Extract from ABC News
Analysis
The public intervention of ASIO chief Mike Burgess rang the alarm on how potentially damaging a poisonous political row over national security can be.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week raised the stakes in parliament, slurring the Opposition and calling deputy Labor leader Richard Marles a "Manchurian candidate" — effectively China's dupe.
The PM withdrew his remark, but the damage was done, or perhaps the point was made.
Clearly, Morrison believes his opponents are vulnerable on security and defence.
When it comes to China, there is little that separates the Coalition and Labor. Indeed, the Labor Party has been criticised by one of its own — former prime minister Paul Keating — for too slavishly following the conservative line.
Foreign interference laws and bans on Chinese tech giant Huawei, among other things, have put Australia-China relations in the deep freeze.
Labor has been steadfast in pushing back against Beijing bullying.
But if there is not much difference in broad approach, there is a noticeable difference in emphasis, in language and priorities when it comes more broadly to foreign affairs.
Labor is less muscular, less defence focused, what the Coalition would characterise as "softer": more talk of alliances and values and culture than guns.
Penny Wong's blueprint for foreign affairs
How does Labor see the world? The best guide is a landmark speech on Australia's place in the world, delivered last year by Labor's foreign affairs spokesperson Penny Wong at the Australian National University.
It was her blueprint on how as a potential future foreign minister she would "build the region and world we want".
Wong said rising nationalism, fraying multilateralism, great power competition, COVID and climate change made this the period of greatest uncertainty since the end of World War II.
A "more assertive China" was critical, Wong said: "We must face this reality: our region is being reshaped."
We are in a "contest", she said, "a race" for influence. Australia needed to bring everything in its power — "strategic, diplomatic, social and economic".
Wong said Australia should develop "soft power", build partnerships and "project modern Australia". Foreign policy, she argued, "starts with who we are".
But who are we? Multicultural, Wong said — a country that should more greatly value Indigenous people, "this land's first diplomats".
Wong believes we need to "strengthen our social cohesion": foreign policy begins at home. She raised questions about Australian racism, "how our past attitudes and policy on race can provide others with the opportunity to promote narratives that limit our influence".
Wong called out former prime minister Tony Abbott for "championing of the Anglosphere" — consider "how that was received in the region", she said.
The Coalition sees things differently
This is a clear distinction from the Morrison government. The Coalition would never raise questions of Australian racism in a foreign policy setting. To the Coalition, the Anglosphere, far from being something to cringe against, is the bedrock of Australian identity and security.
Where the Coalition goes hard on defence — warning about the "drum beats of war", boosting defence funding, talking up the QUAD, pledging to develop nuclear submarines, signing the AUKUS agreement — Penny Wong's focus was not as gun toting.
For Wong, most of the challenges in the region "fall short of kinetic military conflict". There are threats, she said, "that can't be deterred by military might alone".
Labor has backed initiatives like AUKUS, the QUAD and the nuclear sub deal. But its record in office shows that it reduced defence spending.
Labor is uncomfortable with the more chest-beating talk of security.
In her speech, Penny Wong accused Defence Minister Peter Dutton of "amping up" the threat of war. She criticised Dutton for saying it was "inconceivable" Australia would not "join" a war in defence of Taiwan.
She said it was "wildly out of step" with Australian and US strategy. While it is true the US has been cautious and pursued a policy of "strategic ambiguity", US President Joe Biden has also said America has a "commitment" to defend Taiwan.
When it comes to "amping up" war, it has been China's leader Xi Jinping who has set the tone. He has said that he reserves the right to take Taiwan by force and has rapidly escalated the size and frequency of military exercises over Taiwan.
The decision of whether Australia would send in troops could well be forced on a future Labor government.
Since Wong's speech last year, global security has changed significantly — and Labor may need to rethink its approach.
Russia has more than 100,000 troops potentially poised to invade Ukraine while Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have firmed up their "no limits" pact.
War is not a hypothetical proposition, nations are threatening it and planning for it. Soft power will not be enough. Australia is spending more on defence and will have to spend more still.
Voters have a choice to make
Penny Wong placed a lot of emphasis on multilateralism. Yet the truth is, as the World Economic Forum pointed out recently, multilateralism is weakening.
We live in an era of great power politics. Nations and national interests are at the forefront. Joe Biden has made it very clear that this age is defined and will be decided by the struggle of democracy and autocracy.
While Wong never used inflammatory phrases like "Manchurian candidate", she certainly played politics. She accused the Morrison government of being duplicitous.
She said "amping up" the prospect of war against China was "the most dangerous election tactic in Australian history".
Scott Morrison is "desperately playing politics on China whenever he's in trouble", she said. "His base instinct is always to lie", and then "he tells new lies to deny his old lies".
"Australians can no longer believe a word he says," Wong said. "When he lies, Australia loses."
Both sides of politics are prepared to use defence, security and foreign affairs to play partisan games.
It started well before the new low of this week. Foreign policy is not normally a decisive issue at federal elections but these are not normal times. This time it is critical.
Labor and the Coalition may be broadly in agreement about the risks and threats of China and the volatility of geopolitics. But they have very different approaches and they use very different language.
Labor calls the Morrison government "lying" and "dangerous". The Morrison government calls the Albanese opposition weak.
That's as stark a contrast as you could find. And the Australian voters will have to choose.
Stan Grant is the ABC's international affairs analyst and co-presenter of Q&A. He presents China Tonight on Monday at 9:35pm on ABC TV, and Tuesday at 8pm on the ABC News Channel.
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