Scott Morrison opens fire at Paul Keating over subs

Scott Morrison says Paul Keating is ‘out of line’ after the former Labor PM launched a scathing critique of the AUKUS ­alliance.

Former prime minister Paul Keating at the National Press Club on Wednesday. Picture: Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison says Paul Keating is “out of line” after the former Labor prime minister launched a scathing critique of the AUKUS ­alliance and urged the nation to avoid being drawn into any military engagement with China over Taiwan.

Mr Keating, who served as prime minister from 1991 to 1996, on Wednesday said Beijing was in a “rude, adolescent” phase of its diplomacy and had “testosterone running everywhere”, but Australia had no alternative but to ­engage with the increasingly dominant superpower.

He said China was “simply too big and too central to be ostracised”, and the US could no longer hope to be the “security guarantor in Asia”.

Mr Keating also ridiculed the idea that Australia’s eight proposed nuclear submarines to be acquired through an alliance with Britain and the United States would have any impact against the military forces of China, likening their value to “throwing a handful of toothpicks at the mountain”.

Mr Morrison on Thursday told the Today show that Mr Keating’s comments jarred with the Coalition’s policy of putting Australia’s national interests first.

“He’s certainly out of line with what our government’s policy is, and we certainly don’t share that view,” he said. “As people know, we’ve taken a very strong position here in the Indo-Pacific and we’ve taken a very strong stance standing up for Australia’s interests. We’ve worked closely with our ­allies and our partners right across the region.”

Anthony Albanese avoided criticising the Labor elder when asked about the speech on Thursday, but said he did not share Mr Keating’s view of how Canberra should engage with Beijing.

“China has changed its posture – that’s the truth,” the ­Opposition Leader told the Today show. “They’re far more forward-leaning. Australia is right to speak up for our own ­values and China is the nation that’s changed in terms of their attitude towards Australian ­imports, for example, and Australian businesses are suffering.”

Mr Morrison said he was committed to engaging in a way that ensured the nation was not “pushed around” in the Indo-­Pacific.

“How we secure Australia’s interests in our part of the world, you’ve got to be strong. You’ve got to be able to stand up for it. You’ve got to be able to see things ­clearly,” he said.

Assistant Minister for Defence Andrew Hastie said Mr Keating’s comments were “very bombastic”, describing the former prime minister as a “man who has lost his way” since leaving office.

“He’s badly out of touch with mainstream Australia and he’s badly out of touch with what we would consider the establishment view coming out of Canberra,” he said.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton labelled Mr Keating a “grand appeaser”.

As the election battle lines are drawn ahead of a 2022 federal poll, Mr Morrison used Mr Keating’s speech to take aim at the ­opposition, declaring the former prime minister was reflecting the views of “a lot of people in the Labor Party”.

He accused Mr Albanese of “joining” with the Chinese government after Mr Morrison copped international criticism for his handling of the cancelled $90bn French submarine ­contract.

Mr Albanese in turn criticised Mr Morrison over the “extraordinary” decision to release a ­private text message he had received from French President Emmanuel Macron to prove the French leader had suspicions that Australia was likely to pull out of the deal.