Anthony Albanese has declined to expand on his hint that Australia knew in advance about a rejected Russian request to base military aircraft in Indonesia.
The prime minister has been reluctant to discuss the specifics of that request since it became an election issue in the third week of the campaign, following a media report from defence outlet Janes.
But in an interview with The Australian newspaper published on Saturday, Mr Albanese appeared to confirm he did have prior knowledge of Russia’s advance, alluding to “intelligence” as he asserted that Indonesia had shut the matter down “very quickly”.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday morning, the PM would not repeat that suggestion, saying he could not confirm knowledge that a request had been made.
“What I can do and confirm is that there have been reports of that, and that the reports of that are not surprising … It’s not surprising that the Russian ambassador to Indonesia wants to talk up Russian influence in the region,” he said.
David Coleman and Andrew Hastie, who hold the foreign affairs and defence portfolios for the Coalition, said it was a “stunning backflip” that the PM had “admitted that Russia lodged a request with Indonesia” as reported in The Australian, and called for an immediate briefing.
“The Prime Minister and senior Labor figures have spent much of the last two weeks twisting and turning about any knowledge of the Russian request… Their story keeps changing. Labor has been slipping and sliding with the truth on what is a serious national security issue,” the pair said in a statement.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was forced to concede an error last week when he wrongly claimed the Indonesian President had confirmed the reports, prompting accusations from Labor that he was “loose”.
Mr Albanese said on Saturday the “verballing of the president of Indonesia by the alternative prime minister of Australia” was “frankly shocking”.
“You can’t go around when you… might be in a position of authority in eight days’ time and think that it’s ok to just shoot from the hip and say what you like about our international partners. That’s what they have done in this campaign.”
Dutton adds detail to defence announcement
Mr Dutton has argued the fact of a request points to the Albanese government’s “weakness” on diplomacy and defence, as he pitches an expansion of defence funding to three per cent of Australia’s GDP within a decade.
“We believe very strongly in investing more into defence [and] doing it responsibly,” he told reporters on Saturday.
The Coalition added more detail to its promise of an extra $21 billion over five years after it attracted Labor criticism for declining to specify how the extra money would be spent.
A policy statement uploaded the Liberal Party website indicates a focus on “projects that rapidly increase Australia’s strike and counter-strike capabilities”, including “missiles, drones, and uncrewed undersea vessels”.
Peter Dutton’s party added some detail to its defence policy commitments on Saturday. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
The opposition also proposes an “immediate” summit of experts, more investment in AUKUS, and efforts to boost recruiting and retention.
“We need to pay for the AUKUS submarine deal,” Mr Dutton said.
“Labor hasn’t put any money into that program, and that’s why the morale is plummeting under this government in the Defence Force… They know tat Army has been cannibalised to pay for AUKUS, and it shouldn’t be like that.”
Mr Dutton said specific details about spending would be worked out in government.
“There’s a lot of money that we spend in defence at the moment that I think can be spent more efficiently, and the capability that we need to acquire, we can base that on decisions of experts and the advice of the departments,” he said.
Mr Albanese said the Coalition’s defence policy was a “mystery tour… You buy a ticket and you don’t know where it’s going…
“They can’t say where the money is coming from and what it will be spent on.”
