China our biggest threat, says Barnaby Joyce

Barnaby Joyce backs creation of fleet of Australian-flagged merchant ships to combat an increasingly belligerent China.

Governor-General David Hurley, left, with Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce at the virtual swearing-in ceremony. Picture: Martin Ollman

Barnaby Joyce has backed the ­creation of a fleet of Australian-flagged merchant ships as he vowed to use his elevation to Deputy Prime Minister to make the nation more self-reliant, declaring an increasingly belligerent China was a bigger issue than Covid-19 or climate change.

In a break from his predecessor Michael McCormack, the new Nationals leader warned it was unwise to rely on foreign vessels for the vast bulk of Australia’s coastal trade.

“I think you need Australian-flagged ships to have full sovereignty,” Mr Joyce told The Weekend Australian.

“You need your own space ­capacity. You need your own telecommunications capacity. You need your own shipping capacity. You need your own fuel capacity.

“The world has changed. I’m not saying every ship should be Australian. I’m saying you should have an Australian capacity.”

Speaking ahead of the swearing in of his ministerial team, Mr Joyce said his most important role as Nationals leader was ensuring that the regions – including the agriculture and mining sectors – were “making Australia strong” and preparing for a changing geopolitical climate.

“I believe that is the biggest issue confronting us. It is not Covid, it’s not climate change – it is China,” he said. “Because that is the one that really can take the liberties off your children. That is the one that really can affect the freedom of your nation. That is the one that you will hold me responsible for if I get it wrong.”

Mr Joyce pointed to a speech this week from Xi Jinping to mark the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, in which the Chinese President threatened a “wall of steel” against any nation that tried to bully his country’s rise. Mr Joyce said Mr Xi’s speech was “belligerent” and had a “slight sense of paranoia in there”.

“That worries me,” the Nationals leader said. “We are starting to see a sense of totalitarianism coming out of Xi Jinping.

“One of the advantages of (being) the longest-serving member of the Nationals is you come at it not so much with the excitement or the novelty of the position but more of the gravity of the opportunity that’s before you and how you are going to utilise it.”

Mr Joyce said he did not think China would invade Australia, arguing that was an “old school” tactic of controlling another country.

“They just have to dominate you in such a way as you live your life on their terms; dominate you economically in a way that we just rely on them so much,” he said, adding: “Everybody’s got a role in making (Australia) strong. The mining industry, the agriculture industry, everybody has a role.”

Mr Joyce also said a military dispute in Taiwan could be “disastrous” for Australia.

The revamped Coalition frontbench was sworn in at Government House on Friday, with Mr Joyce’s supporters – Bridget McKenzie and Andrew Gee – both being promoted to cabinet, at the expense of Keith Pitt, Michael McCormack and Darren Chester.

While Mr Joyce has been a long-term critic of taking action on climate change, he has not ruled out backing a net-zero emissions target by 2050.

The Deputy Prime Minister said he would decide on the target only if he sees a plan on how to get there, and after consultation with Nationals MPs.

“I’m just saying I have to see what the deal is. Tell me what the deal is,” Mr Joyce said.

“See, people confuse ‘tell me what the deal is’ with a ‘yes’. And that is a big mistake.

“It’s the emissions in the cities (that) have been going up. So the people who have it as a bumper sticker are not actually the people paying the price.”

Mr Joyce said he believed human activity was a contributing factor to global warming.

“But (we should not be) making ourselves vulnerable by attaching ourselves to conditions that we don’t quite know what the cost is, when we know full well other countries won’t be compliant with them,” he said.