Labor to target Gladys Liu on national security credentials

Labor will target national security concerns about Liberal MP Gladys Liu in advertisements in the ultra-marginal seat of Chisholm at the same time as leader Anthony Albanese accuses the government of failing to curb Chinese influence in the Pacific.

The federal opposition has spent days attacking the Coalition for failing to use diplomatic pressure to stop Solomon Islands signing a pact with China that could allow the superpower to establish a military base on Australia’s doorstep, labelling it the “worst failure of Australian foreign policy in the Pacific” in almost 80 years.

Chisholm MP Gladys Liu campaigning in Box Hill last week.Credit: Joe Armao

Liu, the Hong Kong-born MP who won the seat in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs by about 500 votes in 2019, last week said the Coalition government had handled the issue “very well”.

As recriminations continue and the US attempts to thwart the agreement, Labor will pay for ads on Facebook, Google, YouTube and Instagram to remind voters in her electorate about Liu’s record.

“What do we know about Liberal Gladys Liu?” a male voice says in the attack ad, with an ominous-sounding background track.

Labor will pay for ads on Facebook, Google, YouTube and Instagram to remind voters in her electorate about Gladys Liu’s record.

“She spread fake news on Chinese messaging apps, she and the Liberal Party had to give back $300,000 because the donors were deemed a national security risk, and her campaign tried to trick voters with election day signage in the colours of the Australian Electoral Commission.

“We need someone who represents Chisholm with hard work and integrity, not tricks. You deserve better than Scott Morrison and Gladys Liu.”

Asked about the claims in the advertisement, Liu said in a statement: “I am a proud Australian citizen and won’t be distracted from my mission of delivering for the residents of a Chisholm by a desperate and dishonest campaign by Labor.”

The ad’s reference to donations relates to a Herald Sun story from 2019 which reported the Victorian division of the Liberal Party returned $300,000 of donations made by guests invited by Liu to a fundraiser. Then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s office was briefed that some of Liu’s guests at the Melbourne restaurant in 2015 were deemed to be security risks, according to the report.

Only a handful of seats are in play in Victoria and Chisholm is Labor’s main target. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has visited the seat numerous times since the election, while Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has also campaigned in the electorate alongside Liu.

The Age spoke to dozens of voters in Chisholm last week and found mixed views about whether the Coalition’s harsh rhetoric towards China, spawned by an increasingly assertive Chinese Communist Party, was likely to turn Chinese-background voters against the government and Liu. Labor’s hard line on the Solomons deal and highlighting of Liu’s links to China could risk angering some in the Chinese diaspora, but it has calculated that the political strike is likely to yield support.

The Solomons-China deal has injected national security into the federal election and allowed Labor, whose foreign policy credentials were previously questioned by the government, to pressure the government in a policy area generally seen as a strength for the Coalition.

Speaking in Box Hill on Thursday, Liu said she believed the Morrison government’s relationships with Pacific neighbours were sound. “Our foreign minister has been handling it very well, and at the same time the Morrison government is very strong in supporting our regions and to make sure we stay strong in [the Pacific],” she said.

Liu has said she played a key role in the Liberal Party’s 2016 election campaign in Chisholm, which highlighted concerns about the safe schools program aimed it reducing bullying of LGBTQI students. The religious right weaponised the program to win the votes of conservatives uncomfortable with discussion of sexuality in schools, and Chinese messaging platform WeChat was used to propagate the messaging.

Supporters of Liu also shared anti-refugee posts on WeChat at the 2019 election.

A Labor Party spokesman said the opposition would continue to target Liu’s “history in Liberal Party ... of consistently spreading misinformation and lining the coffers of the Liberal Party with dodgy
donations”.

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