Election 2022: Richard Marles had more China meetings than Penny Wong

Labor Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong says she had two meetings with the Chinese embassy while Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles had 10.

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles. Picture: Liam Kidston

Labor’s Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong had only two meetings with the Chinese embassy compared with Richard Marles’ 10 as it emerged only a small number of the Labor Deputy’s meetings were disclosed with the Australian government.

The Australian revealed today Mr Marles attended ten meetings with the Chinese embassy or officials in the past five years, at a time when tensions were escalating in the Sino-Australia relationship and the Morrison government was frozen out of contact with Beijing.

Mr Marles defended the meetings saying he had been “completely transparent” in all his dealings with the Chinese embassy.

“Indeed, the government has known about them and at times has been supporting them,” Mr Marles said at a press conference in Sydney.

“There’s no secret to what I’ve been doing and I could not have been more transparent.”

However Foreign Minister Marise Payne, in a debate with Senator Wong at the National Press Club, said Mr Marles had only disclosed with her office a small number of his visits to the Chinese embassy.

In relation to specific approaches from Mr Marles, my understanding is a small number of those meetings were advised to my office. It’s not my role to “clear” them or otherwise. I would describe them as being noted,” Senator Payne said.

“But I would say that it is important to be consistent, and that is certainly the approach that this government has taken in all of our engagements across the government.”

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said she had met with the former Chinese ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye and his replacement, Xiao Qian.

Mr Marles said he discussed, in a “number” of his meetings, an extradition treaty that Labor did not support.

Richard Marles, left, meets Guo Yezhou in Beijing in September 2019.

Mr Marles said he maintained relationships with many embassies in Canberra, including with China’s.

“I maintain a relationship with the diplomatic corps in Canberra.

“I’ve seen the United States ambassador almost 30 times.”

Mr Marles denied allegations that at one private meeting, he indicated to Chinese officials that the countries’ relationship would improve under a Labor government.

Mr Marles also denied reporting his relationship with the Chinese ambassador raised concerns among Labor colleagues, members of the intelligence community, and Australian Strategic Policy Institute director Peter Jennings.

“None of those concerns have been raised with me.”

The Australian reported that Peter Jennings made multiple interventions from 2017 to persuade Mr Marles away from his attempt to blame the Coalition government for Beijing’s hostilities.

Scott Morrison says the “very strangely high” number of meetings deputy Labor leader Richard Marles has had with Chinese government officials “doesn’t sound right to me”.

“It comes on top of the concerning reports about him running his speeches past the Chinese Government and now we see a very strangely high number of meetings between an opposition member of Parliament and Chinese government officials,” Mr Morrison said on Friday.