Labor in on deal, says PM

SCOTT Morrison has rubbished claims the Labor Party was briefed about the AUKUS agreement only 12 hours before it was announced.

In doing so, the Prime Minister took a fresh shot at deputy Labor leader Richard Marles, accusing him of having “frequent flyer points” for visiting the Chinese Embassy.

Nine Newspapers revealed at the weekend that Labor was made privy to the major partnership with the US and UK at the 11th hour despite an earlier request from US President Joe Biden that Mr Morrison secure bipartisan support.

The PM said the claim Labor was not briefed in time was “absolutely false”, and the government had met the requirements “100 per cent”.

“I find it passing strange that you think that we wouldn’t have maintained the absolute discretion,” he said.

“I mean, we’ve only seen it highlighted over the course of the last couple of weeks – you’ve got the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party, who would have been sitting in such a briefing, who had, you know, frequent flyer points for visiting the Chinese Embassy.”

Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said national security should be above party politics.

“It seems that Mr Morrison thinks this is just another political card to play,” Senator Wong said.