Scott Morrison says there is “no credible information” to suggest China would establish a naval base in Solomon Islands, despite a warning from his Defence Minister.
Peter Dutton and Barnaby Joyce have claimed the landmark security pact between Beijing and Honiara could lead to a military presence in the Pacific Island nation.
But speaking to Seven’s Sunrise, the Prime Minister again shot down that suggestion.
“There’s no credible information that would suggest that outcome,” Mr Morrison said.
But host Natalie Barr wasn’t buying it.
“Are you seriously sitting here saying you do not believe that China is going to put a base on the Solomon Islands?”
The government is under pressure to explain why it sent junior Pacific Minister Zed Seselja to Solomon Islands instead of Foreign Minister Marise Payne in a last-minute attempt to try and fend off the deal.
The speed of the response to the deal – which was mysteriously leaked online last month – has also come into question.
Asked again on Friday, Mr Morrison repeated the claim Senator Payne was “not the right person to send at that time”.
xjmtzyw“We communicated a very clear message to the Prime Minister,” he said.
But he conceded, even after dispatching Senator Seselja, there was little chance of changing Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s mind.
“There was no opportunity, I think, for him to change his mind on this,” the Prime Minister told Nine, before adding he had not spoken to Mr Sogavare since the deal was formally inked.
Meanwhile on the Today Show, deputy Labor leader Richard Marles called it a “watershed” moment.
“I would not have imagined that this government could have stuffed it up so badly that on their watch that you would see this agreement being signed between China and Solomon Islands,” Mr Marles said.
“It is definitely a watershed which absolutely raises the threat, and certainly raises my anxiety about Chinese military presence in the region.
It comes amid suggestions Beijing bribed members of the Solomon Islands government in order to get the deal off the ground.
While Mr Dutton said he was unable to confirm reports, his response was telling of his view.
“I make this point: China conducts its business in a very different way than we do,” the defence minister told 3AW on Thursday.
“We don’t bribe people, the Chinese certainly do.”
However, Mr Morrison refused to expand on his Minister’s declaration.
“I think what is the best thing for me to say is they don't play by the same rules as transparent liberal democracies,” the prime minister told Sunrise on Friday.
