and others aren’t just a figment of our imagination or that they’re consigned to history”.
With China becoming increasingly assertive in the Pacific, Mr Dutton said Australia had to “prepare for war” and also “stand up with countries to stare down any act of aggression to make sure we can keep peace in our region”.
“Curling up in a ball, pretending nothing is happening, saying nothing, that is not … in our long-term interests and we should be very honest about that,” he said.
Mr Marles agreed Australia’s national security was at its “most complex point” since World War II.
“We certainly need to prepare,” he said.
Mr Marles, who had just minutes earlier acknowledged Anzac Day meant a “break from partisan politics”, slammed the Coalition for failing to properly equip Australia’s Defence personnel.
He also addressed the hypothetical of a Chinese military base being established in the Pacific, saying “at that moment” Australia would be less safe.
The Prime Minister and Mr Marles — as proxy for Covid-19 stricken Anthony Albanese — spent Anzac Day in Darwin, attending the garrison city’s Dawn Service and parade.
Mr Morrison, in his Anzac Day address at the Darwin Cenotaph, made references to the ongoing war in Ukraine and the “troubling” situation at Australia’s doorstep due to China.
“As (the late) Clive James said on Anzac Day a long time ago, the memory of past sacrifice … he said precisely because we’ve got the world our parents dreamed of, and I would say fought for,” Mr Morrison said.
“But our world is changing. War does strike Europe. Coercion troubles our region once more. An arc of autocracy is challenging the rules based order our grandparents had secured.”
The Prime Minister was in rainy Townsville for the latter half of Monday, with Labor’s campaign remaining in Darwin.
‘LOW ACT’ AT ANZAC DAY SERVICE
A Liberal Party candidate has come under fire after a billboard emblazoned with a giant picture of her face was driven past an Anzac Day service.
A spokesman for Stephanie Asher, the party’s candidate for Corangamite, apologised on Monday after the ad passed by the service in Drysdale several times, the Geelong Advertiser reported.
Footage shared online shows the mobile billboard driving past a crowd of people paying their respects to fallen soldiers.
“We were at the Cenotaph at 10.30am, and the van came up the main street heading towards Portarlington, you could see the driver visibly looked over and saw all of us,” local Brendan Tenson said.
“Then it did a U-ey and came back the other way and went even slower, then did another lap out.” “The people close to me were shaking their heads. I thought it was distasteful for what we were doing.”
A spokesman for Ms Asher said: “Today a mistake was made.
“The driver of a rental truck hired as part of our campaign was unaware his regular route would pass by today’s Anzac service in Drysdale.
“He immediately left the vicinity without stopping. Nonetheless, we acknowledge the inappropriateness of the truck’s presence and apologise unreservedly.”
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