EDITORIAL: Foreign factors at play in Federal election

If Chinese President Xi Jinping were able to vote in the May 3 election, he’d be using his AEC-supplied HB to mark a 1 in the box next to Anthony Albanese’s name.

Chinese state media is certainly full of praise for the incumbent, with Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece The Global Times applauding his recent comments likening the presence of Chinese research vessels in Australian waters to the Australia’s freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.

“Albanese spoke the truth, while to some extent highlighting the double standards of some Australian politicians and media — while Australia allows its own vessels to demonstrate military presence in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea, they cannot tolerate Chinese ships entering international waters near Australia’s coastline,” the masthead’s editorial column enthused.

It was one endorsement Mr Albanese would probably prefer to do without, as it opens him up to accusations of being too chummy with China’s authoritarian regime.

It’s a fine line: the Prime Minister needs to stay on the right side of our number one trading partner, without being seen to be a sycophantic suck-up.

Mr Xi won’t be lining up at a suburban primary school on May 3. But that won’t stop him from having an impact — albeit an indirect one — on the election’s outcome.

He’s not the only foreign leader to wield influence in this poll either.

The first week of the campaign proper has been dominated by one man: Donald Trump.

Both Mr Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have grappled with the best response to the US President’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs, which are expected to hit Australia’s beef and pharmaceuticals industries hard.

Mr Dutton has opted for strength, saying he wouldn’t shy away from having “a fight with Donald Trump, or any other world leader” if need be.

“I’ll put the Americans on notice and anyone else who seeks to act against our national interest,” Mr Dutton told Sky News.

“I’m not going to allow the President of the United States or the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, or anyone else, to walk over me or to walk over our country but at the moment they see a Prime Minister who is weak and flapping in the breeze, and that’s why Donald Trump has been able to stand all over Anthony Albanese now.”

Mr Dutton’s “aggro” approach to diplomacy came in for criticism by Mr Albanese, who also said he won’t back down against Mr Trump’s isolationist agenda. When asked if he was open to the idea of challenging the “reciprocal” tariffs through the World Trade Organisation, Mr Albanese said he was “prepared for all possibilities”.

We are living in an era of stunning global uncertainty. Longstanding alliances are no longer as rock solid as they once seemed.

In this environment, it’s imperative that Australians have a leader who is always prepared to stand up for the nation interest, against any foe — or even so-called friend — who would try to take advantage of us, or do us harm.