Great brawl: Scott Morrison’s double strike on Labor, China

Scott Morrison accuses Anthony Albanese of appeasing China and being ‘weak’ on national security amid blistering attack on Beijing.

Scott Morrison says ‘we’re not going to be coerced by the Chinese government’. Picture: Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison has accused Anthony Albanese of appeasing China and being “weak” on national security as he launched a blistering attack on Beijing and moved to capitalise on the Coalition’s record on foreign relations ahead of the election.

The Prime Minister on Tuesday declared the Coalition had stood up to China whereas Labor was too “soft” to deal with Chinese economic coercion and could not be trusted to protect the national interests of Australians.

As the Coalition and Labor clashed over the Labor leader’s ability to stand up to China, secure maritime borders and deport foreign-born criminals, senior national security figures warned Mr Morrison to avoid “political overreach” and creating a “partisan divide”.

Mr Morrison, who convened a national security committee of cabinet meeting on Monday night, warned a Russian invasion of Ukraine was “potentially imminent’’ and criticised China for failing to speak out against Moscow.

Amid rising geostrategic competition and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stand-off with western powers in Europe, Mr Morrison said Labor wanted to “appease when it comes to China, the Chinese government”.

“We’re not going to be coerced by the Chinese government,” he said. “We stood up to them. But, you know, Labor, when it comes to these issues and keeping Australians safe, they’re just soft. Those who are … looking to threaten and coerce Australia, they’ve got a one-way bet on each-way Albo.”

In question time on Tuesday, Mr Albanese said the “parliament stands united in support of Ukrainian sovereignty and in opposition to Russia’s attempt to intimidate the government and the people of Ukraine”.

But he also warned that Australia had a “Defence Minister who thinks that national security is a political football”.

“This government is always about the politics, which is why it commits so many errors and why it doesn’t deserve a second decade in office,” Mr Albanese said.

Former ASIO director-general Dennis Richardson warned it was not in Australia’s interest to ¬politicise national security and rejected suggestions Labor had appeased China.

“The government has an excellent record on national security,” said Mr Richardson, a former Australian ambassador to the US.

“Traditionally, Australian governments have seen it to be in the national interest to have a bipartisan approach to critical national security issues. It is a long time since an Australian government has actively sought to create a partisan divide on national security.

“I don’t believe it can be objectively stated that the opposition has sought to appease China. It has been consistently critical of human rights abuses in China.”

The former Defence and DFAT secretary added that Labor had been constantly critical of Chinese government action in Hong Kong and in the South China Seas. “And it has stood with the government in defending our national interests when it has come to economic coercion by China,” he said.

Mr Richardson said that, when Labor was last in office, it made a mistake in taking defence spending down to 1.58 per cent of GDP. “But it learnt its lesson and its 2013 defence white paper committed to growing the defence budget to 2 per cent of GDP,” he said. “I note that the opposition has been supportive of the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines which will probably take defence spending to 3 per cent or more of GDP.”

Asked if it was in the national interest for Mr Morrison to break bipartisanship on China, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said it was “essential for those who wish to govern our nation to be clear and to be consistent as we have done in the approach that we take on these issues … and to protect Australia’s national security”. “It is legitimate for governments to point out areas … where we believe there are differences in approach and ultimately we have to work with the material that’s on the record,” Senator Payne told Sky News.

Mr Morrison, who was attacked by Chinese officials on Monday for “seeking selfish political gains” and being “unethical and dangerous”, said he expected retaliation for criticising Beijing.

“There was blowback against me when I shut the border to China,” he said. “There was blowback against me when I called out where the virus came from in China. There’s always blowback against me when I stand up for Australia’s interests. You’ve got to be prepared to do it.”

The Coalition has ramped up its focus on national security issues this week as it attempts to wrestle back political support.

At a Senate estimates hearing on Monday night, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said his agency was “not here to be politicised” after Mr Dutton last week suggested Beijing wanted Labor to win the election and had picked Mr Albanese as their “candidate”. Mr Burgess said he held no concerns about Labor candidates at the upcoming election.

ANU National Security College head Rory Medcalf warned there was “a risk of political overreach by the government which could weaken its own great achievements on national security”. “The government can’t have it both ways – assuring our allies that we are in it for the long haul, through the many changes of government it will take for our odyssey of building nuclear submarines, while insisting that only one side of politics can be trusted on security,” Professor Medcalf said.

Ahead of a parliamentary showdown with Mr Albanese on Wednesday over stronger powers to deport foreign-born criminals, which Labor is expected to oppose, Mr Morrison said he had “stood up” on national security.

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles said it was in the national interest to ensure Australia’s response to foreign-interference and threats from China were bipartisan and “above politics”.

The government will not negotiate with Labor or amend its bill to strengthen the character test, which would green-light deportation of thousands of criminals.

Additional reporting: Ben Packham