Paul Keating has hit out at Foreign Minister Penny Wong, declaring 'running around the Pacific Islands with a lei around your neck' is not foreign policy.
Mr Keating was quick to dispel notions of a future armed conflict with China, emphasising it is not in Beijing's economic or geographical interest to seek conflict with Australia.
Paul Keating has accused Penny Wong of focusing too heavily on small regional issues in the Pacific. Photo by Pita Simpson/Getty Images. “It's a consular task. Foreign policy is what you do with the great powers. What you do with China. What you do with the United States.In a lengthy statement provided to journalists prior to the address, Mr Keating also blamed what he described as the"worst international decision" by a Labor government on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's"reliance on two seriously unwise ministers" in Senator Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles.
Mr Keating served as prime minister from 1991 to 1996 as leader of the Labor Party during a time of renewed optimism for democracy following the breakdown of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
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