The Prime Minister is not hiding his targets, however: they are the Chinese government and Anthony Albanese, and he’s using a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine to make his point.
Morrison is explicit that China is coercing Australia and refusing to condemn Russian threats of invasion in Europe, and he is prepared to face the consequences of “standing up to” and “calling out” China’s coercion.
Morrison is also explicit that he believes China does not want him re-elected as Prime Minister and that its Manchurian candidate is the Opposition Leader.
He and Peter Dutton are portraying Labor as weak, soft and inexperienced when dealing with Chinese aggression.
Labor’s response is that Morrison and the Defence Minister are politicising vital security and foreign affairs issues out of desperation before the election, as Albanese seeks to appear bipartisan and balanced on Russia and China.
On Tuesday, Morrison said the Coalition was “not going to be coerced by the Chinese government”. “We stood up to them, too,” he said.
“But, you know, Labor, when it comes to these issues and keeping Australians safe, they’re just soft.”
Morrison has told parliament those “seeking to coerce Australia and our region do not want to see this government re-elected”.
“They know who their candidate is in this election: it’s the leader of the Labor Party.’’
Morrison is bracketing fears of a Russian invasion with domestic law-and-order issues, as the government highlights Labor opposition to new laws that would make it possible to deport visa-holding foreigners who commit crimes carrying a sentence of more than two years’ jail.
On China, Dutton was blunt, as always, telling parliament there was “evidence that the Chinese Communist Party – the Chinese government – has also made a decision about who they’re going to back in the next federal election … this bloke, the Leader of the Opposition”.
Given genuine concerns of the public about Chinese aggression, and approval of steps taken to limit Chinese influence and investment, Morrison can build on uncertainty about Albanese, but he is taking a risk on people making an adverse judgment about his judgment.
For his part, Albanese strove in parliament on Tuesday to be above politics on Russia and China, asking an ostensibly bipartisan question of what Morrison had done about the potential invasion of Ukraine.
Labor doesn’t want to engage on the issue of Chinese coercion and interference as it has to fend off the reality of a China-based plot to finance the promotion of sympathetic candidates over sitting Labor MPs, so it shifts the focus to Russian threats.
There is a real danger for Labor and Albanese in this khaki approach but unless carefully handled, it carries a degree of risk for Morrison as well.
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Scott Morrison has launched a khaki election without being in uniform or having boots on the ground. It’s a sort of camouflage election.