Federal election 2022: Albanese seizes on PM’s ‘bulldozer’ admission; Dutton says Chinese spy ship spotted off Australian coast – live

What does Peter Dutton think of Scott Morrison describing himself as “bulldozer”?

I’ve worked closer with the prime minister for many years, I’ve seen him under enormous pressure.

During the course of Covid, when we were faced with the prospect of tens of thousands of doubts, when unemployment was projected to go to 15%…

We had confronting advice, very few options available to us. We took a decision to close the border with China.

That really saved the country from what we saw in Europe and in Asia, north America etc.

We took decisions that were tough, and to take tough decisions we want a strong leader at that critical time.

I think, he’s made the decisions that he believes were in the best interest of the country, and he’s made comments in relation to the approach otherwise today. From my perspective, what I’ve seen is someone who looked at the options, sent the country through dire circumstances, who could quite easily have had 15% unemployment today.

It would have been a sliding doors moment had we not closed the border with China … We’ve been able to work with the states and other authorities to see the country through a very rough time.

I understand people have gone through a lot of pain across the country over the past couple of years, but we are in a strong economy today, because of the decision Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg have taken. We don’t know what the future holds, but we do know there is uncertainty in our region, there is uncertainty on the economic front, and now is not the time to change to people who sat around the table with Kevin Rudd. They have a bad track record. They are not the people you want in charge at a time when you need strength for a country.

Updated at 00.34 EDT

It is worth pointing out, as Daniel Hurst reminds me, that the last time there was a Chinese ship having a bit of a look at Australia, Scott Morrison didn’t believe it was an issue.

Now, in the midst of an election campaign, Peter Dutton is saying he believes it to be an “act of aggression”.

This is from July last year.

The Australian government says it is “keeping a close eye” on a Chinese surveillance ship that is heading towards Queensland in an apparent attempt to monitor a joint military exercise with the United States.

Amid ongoing tensions in the relationship with China, the Australian government cited the ship’s presence as evidence Australia and its allies should also be afforded freedom of navigation in the contested South China Sea.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said on Wednesday he was “very wary” of the ship but added the government had “no objection” to it being in international waters.

“We don’t we don’t raise any issue about that, just like we don’t think any issue should be raised when [anyone] – whether it’s us or the Americans or the British or the French or anyone else – is sailing through the South China Sea,” Morrison told Sydney radio 2SM.

“Of course we watch them. We’re aware of that. And they’re watching us.”

Updated at 00.36 EDT

Q: The premier [Mark McGowan] has also described your approach to China as “nutty”. [What do you say to that]?

Peter Dutton:

I just don’t, I don’t think you’ve got much in the bank when you resort to these personal attacks.

I just don’t see where he is pointing out that [I’ve been] factually incorrect. We are being, we’re being honest with you telling people [what is going on] I think these personal attacks I think say more about him than about me.

Dutton continues in that vein:

I am responding to the question by Labor’s Mark McGowan. Mark McGowan said this in the middle of the campaign, he just gave it away.

I just responded to that, and I think he is making a political point. I think he is running a personal slag line, because we are in an election campaign.

I think it is more about Mark McGowan than it is about me. I think Western Australians know this government stands for keeping the country safe.

And taking the decisions that are necessary to keep WA and the country safe in very uncertain times.

It is a huge risk at the selection to go to Anthony Albanese, because they just don’t take defence seriously … the decisions that were made in taking money out of defence. That is the reality of what Labor does … We are less safe today because of the money the defence had taken away from them when Anthony Albanese was deputy prime minister.

When you’re concerned about the national security of the country, if you’re concerned about the situation in the Indo-Pacific, then Scott Morrison, myself as defence minister, and the Coalition government is a much safer because we are not going to risk the national security. We will take tough decisions necessary to keep the country said. Anthony Albanese doesn’t have a track record, the people around him with a track record, and people should bear that in mind in the run-up to the election.

Updated at 00.29 EDT

Peter Dutton claims Chinese ship off Australian coast is ‘act of aggression’

Does Peter Dutton consider this “Chinese spy vessel” to be an “act of aggression”?

I think it is an act of aggression. I think particularly because it has come so far south. To come so far south of Exmouth is unprecedented and to hug the coastline the way it has and heading up towards the north, we don’t know whether it deviates and goes directly north, but at the moment it is heading in a north-easterly direction, [is unusual].

Updated at 00.23 EDT

When did Peter Dutton find out about the vessel and given it has been here for a week, while is he now releasing the information?

That is on advice from the Australian Defence Force. For operational reasons and that is something obviously I would respect … I think people understand the difficulty, the reality of the Indo-Pacific at the moment, the acts of aggression from the Chinese leadership and from the Chinese government. I think Australians deserve to know what is taking place and, as I say, it is a repeat of a previous practice where we have made the public aware of these activities before.

Updated at 00.20 EDT

Asked if he believes the federal election has anything to do with it, Peter Dutton says:

Again, it is strange timing and without precedent that this vessel would come so far south and that it is tracking essentially hugging the coastline, heading up in the direction of Darwin, is not a usual practice, and we are monitoring it very closely.

Asked if the federal election campaign has anything to do with the government releasing this information (itself unusual) Dutton says:

We have had vessels in our waters this year and we have made the public aware of those around operation Exercise Talisman Sabre. The vessel is deployed and we have had the same tasking, it went down the east coast because it is an east coast training exercise, but this is unusual activity on the west coast at the moment.

Dutton is in Perth as part of the election campaign.

Updated at 00.18 EDT

Peter Dutton:

In terms of the operational aspects to it, otherwise not something that I would speculate on, but there is essentially an international protocol which would normally include the contact of the Australian authorities. That hasn’t happened and they will continue to do what they believe is in the best interests. But it is best that people are made fully aware of what is a very unusual path and course that they have taken.

Updated at 00.17 EDT

Q: Can you confirm the vessel as a Chinese spy ship?

Peter Dutton:

Yes, I can. It is a Chinese warship with intelligence gathering capability. It is obviously very strange that it has come this far south and it is hugging the coastline as it goes north, and its intention will be to collect as much electronic intelligence as it can, and, as I say, that is unusual. We haven’t seen a ship from that navy come this far south and is tracking up towards Darwin at the moment.

…It is not just that it has travelled so far south, but it has hug to the coastline which is a strange course for it to take. Clearly, its intention is to go and gather intelligence and we are very conscious of that, that is why we have had the planes in the air and surveillance techniques we have been able to deploy, but it does cause us concern and there are previous instances where we have had particularly around Operation Talisman-Sabre but also on the east coast, but to come south of Exmouth and hug the coast in the direction it is tracking at the moment up towards Darwin, that is unusual.

Updated at 00.22 EDT

Peter Dutton says Chinese ship spotted off WA coast

Peter Dutton is giving a rare update on defence matters:

Obviously it has been the policy of this government that we have provided updates on a number of occasions now in relation to the movements of these vessels and increasing number of movements and presence in the Australian waters of these PLA [People’s Liberation Army] Navy vessels.

We provided some information which shows the fact that this People Liberation Army Navy vessel has come as far south as any of these vessels has in the past. South of [Exmouth].

The patrol and the way in which it has hugged to the coastline in Western Australia is demonstrated in the diagram we have given to you so as you can see, it has come into the Australian exclusive economic zone.

Its intentional courses to collect intelligence right along the coastline, it has been in close proximity to military and intelligence installations on the west coast of Australia.

It was sighted as at 0600 hrs this morning 250 nautical miles north-west of Broome and tracking north-east at 12 knots. It is unusual in terms of the way in which it has come so far south, and the way in which it is hugging the coastline as it heads up in the direction of Darwin.

We will continue to monitor that. We have obviously had a number of aircraft involved in the surveillance of this particular vessel. It is unusual, there would be notice given to the Australian authorities about the activities in the particular course this vessel is taking, but that is the way that it is at the moment.

Updated at 00.17 EDT

There have been flashes of this in the election campaign, with the assistant minister for women, Amanda Stoker, being spotted at an anti-abortion rally.

Australia’s family planning clinics, MSI Australia’s managing director Jamal Hakim said MSI is watching the US situation closely:

Overturning Roe vs Wade in the United States would be a fundamental attack on the bodily autonomy of women and pregnant people across the world.

It is incredibly important to remain vigilant when it comes to human rights everywhere.

In Australia, abortion access remains a postcode lottery. More and more people can’t afford services, funding is minimal, and the systems are disparate and vastly different across the country.

Universal access requires coordination, funding and viability to ensure continuity.

We will continue to fight to make that a reality.

Updated at 00.08 EDT