Anthony Albanese outlines foreign policy priorities but dodges question on China

Anthony Albanese has delivered a blunt message on China while avoiding answering one question about his plans.

Anthony Albanese has declined to say whether he will pick up the phone to the Chinese president should he become prime minister.

The Labor leader spoke to journalists on Wednesday at the National Press Club where he outlined his foreign policy priorities three days before the federal election.

ABC political correspondent Laura Tingle, who hosted the event, told the audience Scott Morrison was the first prime minister in more than 50 years to not give an address at the Canberra venue before a federal election.

Mr Albanese was asked if he would call Xi Jinping, with China reportedly planning to seek fresh talks with either Labor or the Coalition following the election.

The expansion of China’s influence, particularly in the Pacific, has become central in the Australian election campaign after the signing of a controversial security pact between Beijing and Solomon Islands.

Mr Albanese avoided answering the question directly, instead saying China had “changed its position” under Mr Xi’s leadership.

“I think that the relationship between Australia and China will remain a challenging one, regardless of who wins the election,” Mr Albanese said.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has outlined his foreign policy priorities should he become prime minister. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Asked about the Prime Minister’s suggestion he would be a “weak leader” on the international stage, Mr Albanese turned the question back onto Mr Morrison.

“You know what weak is? Weak is leaking a private text message with an ally. That’s weak,” he said.

“You got a bad headline, ‘Oh, we’ll just chuck this out.’ And then say, ‘Oh, I don’t know where that came from.’”

Mr Albanese was referring to the now infamous souring of relations between Mr Morrison and French President Emmanuel Macron after the Australian government tore up its contract for French-built submarines.

The diplomatic rift between the two leaders was sparked after Mr Macron accused Mr Morrison of lying to him about ditching the contract in favour of a new agreement with the US and UK for nuclear-powered submarines.

Parts of a text exchange were then released to certain Australian media outlets in an apparent bid to show Mr Macron had not been blindsided by the plans to ditch his submarines for the AUKUS agreement.

The relationship between Scott Morrison and French President Emmanuel Macron deteriorated after the tearing up of a submarine contract. Picture: Adam Taylor

Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, would fly to Tokyo for a meeting on Tuesday if her party forms government. Picture: David Clark

Mr Albanese referred to the incident more than once during his press club appearance on Wednesday, saying he “won’t leak text messages from international leaders” if he becomes prime minister.

But asked a second time if he would “pick up the phone” and call the Chinese president, Mr Albanese didn’t answer the question.

“The first thing I’ll be doing is meeting with our allies … next week. That’s my priority,” he said, referring to the upcoming Quad meeting with the US, Indian and Japanese leaders next week.

Mr Albanese and Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, would be sworn in immediately should their party form government, in order to fly to Tokyo for the summit on Tuesday.

Mr Albanese on Wednesday said taking action on climate change, repairing Australia’s standing in the Pacific and strengthening its relationship with the US Biden administration would be among his other priorities.

He said were it not for the Quad meeting, his first diplomatic trip would be to Indonesia, given it “is about to be a superpower in the world”.