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Labor criticises Home Affairs boss’ ‘drums of war’ Anzac Day message
Labor has criticised Home Affairs boss Michael Pezzullo for declaring the “drums of war” are beating, saying the language used about national security matters should be sober and cautious.
In an Anzac Day message to department staff, Mr Pezzullo said we “must search always for the chance for peace”, but “not at the cost of our precious liberty”.
Michael Pezzullo said in his message on Monday that free nations continued to face the “sorrowful challenge” of being “armed, strong and ready for war”.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
National security experts and Defence Minister Peter Dutton have warned about the possibility of a conflict erupting between China and the United States over Taiwan, which would force Australia to choose whether to join its major security ally in defending the island.
Former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd last year said there was a growing risk of China and the US stumbling into a military conflict over Taiwan, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said “the risk of miscalculation and even conflict is heightening” in the region.
Mr Pezzullo said in his message - which did not mention Taiwan or China - that free nations continued to face the “sorrowful challenge” of being “armed, strong and ready for war”.
“In a world of perpetual tension and dread, the drums of war beat – sometimes faintly and distantly, and at other times more loudly and ever closer,” he said. “Today, as free nations again hear the beating drums and watch worryingly the militarisation of issues that we had, until recent years, thought unlikely to be catalysts for war, let us continue to search unceasingly for the chance for peace while bracing again, yet again, for the curse of war.
“By our resolve and our strength, by our preparedness of arms, and by our statecraft, let us get about reducing the likelihood of war – but not at the cost of our precious liberty. War might well be folly, but the greater folly is to wish away the curse by refusing to give it thought and attention, as if in so doing, war might leave us be, forgetting us perhaps.”
Mr Pezzullo, widely tipped to soon take over as secretary of the Department of Defence, said the least Australians could do to honour fallen soldiers was prepare to face equivalent challenges “with the same resolve and sense of duty that they displayed in years past”.
Asked about the comments, Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, said the language used on national security matters should be “sober and it should be cautious”.
“In national security, in diplomacy, words matter ... I think it is for the government to explain how Mr Pezzullo’s words are consistent with government policy and how they further Australia’s national interests,” she said. “I would make the point they do appear to be inconsistent with Mr Dutton himself, who said on [the ABC’s program] Insiders: ‘We are in peace time and we want to stay in peace time’. So, his language is a little more measured.”
West Australian Labor Premier Mark McGowan said Commonwealth government figures “elected and otherwise” should “tone it down”.
“What good does that do, saying things like that? It’s totally unnecessary,” Mr McGowan said. “There may be elements in the community who cheer but it’s in no one’s interest, that sort of language. Diplomacy should be conducted diplomatically by people in elected office and also public servants. I suggest to them they don’t say things like that anymore.”
Mr Morrison said it was not for him to commentate on the Home Affairs secretary’s comments but the government’s objective was “to pursue peace”.
“That’s what we’re doing. We’re pursuing peace for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said. “But it’s also at the same time designed to ensure that Australia’s national interests always are advanced.”
The Prime Minister then noted Australia had invested “considerably” to ensure the capacity of its defence forces and spent at least 2 per cent of GDP on the military every year.
Michael Shoebridge, director of the Defence program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said he would prefer Australian officials name where the threat is coming from and outline what the government is doing to deter the chances of war.
“In all this discussion about Australian statements about whether there will be a military conflict over Taiwan, I think a lot of this discussion has missed an obvious point: the source of the tension,” he said.
“And the source of the tension is the Chinese state under President Xi Xinping and its use of the People’s Liberation Army in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Indian border and across the Taiwan Strait.”