Opinion | Australian PM Scott Morrison signals an end to Canberra’s policy ‘resets’ on China

Australian leader’s speech to the Asia Society suggests he plans a more pragmatic foreign policy than was favoured by Malcolm Turnbull

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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Photo: EPA

Published: 9:00am, 2 Nov 2018Updated: 9:20am, 2 Nov 2018

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s first significant foray into foreign policy decision-making after taking power this year was a disruptive one – pledging to relocate the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem in a move mirroring his American counterpart Donald Trump.

Widely considered to be motivated by domestic concerns and a crisis of his government’s own making, this suggested a Trump-like turn in the national leadership. But rather than shared values, this was based more on a sense of impetuousness and, in the case of the potential damage that was done to the vital bilateral relationship with Indonesia, a propensity to create results that are counterproductive to national interests.

While the Israel decision continues to resonate, alongside a pervasive political dysfunction that frustrates reliable predictions of long-term trend-lines in Canberra’s domestic or foreign policy, Morrison’s elucidation of a more complete vision of Australia’s international priorities in a speech to the Asia Society in Sydney suggests he will be a more conventional and pragmatic leader given more time to consider and consult.

The key announcement of the speech concerned Australian plans to jointly develop a naval facility with Papua New Guinea on the latter’s Manus Island. While this will inevitably be seen as a response to China’s ambitions in the Pacific, it does not appear to foreshadow yet another ‘reset’ on Beijing, following the last major policy reversal from the government of Malcolm Turnbull, which saw it turn away from a collision course over issues including China’s political influence campaigns and its Belt and Road Initiative.

Australia’s former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Photo: EPA

While Morrison extolled the virtues of “the beliefs that guide” his Australia – a commitment to democracy, free and open trade and investment, and a strong regional US security umbrella among them – there appeared to be no desire to again explicitly criticise Beijing’s own lack of commitment to these.

Yet the story may not end there, with a more complete picture of the new Australian government’s position on China likely to result from discussions on the future of the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership flagged for later this month. Not beyond the realms of possibility here might be Canberra adopting something approaching Tokyo’s new model of simultaneously cooperating with and competing against some of Beijing’s plans for greater regional power and influence.

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