Chinese government mouthpiece The Global Times has lashed Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a “clown”, saying Opposition leader Anthony Albanese “positively shines” in comparison, “such is the abysmal state of Australian politics”.
The opinion piece by former Australian diplomat Bruce Haigh entitled “Weak Australian leadership inhibits potential relationship reset with China” begins by saying Australia has been swept along in a US-generated rip and dry land was “now a long way off”xjmtzyw.
“Should Anthony Albanese become Prime Minister, he will need help to get to shore,” the opinion piece published on Monday reads.
“At the moment, he is being swept along by a fear of upsetting voters prior to the federal election due in weeks.”
It goes on to describe the Labor leader as “cautious”, “not an intellectual”, “not a lateral thinker”, “not creative” and having demonstrated a propensity to believe the US view of the world without analysis.
“He appears to have accepted AUKUS and a dangerously increased US defense presence in Australia, particularly in the north,” the article reads.
“He will not be a charismatic leader.
“He will be a safe leader, if not an ordinary leader.
“If he were an officer in the army, he might lead a brigade, but he would not be placed in a position to plan; stubborn defense might be seen as his forte.
“Nonetheless, in comparison to Morrison, he positively shines, such is the abysmal state of Australian politics.”
The piece goes on to describe Mr Morrison as “a clown” who fewer and fewer people in Australia took seriously, “which is a hopeful sign for the future”.
It concludes Mr Morrison had caused the dramatic downturn in Australia’s relationship with China “with his Trump-inspired Wuhan/Covide aspersion … a pathetic attempt to please a ridiculous President”.
“The hope for a reset in the relationship rests with diplomacy – careful, cautious and creative discussions, free from outside pressure or influence and conducted out of the spotlight.”
It comes after Defence Minister Peter Dutton last week suggested in parliament Mr Albanese was the Chinese government’s preferred prime ministerial candidate.
Those remarks followed the director general of ASIO, Mike Burgess, revealing in his Annual Threat Assessment address that the spy agency had recently detected and disrupted a foreign interference plot in the lead-up to the federal election.
“I’m not going to identify the jurisdiction because we are seeing attempts at foreign interference at all levels of government, in all states and territories,” Mr Burgess said.
“Attempts at political interference are not confined to one side of politics, and you’d be surprised by the range of countries involved.”
He said the plotters – dubbed the puppeteer and the employee – planned to advance certain candidates’ political prospects through generous support, placing favourable stories in foreign language news platforms and providing other forms of assistance.
“The political candidates had no knowledge of the plot. Even if the plan had proceeded, they would not have known who was pulling the strings,” Mr Burgess said.
Mr Albanese hit back at Mr Dutton’s comments, telling reporters in Melbourne on Friday he had spoken with Mr Burgess, who had “reaffirmed that he has not raised concern about any of my candidates”.
