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GARY ADSHEAD, HOST: Indeed. Very well known in Western Australia, they were, too. Can I just get your reaction quickly to what China said yesterday when they, when they spoke in relation to the incident involving a Seahawk helicopter from HMAS Hobart and the Chinese jet fighter that fired the flares. Now, this is, of course, in the Yellow Sea. They say it was our fault. What’s your reaction?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, I reject that. I stand by the comments that we’ve made. And I do note that the comments that the Chinese spokesperson made have said that it was close to Chinese airspace. That’s a confirmation that this chopper was in international airspace. It was international waters. And the Australian Defence Force personnel are engaged in upholding international law, upholding the UN sanctions against North Korea. This was unprofessional and unacceptable. And the Chinese spokesperson’s comments do nothing to undermine or to question what is the Australian Defence Force’s assessment of the PLA’s unsafe behaviour.
ADSHEAD: And I get the rock and a hard place situation that you’re in, and given our strong trading ties and the fact that we’ve been working to try and resolve those tariff issues, etcetera, in recent years, but should you take stronger action, will you speak directly to President Xi, as has been suggested, to voice your protest?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we will take up every opportunity to raise these issues, which we do. One of the things I’ve said about our relationship with China is that we will cooperate where we can, but we’ll disagree where we must and we’ll call out behaviour which we regard as unacceptable. I don’t think anyone can argue we haven’t done that unequivocally and we’ll stand up for our national interest. Now, our national interest is about engaging as well. When we engage, we have clear commentary about Australia’s position with China, as we do with other nations as well.
ADSHEAD: But the issue is, of course, with that sonar incident that happened with the submarine and our divers and this now, it’s sort of their first reaction is to deny or blame Australia. So, some are suggesting that you need to do something hard and fast, like expel Chinese diplomats to send a real message. What do you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER: People will come up with all sorts of proposals. We have made our position very clear, both to those Chinese diplomats here, but also to Beijing. We’re making it clear publicly what our position is and we won’t be shy about taking the opportunities to raise these issues, to make the strongest representations possible. We will always support our Defence personnel and we have made representations through Defence channels as well as through our diplomatic sources as well. We’ll continue to do so.
ADSHEAD: Can I ask you, though, I mean, clearly, the Coalition, right up until the next election, are going to run a narrative that you’re a weak Prime Minister. Could you play into their hands if you don’t, aren’t seen to be taking a firm, firmer stance against China on this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you know, we won’t be taking lectures from Peter Dutton, who we would encourage him to actually stand up for Australia here. Why look for political differentiation on Australia’s national interest, like back Australia in, don’t try to look for, on every issue, an area of disagreement with Australia. This is a dispute between Australia and China. And I would hope that every Australian representative backs in our nation.
ADSHEAD: So, you would deny their references, their continual references, it seems to be a mantra running through all of their spokespeople at the moment, that you’re a weak Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: You know, they push absolute nonsense all the time in order to hide the fact that people think that Peter Dutton is arrogant, won’t listen, has no sense of compassion about any issue, and that’s what it’s about. That says more about Peter Dutton and the very correct, I think, perception that Australians have of him rather than anything else. I think it says more about Peter Dutton than it does about any of my character. I’ve been prepared to stand up for Australia’s interests to repair our relations with the region, including with the Pacific nations, many of whom were completely alienated by the former Government’s approach. And I think the closeness of the relationship that you’ve seen develop between Australia and Papua New Guinea, between all of the Pacific nations, through the Pacific Island Forum, for example, is one way in which we have engaged in a serious way to achieve outcomes and to improve Australia’s national interests. And we have Richard Marles and Penny Wong as our Defence and Foreign Affairs spokespeople who are engaged in the region. I doubt whether any of your listeners can remember who their last foreign affairs spokesperson was because she wasn’t engaged at all in the region and we were at a disadvantage at a time where there is strategic competition in the region. If you look at the repairing of relations, not just there, but with other nations as well, the relationship with the US and the UK has never been stronger through turning AUKUS from an idea into a practical reality that’s making an enormous difference and will bring jobs and economic activity here in Western Australia, but also repairing relations with countries like France that we have done as well.
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Source: Office of the Australian Prime Minister
Speaker: The Hon. Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia
Format: Interview
China Policy Research 