The federal election fight on national security has intensified after Defence Minister Peter Dutton sounded an Anzac Day warning that Australia must prepare for war.
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Labor has turned the comment into an attack on the Coalition, accusing it of failing to back up its rhetoric with action to protect the nation.
Anzac Day commemorations only briefly interrupted the federal election contest on Monday, as both sides added fuel to a row which has escalated since the signing of a security pact between China and Solomon Islands.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison used his address to an Anzac Day dawn service in Darwin to warn of an "arc of autocracy" which challenged the global rules-based order.
Asked about that comment, Mr Dutton told Channel 9's The Today Show: "That's the reality of our time".
![Labor deputy Richard Marles and frontbencher Terri Butler attended the Anzac Day dawn service in place of leader Anthony Albanese, who is in COVID isolation in Sydney. Picture: AAP Labor deputy Richard Marles and frontbencher Terri Butler attended the Anzac Day dawn service in place of leader Anthony Albanese, who is in COVID isolation in Sydney. Picture: AAP](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/znhWFHRUTrpRC32tGqnZkk/0a131595-5b81-491d-9a85-7c8359e8a031.jpg/r0_0_400_267_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mr Dutton said Australia needed to prepare for the prospect of conflict.
"The only way that you can preserve peace is to prepare for war and to be strong as a country, not to cower, not to be on bended knee and be weak," he said.
"That's the reality."
The comments came after Mr Morrison on Sunday warned Australia and the US wouldn't tolerate China establishing a military presence in Solomon Islands.
However, Mr Morrison hasn't clarified how Australia would react if that "red line" was crossed.
Mr Morrison said his Solomon Islands counterpart Manasseh Sogavare had assured him that wasn't on the table.
But Labor is now seeking further briefings from government agencies amid fears the new security pact leaves open the possibility of a Chinese military presence on Australia's doorstep in the future.
![Prime Minister Scott Morrison attended the dawn service in Darwin on Monday. Picture: AAP Prime Minister Scott Morrison attended the dawn service in Darwin on Monday. Picture: AAP](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/znhWFHRUTrpRC32tGqnZkk/45f733a8-0185-4228-af11-eeeeb1e73204.jpg/r0_21_400_246_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We need to be briefed on what the government's contemplating beyond just those terms. The words used [by Mr Morrison] obviously sound relatively heightened," Labor's defence spokesman, Brendan O'Connor, said.
"We'd need to know more from ... agencies about that."
The security pact between China and Solomon Islands has turned into a major federal election issue, as Labor continues to hammer the Morrison government over its failure to thwart the deal.
The Coalition has sought deflect criticism by trying to expose Labor's links to Beijing.
Mr Morrison over the weekend seized on reports Labor deputy leader Richard Marles had provided the Chinese embassy with an advance copy of a speech he delivered to a Beijing university in 2019.
Mr Marles attended the dawn service in Darwin on behalf of leader Anthony Albanese, who is isolating in Sydney after contracting COVID-19 last Thursday.
At a brief press conference on Monday, Mr Marles agreed that Australia needed to prepare for the prospect of conflict amid the most "complex" strategic environment since the end of World War II.
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Mr Marles then unloaded on the Coalition.
"But we have not seen the preparation under this government," he said.
"And words are one thing, action is another. This is a government which beats its chest, but when it comes to actually delivering and doing what needs to be done, this is a government which repeatedly fails."
Mr Morrison and Mr Marles joined veterans for a game of two-up in Darwin, after delivering speeches at the dawn service.
Both men paid tribute to the Ukrainians defending their nation against the Russian invasion.
"What ultimately matters in that task is a fierce and protective love for their nation and of their liberty, a love of home, family, community and country. A willingness to live for all of these things, but if necessary, sacrifice for something far greater than ourselves," Mr Morrison said.
"This morning, far away from here, the people of Ukraine are doing exactly that, and on this particular day as we honour those who fall for our liberty and freedom, we stand with the people of Ukraine who do the same thing at this very moment."