Coronavirus: Labor turns on Scott Morrison over Chinese tariff threat

Labor has accused Scott Morrison of bungling the nation’s relationship with China as farmers prepare for a tariff hit.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong. Picture: AAP

Labor has accused Scott Morrison of bungling the nation’s relationship with China as farmers prepare to be hit with tariffs by Beijing from as early as Sunday.

The Prime Minister on Monday sought to quell concerns the tariffs on barley were retaliation for his push for a review into the origins of COVID-19 as Trade Minister Simon Birmingham held crisis talks with grain growers.

Other exporters are now closely watching the Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s actions against Australian grain farmers, with the meat industry warning that “trade cannot be an innocent ­bystander” as tensions between Canberra and Beijing ratchet up.

After threats of a Chinese education and tourism boycott of Australia, opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong launched her strongest criticism of Mr Morrison’s foreign policy since the pandemic began.

She said Mr Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne had mishandled the COVID-19 review — which she supports — and ­accused them of playing to a domestic audience and anti-China backbenchers.

“I don’t think the government handled that announcement particularly well. It was an announcement made without locking in support from other nations,” she told the ABC.

“I don’t think the government has explained its position very well. I think since the Foreign Minister announced it, she’s only done one interview. That’s not ­exactly explaining this issue to Australians.

“This is a relationship the government needs to manage more sensibly … Regrettably, too much of our relationship has been led by backbenchers.

“We need to think about the China relationship in 30-year terms, not in three-year terms. Unfortunately, there’s been a little too much, from the Morrison government, of reflex to short-term domestic politics on this relationship.”

On Monday, Mr Morrison stressed the possibility of tariffs on barley was a long-running issue with the Chinese government, which he had discussed with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang last year.

“They certainly haven’t raised it as connected to any other issues. And I’d be extremely disappointed if it was,” he said. “We have had anti-dumping inquiries in relation to Chinese products into Australia. And not all of those decisions have been well received, but they’ve been made on their merits. And I would hope and expect that China would do the same thing.”

Barley farmers are now mostly resigned to the tariffs, which would likely wipe out a $600m export market, and focus has turned to other exports that could be targeted.

Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive Patrick Hutchinson said the meat exports sector was watching closely.

“I would stress that when forming, managing and then cultivating a relationship with any country, trade cannot be the innocent bystander,” he said.

Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said the dispute showed the danger in economic dependence. “The barley dispute is symptomatic of the predicament Australia now finds itself in … This approach has made us more vulnerable to economic coercion,” she said.