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“When the request came in,I should have been briefed,” he said.

“They[the US] wanted to have the confidence that this would be a bipartisan issue in terms of support.”

Albanese said the briefing on September 15 was a “good comprehensive briefing by officials”. But he said the fact that the US had made a request to Australia “that was ignored for-four-and-a-half months shows that this is a prime minister who always plays short-term politics and isn’t interested in the national interest”.

“I will not treat national security issues as an opportunity to make a difference on partisan domestic political points,” Albanese said. “No Australian Prime Minister should do that.”

Foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said the report in this masthead confirms Morrison “held back” from briefing Labor against the wishes of the Biden administration.

“Now what this confirms to Australians is that this Prime Minister will do and say anything to save his political skin,” she said.

The divisions come as Australia has been tracking themovements of a Chinese spy ship for a week off Australia’s west coast in international waters.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton held a press conference on Friday afternoon to reveal the presence of the Chinese ship,which was thought to be collecting information on a naval communications base that supports American and other allied submarines.

Albanese said it was important to note that Morrison had not followed Dutton in labelling the presence of the Chinese ship an “aggressive act” and said it is up to the Defence Minister to explain the timing of the announcement.

The Labor leader said the opposition was briefed on the Chinese ship but its defence spokesman Brendan O’Connor was seeking a more comprehensive briefing on the matter. He said Labor “shares concerns about the presence of an intelligence ship off the coast of Western Australia from the Chinese Government”.

Asked to comment on Dutton’s characterisation on Saturday,Morrison said “freedom of navigation is permitted all around the world and no one’s made any suggestions that any rules were breached in relation to the International Law of the Sea”.

“And the International Law of the Sea has not been breached,” he said.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson called Dutton’s remarks “sensational” and said Beijing “always abides by international law”.

“The relevant Australian politician should see the relevant situation objectively and calmly,and not make sensational remarks,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing.

The ship on Friday was being tracked about 250 nautical miles from Broome in Western Australia.

It is similar to a high-tech Chinese surveillance ship whichsat off the Queensland coast last July monitoring military exercises between Australian and American forces.

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