‘I was wrong’: Coalition frontbencher apologises for saying Russia and China want Labor to win election

Coalition frontbencher Bridget McKenzie has apologised for claiming that Russia and China want Labor to win the May 3 election, saying she based her comments on mistaken information, as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was forced to admit his claim about confirmation of a Russian request for a base in Indonesia was incorrect.

McKenzie, the Coalition’s transport spokeswoman, made the dramatic intervention into the debate on Wednesday afternoon by claiming that Russia and China had both made clear they wanted Dutton to be defeated as she discussed the Indonesian base reports.

“The defence minister of Russia [Andrey Belousov] and the Chinese leader [Xi Jinping] both have made very public comments that they do not want to see Peter Dutton as the prime minister of our country,” McKenzie told the ABC. “There’s two world leaders who don’t want to see Peter Dutton become prime minister of our country. That’s all I’m saying. That’s Russia and China.”

Asked on what basis she made her comments, McKenzie said: “I made a mistake, I was wrong with what I said about the Russian defence minister and Chinese leader. I can’t verify it.”

Senior Labor ministers went on the attack against Dutton on Wednesday, branding him reckless and unfit for high office for falsely claiming that Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto had announced that Moscow was seeking to base several long-range aircraft in Indonesia.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton conceded during Wednesday night’s leaders debate that his previous remarks claiming the Indonesian President had publicly announced a request from Russia to base planes in Australia’s near neighbour, were incorrect. He said he had based his comments “in relation to sources from the Prabowo government”.

On Tuesday evening, Indonesia’s Defence Minister, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, told Defence Minister Richard Marles that “reports of the prospect of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are simply not true”, but the Coalition urged Jakarta to go further in its assurances.

Opposition home affairs minister James Paterson told Sky News: “I look forward to official confirmation from the Indonesian government that not only will Russian aircraft not be based in Indonesia, but they won’t have any sort of visiting or access arrangements at all because Indonesia is an incredibly important national security partner for Australia.

“We work very co-operatively with them on things like people smuggling, counter-terrorism, anti-narcotics trafficking, and other important issues, and we want to make sure that relationship remains strong.”

Greg Fealy, an expert in Indonesian politics at the Australian National University, said Indonesia jealously guarded its independence and would be likely to perceive Paterson’s comments as meddling.

“Prabowo will not appreciate anyone pressuring him into not co-operating with other nations, including Russia,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of “extraordinary overreach” in his comments on Russia-Indonesia military co-operation.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Prabowo has sought to deepen defence ties with Moscow since he came to power in October, with Indonesia and Russia conducting joint naval drills for the first time last year.

In a statement, Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia, Sergei Tolchenov, referred to the “alleged plans to establish in Indonesia a base for long-range aircrafts of the Russian Air-Space Forces” and argued Australia was destabilising the region by allowing large numbers of US troops to rotate through the country and port visits from nuclear-powered submarines.

“Military co-operation is an integral part of the intergovernmental relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Indonesia,” Tolchenov said.

“All interactions between Russian and Indonesian armed forces and Indonesia were aimed at strengthening the defensive capabilities of both sides, not at any third countries, and posed no security threat to the Asia-Pacific region.”

Peter Dutton on Wednesday denied he had “verballed” Prabowo by claiming he had publicly announced the proposal, saying he was referencing a “very credible military website” in Janes.

“The prospect of having Russia with a greater presence in our region is very real, and there are a lot of questions that the [Albanese] government still has to answer,” Dutton said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Dutton of “extraordinary overreach”, saying: “He always shoots from the hip. And when you are either the prime minister or the alternative prime minister of this country, what you need to do is to have a considered approach to our international relations.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Dutton’s initial comments were a “disqualifying moment”, labelling him “temperamentally unfit to manage our relationships in the world”.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Dutton had “fabricated” a comment by Prabowo to score political points as she accused him of being “too reckless and too aggro to be the prime minister”.

Sjamsoeddin said the Janes report of a Russian request to base long-range aircraft on Biak Island was “absolutely untrue”.

“Indonesia adheres to the principle of an independent and active foreign policy,” he said in a statement. “We do not allow foreign military bases on our soil.”

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