Marles seizes on Dutton’s ‘prepare for war’ remarks: ‘We have not seen the preparation under this government’

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles has seized on Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s warning Australia needed to prepare for war, declaring “words are one thing, action is another”. 

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles has declared “words are one thing, action is another” as he seized on remarks Defence Minister Peter Dutton made about the possibility of war.   

Mr Dutton on Anzac Day warned Australia should prepare for war in order to preserve peace in the region, as concerns grow over China’s actions in the Pacific following the signing of a security pact with the Solomon Islands. 

“The only way that you can preserve peace is to prepare for war and to be strong as a country, not to cower, not to be on bended knee and be weak, that’s the reality,” he told Channel Nine’s Today show.

Mr Males agreed preparation was needed but said the government has failed to do what the Defence Minister was suggesting.    

“We are at a moment in our history where our strategic circumstances are as complex as many points since the end of the Second World War,” he told reporters.

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“And we certainly need to prepare, but we have not seen the preparation under this government. 

“Words are one thing, action is another. This is a government which beats its chest but when it comes to actually delivering, and doing what needs to be done, this is a government which repeatedly fails.”

China’s deal with the Solomon Islands has sparked fears it could lead Beijing to establish a military base on the island, which Mr Males said would make Australia “less safe”.

Labor has accused the government of failing to step in to ensure such an agreement on Australia’s doorstep did not take place.   

“Let me be clear first of all, if there is a Chinese military base in the Pacific, that dramatically changes the framework of Australia’s national security,” Mr Marles said. 

“If there is a Chinese military base in the Pacific, Australia at that moment is less safe and the fact that we find ourselves asking these questions in this moment, says everything about the failure of Scott Morrison in his managing of the relationships in the Pacific.

“And specifically Scott Morrison’s failure to manage the relationship with Solomon Islands. Because of Scott Morrison’s failures, Australians are less safe.” 

Mr Morrison on Sunday said a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands would be a “red line” for Australia.   

“This is a shared concern, not just Australia, this is Australia with regional governments, particularly in places like Fiji and Papua New Guinea, Samoa and so on,” Mr Morrison told reporters in Alice Springs.

“Working together with our partners in New Zealand and, of course, the United States, I share the same red line that the US has when it comes to these issues and we’re very aware of that.

“And actions that could be needed, working together with our partners to ensure regional security, not just for Australia but for the whole region, working together to ensure that we don’t have any negative influences here in our part of the world.”

Mr Morrison later added: “Prime Minister Sogavare has been very clear to me, saying there will be no such bases. So that is what he has said. And so he clearly shares our red line”.

Mr Dutton and Mr Morrison attacked Mr Marles last week after he argued countries in the Pacific should be free to link up with China.     

Mr Marles wrote in a mini-book titled Tides that Bind: Australia in the Pacific that was published last August that “Australia has no right to expect a set of exclusive relationships with Pacific nations”, Sky News Australia host Sharri Markson reported for The Australian.

“They are perfectly free to engaged on whatever terms they choose with China or, for that matter, any other country,” he said.

“Disputing this would be resented, as the recent past has shown.”

Mr Dutton told reporters on Friday he found the remarks “quite startling”, before going on to attack Labor’s record on defence as the government frames national security as a key election issue.

“I find it quite startling that Richard Marles, as the deputy leader of the Labor Party, could have made these statements. These weren’t statements made back in 1999 or 2010, these were statements essentially a matter of months ago,” he said. 

Mr Morrison used Mr Marles’ comments to further stake his claim the May 21 poll was about the choice the Australian people faced between the Coalition and Labor.

“Richard Marles wrote last year in August that Australia should not be resisting Pacific island nations entering into these type of agreements with the Chinese government. I mean it doesn’t get more blunt than that,” he said.