Australia-China relations: PM Morrison’s Solomon Islands stance inconsistent, opposition says

Labor Party accuses government of disparity over island chain’s security pact with China, with talk of both a ‘red line’ and a respect for sovereignty

In a debate ahead of May 21 election, shadow foreign minister Penny Wong asked foreign minister Marise Payne to clarify the administration’s position

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Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison during the second leaders’ debate of the 2022 federal election campaign, on May 8. Photo: via Reuters

Published: 9:28pm, 13 May 2022Updated: 10:43pm, 13 May 2022

Australia’s Labor Party on Friday slammed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government for being “inconsistent” about its foreign policy with the Solomon Islands, as the sting from the Pacific nation’s security pact with China continued to be felt in the country’s closely-fought election campaign.

Labor, led by prime ministerial candidate Anthony Albanese, has recently sought to point-score on the signed pact – which sent Canberra and other western allies into a tailspin – saying the ruling coalition had presided over “the worst Australian foreign policy blunder in the Pacific” in decades.

The pact is aimed at offering help to the Solomon Islands with its internal security and social order, and the Honiara government has repeatedly said there was nothing “sinister” about the agreement.

It has also ruled out the prospect of Beijing using the pact as the basis to build a military base in the country, a nation of islands, big and small, to the southeast of Papua New Guinea.

Still, officials from the US and Japan have rushed to visit and Morrison has warned that a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands would be a “red line” for his government.

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