Mr Morrison said on the Nine Network the same day that Labor wanted to “put up your petrol prices” but the Labor policy only called for a consultation on changes to vehicle emission standards,without naming a timetable to end years of federal review into whether to bring Australian standards into line with Europe.
Mr Morrison also said Mr Albanese had “backed in the Chinese government” but Mr Albanese said on Thursday he supported the stated approach of United States President Joe Biden in seeking “competition without catastrophe” after China had changed its posture in recent years.
Labor deputy leader Richard Marles rejected a public call from former prime minister Paul Keating for an approach to China that recognised Taiwan was not a vital interest for Australia.
“I don’t share the same views as Paul Keating,” Mr Marles said on Friday.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton challenged Mr Marles to be more direct in criticising Mr Keating.
“Call him out,please. Anthony Albanese won’t call him out. You won’t call him out this morning. The guy is out of control and damaging our country,” Mr Dutton said in an appearance with Mr Marles on the Nine Network.
“I mean,if you’re serious about national security matters,Labor should condemn him and they won’t.
“And it shows within the inner core of the Labor Party a real weakness when it comes to national security.”
Mr Albanese argued that voters should put no weight on Mr Morrison’s words when the Prime Minister had no regard to what he had said in the past.
“Consistently,what Scott Morrison says is,‘I have no regard for what I’ve said yesterday’. So,why should people have regard for when Scott Morrison speaks about today?” he said at a press conference.
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“Consistently,Scott Morrison is someone who himself doesn’t have regard for his own words of yesterday. And therefore,Australians should not trust what he says today.
“Scott Morrison consistently is out there trying to run scare campaigns,putting out misinformation about what Labor’s stands for,putting out misinformation about what his own government has stood for.”
The Prime Minister and the government hold a narrow lead over Labor and Mr Albanese on trust and honesty inthe Resolve Political Monitor,published each month byThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age last month.
The survey of 1,603 voters found that 26 per cent considered the Liberals and Mr Morrison to be honest and trustworthy compared to 20 per cent who said the same for Labor and Mr Albanese,with 41 per cent undecided and others choosing someone else.
Perceptions about honesty worked in Mr Morrison’s favour at the last election,when 49 per cent of voters considered him to be honest compared to 34 per cent for the Labor leader at the time,Bill Shorten,according to the Australian Election Study produced by the Australian National University.
The study,based on questions to voters soon after the election,found that 46 per cent of voters thought Mr Morrison was trustworthy compared to 30 per cent for Mr Shorten.