The Albanese government has continued to grapple with concerns about the presence of Chinese warships off the Australian coast, as three navy boats approach Perth.
The Australian Defence Force updated the public on the warships’ status on Monday as the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) Task Group 107 headed west.
The Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class cruiser Zunyi, and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu have been located 550km southeast of Perth.
“Defence continues to monitor the Task Group while it remains in the vicinity of Australia’s maritime approaches,” the Australian Defence Force said.
At a cabinet meeting ahead of the federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government remained committed to national security.
“We continue as well to monitor the Chinese ships that are in international waters around Australia,” he said.
“HMAS Stuart and HMAS Warramunga as well as P8s will continue to monitor what is going on there.”
However, the Prime Minister’s handling of the situation has sparked backlash from political opponents.
“The Prime Minister has demonstrated … with the presence of the China warships in our region, he does not know what to do,” Mr Dutton said on Monday.
“The problem for our Prime Minister is he is out of his depth.”
Former prime minister Scott Morrison has also accused the current government of acquiescing to China’s actions, which he said have been a “direct security threat”.
“This is another wake-up call of the folly of thinking or hoping the Chinese government is anything different to what they are,” Mr Morrison told Sky News.
“Whether the government was making excuses for them or weren’t across the detail, I’m not in a position to know. But I don’t think either is a very reassuring response.”
Mr Albanese hit back at the remarks at his cabinet meeting, pointing out that Chinese ships docked in Australia under the Coalition government.
“Scott Morrison was out there making comments about this … There were ships that were noticed and monitored because they were in Sydney Harbour … when he was the prime minister.”
In 2019, under the previous Morrison government, Chinese warships were allowed to dock at the Garden Island naval base in Sydney.
Mr Morrison declared it was a “reciprocal visit” at the time and had been scheduled and approved in advance.
Meanwhile, China has said it poses “no threat” to Australia while Australia’s Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty revealed he expected more frequent visits by Chinese warships.
Mr Albanese has faced intense scrutiny over his response and the opposition has subsequently labelled him “weak” on issues of national interest.
Defence officials recently confirmed there had been no recent contact directly between the Prime Minister and his counterparts in China during senate estimates.
Shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie raised alarms about the “gunboat diplomacy” from China as the People’s Liberation Army-Navy provokes the Albanese government.
“When will the Prime Minister and his Defence Minister stand up for the Australian national interest and insist on mutual respect from their Chinese counterparts?” he said.
“This is a weak government that is keeping Australians in the dark and failing at the most crucial role of government – to uphold our security and sovereignty.”
The opposition has committed an additional $3 billion in funding to acquire fighter jets for the Royal Australian Air Force, following the Chinse “provocation”.
“Labor has cut, delayed and reprioritised more than $80 billion of funding from Defence,” Mr Hastie said on Sunday.
“Only the Coalition is committed to backing Defence by increasing the current Defence budget and providing our ADF with the capabilities they need.”
The Albanese government axed plans to purchase the fourth F-35 squadron as part of cost-cutting last year to find money for other defence investments.
It said the aircraft were not needed because it had decided to keep other RAAF aircraft for longer than originally planned.
The opposition has left the door open to further defence spending announcements ahead of the federal election.
The upcoming federal election will be held on or before May 17.
