Elections are transitory; meteors flashing across the firmament that come and go. By May 22 this one will be all over bar the shouting. The rise of China on the other hand is a challenge that will be with us for decades, perhaps centuries.

By making political capital out of an area of policy usually the subject of bipartisan consensus, Labor may be sowing dragon's teeth that could come back to bite it - and the nation - in short order.

If Anthony Albanese does win the election and Penny Wong becomes the foreign minister they will have to take the lead on how to cope with the possibility of a Chinese military base only 2000 kilometres from our shores.

Given recent events will make it almost impossible to reach across the aisle for bipartisan backing on what to do if - or more likely when - Beijing starts berthing warships in Honiara on Guadalcanal or even Noro on New Georgia the task has just been made harder than it had to be. It's unlikely an LNP in opposition would stand quietly by when the inevitable missteps and stumbles did occur.

The same of course applies to the government. Mr Morrison's accusation Anthony Albanese was "taking China's side" during last week's debate didn't help matters.

That said, both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister have a point when they argue the ALP is playing down what Australia has been doing in the region. There is also some substance to their claims that much of what was proposed by Penny Wong was a cut and paste, albeit with some tweaks, from policies not only already in place but which have been operating for a very long time.

Australia, for example, began delivering patrol boats to Pacific nations in 1987. Since then 22 of the earlier Pacific Forum Class and 13 of the current Guardian Class have been delivered. The Solomons received two Pacific Forum class vessels in the late 1980s and early 1990s and two Guardians in 2019 and 2021 respectively.

Defence personnel from Pacific nations have been trained in Australia for decades. Fijian Prime Minister Rear Admiral Frank Bainimarama, for example, is an alumni of the Australian Joint Services Staff College in Canberra (now the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies).

The government is already committed to spending $2.7 billion in financial and security assistance - including $1.85 billion in development aid - in the Pacific this financial year.

This puts Labor's pledge of an additional $525 million over the next five years - about $131.25 million a year - into perspective.

While there is a strong element of the pot calling the kettle black when Senator Payne says "the ALP is demonstrably playing politics on national security" that doesn't mean Labor should keep going down this path in a game of "tit for tat" that is harming the national interest.

The only people happy about how this is playing out are the foreign policy apparatchiks in Beijing who would be delighted with the wedge they have driven between the LNP and the ALP on such an important issue. They would also be delighted with the Prime Minister's "red line" rhetoric and the Defence Minister's call to prepare for war.

2500 years ago the Chinese strategist Sun Tzu observed "the greatest victory is that which requires no battle". Unless the bickering over Australia's national security is abandoned in favour of a united front Beijing is on track to achieve exactly that.

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