Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia is keeping a close eye on a Chinese warship spotted off Western Australia's coast far away from Chinese waters.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has claimed the incident is an "aggressive act" but Mr Morrison said the ship had not broken freedom of navigation rules.
The ship has been tracked by Australian authorities over the past week and was sighted off on Friday at 6am about 250 nautical miles northwest of Broome.
It crossed Australia's exclusive economic zone passing the naval communication centre in Exmouth and getting within 100-kilometres of the base.
Mr Morrison described the behaviour as "unusual" but said the ship had not entered into Australia's waters.
"What these events highlight is the serious times in which we live," Mr Morrison told reporters.
“They're looking at us and we're keeping a close eye on them.”
Mr Dutton said the ship, which has intelligence-gathering capabilities appeared to be "hugging the coastline".
"It is unusual in terms of the way in which it has come so far south and the way it's hugging the coastline as it heads up in the direction of Darwin," he said.
"It is an aggressive act particularly because it has come so far south — for it to come south of Exmouth is without precedent."
Labor senator Murray Watt also described the situation as a "serious matter", which he said the opposition took "very seriously".
"We have sought a briefing from the federal government to better understand the facts of the situation," he told the ABC.
Mr Dutton said Australian authorities were monitoring the situation closely, with planes and other surveillance equipment monitoring the vessel.
The Department of Defence confirmed the ship was a Dongdiao class auxiliary intelligence ship called Haiwangxing (Neptune), which was also spotted off the Australian coast in 2021.
The ship travelled down the west coast towards Exmouth before tracking east along the country's northwest coast.
"Australia respects the right of all states to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace, just as we expect others to respect our right to do the same," a defence spokesman said.
"Defence will continue to monitor the ship's operation in our maritime approaches."
Despite the timing of the announcement eight days out from the federal election, Mr Dutton said the announcement had nothing to do with the campaign.
"We've had vessels in our waters this year and we've made the public aware of those," he said.
"Australians deserve to know what is taking place."
Foreign affairs debate puts China relationship in focus
Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Labor's foreign affairs spokesperson Penny Wong went head to head in an election debate at the National Press Club on Friday.
The two senators are vying to lead Australia's foreign policy into the future and both made it clear Australia would not bow to pressure in the face of a more assertive China.
Senator Payne said Australia would continue to seek a constructive relationship with China but would always put its national interest first.
"It has to be a relationship in which our sovereignty and our interests are respected and in which no party is coerced or subjected to pressures that breach international rules," Senator Payne said.
"I have said at every opportunity that Australian ministers, foreign ministers, prime ministers, trade ministers, finance ministers, treasurers are open and available to engage with our colleagues in Beijing."
Senator Wong said China needed to desist from coercive economic measures against Australia to start repairing the bilateral relationship.
"Our relationship with China has changed because China has changed and we should start from that premise," she said.
"To be very clear, an Albanese Labor government would not take a backwards step when it comes to standing up for Australia's interests."
Senator Wong added that Australia needed to focus on the Indo-Pacific region as China becomes more assertive.
"In many ways, focusing only on that relationship perhaps misses the central point, which is the reshaping of the region in which we live," she said.
"So whilst we might not be able to change China and how it chooses to engage with us, what we can do is focus on building the sort of region we want."
Senator Wong also went on the offensive on how the Morrison government had handled its relationships with Pacific island nations, including by dismissing leaders' concerns about climate change.
Australia needed to leverage its strengths in the region, including "our voice and proximity," she said.
"The reality in the Pacific is we have not done enough and we have also gone missing on climate. Pacific leaders told us themselves. The number one national security issue is climate."
But Senator Payne dismissed the notion, saying it wouldn't be considered logical for islands like the Solomons to turn towards China, the world's largest emitter, if the relationship hinged on Australia's climate policy.
The foreign minister also criticised suggestions Australia's relationship had deteriorated because of the level of foreign aid and engagement.
"It's immensely simplistic to suggest that overseas development assistance or the quantum thereof is the fundamental nub of a problem here," Senator Payne said.
She also took issue with suggestions Australia had not done enough in its bilateral relationship with the Solomon Islands before it signed a security pact with China.
"It's oversimplifying what is a very complex set of circumstances not just in our bilateral sense, but more broadly," Senator Payne said.
"Countries will ultimately make sovereign decisions for their own reasons, that occasionally we don't and can't change, and can't influence. That's what respect is about.
"But we must continue to make the contribution that we do to the security and the stability of our region."
China's ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian on Friday told Sky News Beijing would work with the incoming government to build the relationship in the future.
"Whichever political party, I have no choice, it's up to the Australian people to make their own choices and decisions," he said.
Mr Xiao said he wanted to play the role as a "bridge" in promoting a relationship between the two countries.
With AAP
