Stop politicising our national security

Their claims Labor would go soft on China, that Anthony Albanese is Beijing's preferred prime minister and Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles is a "Manchurian candidate" have hijacked this week's parliamentary proceedings and drawn attention away from genuine government successes.

The better-than-expected national employment figures on Thursday disappeared almost without a trace in the midst of all the vitriol, name-calling and shouting back and forth that was going on.

And, while neither side of politics has covered itself in glory, with ALP senator Kimberley Kitching's importunate questioning of ASIO boss Mike Burgess during estimates being particularly reprehensible, the Coalition is keener to fight on this ground than its opponents.

That is because LNP strategists have known for decades that "reds under the beds" scare tactics work. Fallout from the Petrov affair is widely credited with having cost Labor's "Doc" Evatt the 1954 election, and contributed to splitting the ALP and keeping it out of office until 1972.

It's no coincidence that every time since then that a conservative government has been under threat it has managed to come up with a communist conspiracy or a border threat.

The difference this time around is the speed with which the phony war - kicked off by Defence Minister Peter Dutton after last week's security briefing by Mr Burgess - escalated, and the careless indifference to the facts displayed by Mr Dutton and the PM.

One could be forgiven for thinking that, with its back to the wall, a desperate government is now willing to burn the village to the ground in order to save itself. This is a risky posture to adopt when the world is a tinderbox, with potential conflicts looming in Ukraine, Taiwan, and the South China Sea. How can anybody believe that this government is serious about national security when so many of its members are willing to play with matches in a powder magazine to retain office?

Remarkable events have, in turn, provoked remarkable responses from both current and former heads of ASIO.

After slapping Senator Kitching down for her questioning on Monday, Mr Burgess delivered the blunt message: "ASIO is not here to be politicised, and it should not be." He then went on the ABC's 7.30 to describe the events of recent days as "not helpful for us".

That, as ASIO director from 1996 to 2005 Dennis Richardson pointed out on Thursday, "doesn't happen every day of the week".

Mr Richardson, who presided over many tricky situations in his time as the head of ASIO, US ambassador, head of DFAT and head of the Defence Department, knows what he is talking about.

"The government is seeking to create the perception of a difference between it and the opposition on a crucial national security issue - China - seeking to create the perception of difference where none in practice exists. That is not in the national interest. That only serves the interest of one country, and that country is China," he said.

The Coalition is, in short, putting its political fortunes ahead of the national interest. Voters aren't stupid. They can see what is happening here.

Mr Morrison should follow the sage advice he gave toilet-paper hoarders early in 2020, and "just stop it".

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