Anthony Albanese claims Australia has become less safe following the signing of a security pact between China and the Solomon Islands.
It comes as Marise Payne, who has not visited the Solomon Islands since 2019, flagged the possibility of a trip to the Pacific nation during the election campaign.
The decision to not visit the country for several years has been criticised by the opposition leader and former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Mr Albanese described it as “remarkable” and “incredible” Australia had not sent the foreign minister to the Solomons.
“We need a comprehensive plan of engagement with the Pacific and we simply haven’t had it,” he told Perth radio station 6PR on Tuesday.
“We’ve dropped the ball, and as a result, Australia is less secure.”
China was looking to increase its influence in the region and had been more forward leaning in the past few years, Mr Albanese said.
Labor had earlier announced a plan to train defence personnel from the Pacific and increase foreign aid in a bid to boost engagement in the region.
The government has drawn criticism for not sending the foreign minister to the Solomons and instead opting to send Pacific Minister Zed Seselja.
Mr Turnbull said it was a mistake for Senator Payne not to make the journey.
“This is a hose you have to hold,” he told ABC Radio.
“(The Australia-Pacific relationship) needs time and attention, you cannot step away from responsibility … the buck stops with the Australian government on this because it’s adverse and contrary to what our policy objectives were.”
Mr Turnbull said the outcome was “an absolute failure” of foreign policy.
Senator Payne said the pandemic had stopped her from travelling but insisted she had still been communicating with her Pacific counterparts.
A visit to the Solomon Islands “may or may not happen” during the election campaign but Australia’s relationship with the nation remains on good terms.
“This is a strong partnership but it does not detract from the fact that governments will, of course, make their own sovereign decisions,” she told ABC Radio.
“It would be naive at best for Australians to operate on the basis that we can march into other people’s countries and dictate and tell them what to do.”
The Solomon Islands had assured her Australia would remain their security partner of choice and there would be no Chinese military base built in the nation, Senator Payne said.
Mr Turnbull said he had ensured Australia provided solutions to Pacific nations when China was offering to build infrastructure such as internet cabling.
