Paul Keating has hit back at Penny Wong over her comments that he “diminished” his legacy with his blistering attack on the Albanese government’s support of AUKUS.
The Foreign Minister addressed the National Press Club on Monday where she took a swipe at Mr Keating’s attack on the Albanese Government’s foreign and defence policies last month.
But the former Labor leader was not chastened and late on Monday issued a statement saying Senator Wong had “not a jot of an idea” about how to deal with the US and China power balance.
“She told us she will turn her back on reality, speaking only in terms of ‘lowering the heat’ and the ‘benefit from a strategic equilibrium’, without providing one clue, let alone a policy, as to how that might be achieved,” he said in the statement.
“Never before has a Labor government been so bereft of policy or policy ambition.”
Last month, in an address to the NPC after the AUKUS deal was announced in the US by Anthony Albanese alongside US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Mr Keating unleashed on the policy.
“Let me just make this point: Running around the Pacific Islands with a lei around your neck handing out money, which is what Penny does, is not foreign policy. It’s a consular task,” he said.
When asked on Monday if she had been given a forewarning or if she had spoken to Mr Keating since the remarks, Senator Wong was blunt.
“You can probably work that out for yourself,” she quipped.
“What I would say about the Pacific is the importance of the Pacific to Australia,” she said.
“The importance of a peaceful, stable region to Australia … has been well understood by premiers, prime ministers, and governments.
“To Mr Keating what I would say is this; I think in time and substance he diminished both his legacy and the subject matter.”
Also in her speech, Senator Wong warned a war over Taiwan would be “catastrophic for all” as she defended the rationale behind the AUKUS pact.
“By having strong defence capabilities of our own, and by working with partners investing in their own capabilities, we change the calculus for any potential aggressor,” Senator Wong said.
“We must ensure that no state will ever conclude that the benefits of conflict outweigh the risks. This is fundamental to assuring the safety and security of our nation and our people.”
While she did not name Mr Keating directly in her prepared remarks, several of her arguments ran counter to the criticisms he put forward in his own NPC address last month.
The former prime minister lashed the plan to spend up to $368bn on a fleet of nuclear powered submarines as “the worst deal in all history” and ridiculed the Foreign Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles.
In his statement on Monday, Mr Keating said Australia’s biggest foreign policy task is to “soften” the rigidity between the US and China by encouraging them to “find common cause and benefit in a peaceful and prosperous Pacific”.
“Nothing Penny Wong said today, on Australia’s behalf, adds one iota of substance to that urgent task”.
Senator Wong’s speech comes amid rising tensions in the region following China’s recent military exercises near Taiwan.
The Foreign Minister argued Australia wanted a situation where “no country dominates and no country is dominated” and emphasised the need to develop “guardrails” in the region.
“The guardrails that were developed in the wake of the Cuban missile crisis serve as a guide,” she said.
“President Biden has made overtures to China toward agreeing to guardrails. It is in all the world’s interests that his overtures are met. I have said this to my Chinese counterpart, and to his predecessor. And I will keep saying it.”
The government is expected to hand down its long awaited defence strategic review later this month, which is set to chart the pathway for an overhaul of the ADF.
Senator Wong said Australia had a responsibility “to play our part in collective deterrence of aggression”.
“This is fundamental to assuring the safety and security of our nation and our people,” she said.
“Our foreign and defence policies are two essential and interdependent parts of how we make Australia stronger and more influential in the world.
“Together, they make it harder for states to coerce other states against their interests through force or the threatened use of force.”