Former spy boss blasts Morrison government’s response to China tensions

Australia’s former spy chief has blasted the way Scott Morrison handled tensions with China, saying Australia was “louder than it should have been”.

Australia’s response to rising tensions with China has been slammed by our country’s former intelligence chief.

Former director general of Asio Duncan Lewis said it was a mistake for the Morrison government to be so openly critical of China, claiming a more subtle approach would have left the country in a much better position.

Speaking in a new podcast for the Australian National University’s ­National Security College, General Lewis revealed he was concerned that Australia has been “rather louder than we should have been” over the past few years when it came to criticisms of China.

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Former ASIO chief Duncan Lewis has criticised Australia’s previous responses to China. Picture: Kym Smith

“We’ve been in the forefront of some of the criticism of states such as China, when we might well have been better to have been one back and one wide,” he said.

Potential threats from China was a common topic raised throughout the election campaign from Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, with the former spy chief saying the government would have benefited from taking the approach of “speak softly and carry a big stick”.

Australia’s relationship with China has been strained for some time, though tensions escalated in recent months after Beijing made a security pact with the Solomon Islands.

This prompted fears from both Australia and the US that Beijing could use the deal as an opportunity to expand its military presence in the Pacific.

At the time, Mr Morrison responded by claiming any attempt by China to build a naval base on the Solomons would cross a “red line”.

The Morrison government’s strong opposition to the deal sparked a furious response from both China and the Solomon Islands, with Beijing calling Mr Morrison’s comments “pure disinformation”.

“The speculation that China will build a military base in Solomon Islands is pure disinformation fabricated by a handful of people who harbour ulterior motives,” China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

General Lewis told ANU national Security College head Rory Medcalf that having a new Prime Minister and government would give Australia a “spring in its step” and help rebuild “trust and goodwill”.

“If you’re going to start a meaningful conversation with other countries in the region about the future, that needs to be done on the basis of some trust and some goodwill – you don’t start in opposite corners,” he said.

“And I think to this extent … the change of government that has just taken place might allow better, freer, more free-flowing discussions to take place.”

Anthony Albanese addressed Australia’s relationship with China while attending the Quad meeting in Tokyo this week.

After years of strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, Mr Albanese said his government, on behalf of Australia, would seek good relations with all countries – but would not be soft on China.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends the Quad Leaders summit. Picture: Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images

Scott Morrison’s criticism of China in recent years has been slammed. Picture: Supplied

In his address, Mr Albanese urged Beijing to lift trade tariffs it imposed on Australian goods such as barley, wine, coal and seafood.

“Australia seeks good relations with all countries,” Mr Albanese said in Tokyo.

“But it’s not Australia that’s changed, China has. It is China that has placed sanctions on Australia.

“There is no justification for doing that. And that’s why they should be removed.”

General Lewis also told the ANU podcast that Labor’s vow to act on climate change will also be seen in a positive light by European countries.

The former ambassador to the EU and NATO said these climate policies will open up an avenue to strengthen those relationships as well.

“I had the unenviable job as diplomats do, from time to time, to share the bad news with the EU, that we had changed our policy away from some of the climate change initiatives that were looking so promising at the time,” he said.

“That’s now changed.”

General Lewis also warned that Australia needed to increase its defence spending beyond three per cent of GDP if we want to be able to pay for the promised AUKUS nuclear submarines.

“There will need to be serious work done on the social licence to enable government to spend more on defence, because at a time when we have great debt, spending more on defence is obviously going to impact standard of living,” he said.