Labor’s foreign affairs spokesperson Penny Wong has accused Defence Minister Peter Dutton of "amping up" the threat of war in a “dangerous” effort to improve the Coalition’s election chances.
Senator Wong’s concerns centre on Mr Dutton’s recent declaration that it would be “inconceivable” that Australia would not join the United States in a war to defend Taiwan against China.
She delivered the scathing criticism of his approach to handling the sensitive foreign policy matter at a speech to the ANU National Security College in Canberra on Tuesday.
Senator Wong asserted that the comments are "wildly out of step" with the policy of strategic ambiguity typically embraced by Australia and successive US governments.
“Amping up the prospect of war against a superpower is the most dangerous election tactic in Australian history,” Senator Wong said.
Mr Dutton made his comments in an interview with The Australian newspaper this month, saying: “it would be inconceivable that we wouldn’t support the US in an action if the US chose to take that action.”
During her speech, Senator Wong said the remarks ran counter to “longstanding policy to preserve the status quo.”
“Mr Dutton does Australians and the Taiwanese no favours by amplifying Beijing’s fatalism,” she said.
“This is the worst in a litany of cases of the Morrison-Joyce Government seeking to use foreign policy and national security for political advantage."
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has since defended Mr Dutton’s comments on Taiwan, saying they were focused on preventing war.
But Senator Wong has accused Mr Dutton of acting deliberately to heighten tensions around the prospect of conflict saying he “knows exactly what he is doing.”
Her speech comes as China’s increasingly assertive display of intent towards Taiwan in recent months through both its actions and words has raised the prospect of whether a future conflict could erupt.
Beijing claims the self-governed island as its own territory, which it has said should be taken by force if necessary.
US President Joe Biden last month created confusion when he publicly declared the United States would defend Taiwan if China chose to invade the island.
But the White House has appeared to walk back the comments, saying there had been no change in policy towards the island.
Australia doesn't formally recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state, but it does support unofficial ties with the island.
Prime Minister Morrison has also approached the matter with more diplomatic caution when questioned about the issue, saying Australia wants to ensure a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”
have warned that heightened rhetoric over Australia's potential involvement in a war against China over Taiwan could be playing into the hands of Beijing's unification strategy.
In her speech, Senator Wong described the prospect of conflict in Taiwan as the “greatest risk to peace, stability and prosperity in our region.”
“The consequences of a kinetic conflict over Taiwan, with the potential for escalation, would be catastrophic for humanity,” she said.
Senator Wong has recently taken to criticising the Morrison government’s approach to foreign policy - an area that typically receives bipartisan support - amid increasingly strained tensions with China.
In her speech, she said harnessing foreign policy has been an underutilised tool by the current government and must be deployed more effectively to maximise influence.
“Maximising our influence means we need to use all the tools we have,” she said.
“We need to deploy all aspects of state power – strategic, diplomatic, social, economic.”
Senator Wong also criticised the government for “championing the Anglosphere” suggesting Labor would place more focus on Australia’s multicultural and Indigenous history.
“We need to understand how our past attitudes and policy on race can provide others with the opportunity to promote narratives that limit our influence,” she said.
“We can counter that, in part, by articulating who we are, our place and shared stake in the region.”
