The WA premier has been caught in another hot-mic scandal on the first day of his trade mission to China, after a camera picked up a conversation where he said Australia's federal shadow defence minister had "swallowed some kind of Cold War pills".
Mark McGowan flew into Beijing on Tuesday for his first visit to WA's largest trading partner since COVID.
One of his first engagements was a lunch meeting hosted by the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce (AustCham), where he told attendees there was "nothing like" the relationship between China and WA and advocated for the end of tariffs imposed on Australian goods.
Footage of the event provided to media outlets included shots of a conversation Mr McGowan had with AustCham's chair, Vaughn Barber.
"So, a guy like [former finance minister] Mathias Cormann had the same view as me, but he had no sway on this issue," Mr McGowan can be heard telling Mr Barber.
"He had a lot of sway, but on this issue he was the odd one out. The other West Australian who was senior was … [Andrew] Hastie.
"He swallowed some kind of Cold War pills back when he was born and he couldn't get his mindset out of that."
McGowan 'undermining national interest'
The remarks prompted a swift rebuke from Mr Hastie, who accused the premier of being "out of his intellectual depth" in a statement, labelling him a "prison guard looking for work now the pandemic has ended".
"He's undermining the national interests by going overseas and running down Australian MPs who, in fact, share almost a bipartisan position with the Albanese government on defence and foreign policy matters," he told reporters.
"If he's suggesting I've swallowed Cold War pills, he should ask Richard Marles, our defence minister, and Penny Wong, our foreign minister, whether they're taking the same medication as well … because I'll tell you what, there's not a whole lot of daylight between us when it comes to Australia's defence and foreign policy at the moment.
"I think it is embarrassing. I think it reveals his mode of operation, the way he talks to people when the cameras aren't running … and so my question is, what else has he been saying?"
Rebuilding the China relationship
Speaking to reporters in Perth later in the day, senior state cabinet minister Rita Saffioti said the Premier's comments were similar to what he'd said in public "for many years".
"If you read what the Premier said before, he's always warned some elements of the Liberal Party about their very provocative statements in relation to China," she said.
"China's our biggest economic partner, our biggest trading partner, and as the Premier has always outlined we want to continue to have job security and a strong economy, and that's why he's over there, to rebuild the relationship of Western Australia with China."
Earlier Mr Hastie had told ABC Radio Perth it was "nice to be living rent free inside Mark McGowan's head".
"I think he's playing politics and I think he's playing footsy up there when he should be back here in WA fixing our crumbling health system," he said.
In his statement, Mr Hastie offered a stinging assessment of Mr McGowan's character.
"I'm not surprised he's running down Australian MPs in China," he wrote.
"But it is surprising from a former legal officer in the Royal Australian Navy.
"I'm not sure I'd want to serve alongside him on a naval ship in a crisis. Character is everything.
"What's he really saying when the cameras aren't running?"
Differing China views
Mr Hastie said he wished Mr McGowan would focus on "things that matter", like fixing the main hospital in the Mandurah electorate, as well as the housing shortage.
"Instead he's off to China, trying to do Penny Wong's job as foreign minister. He should do himself a favour and read her latest speech," he said.
"It's nice to be living rent free inside Mark McGowan's head," Mr Hastie told ABC Radio Perth.
"I think he's playing politics and I think he's playing footsy up there when he should be back here in WA fixing our crumbling health system."
The Liberal MP repeatedly referenced Ms Wong's National Press Club address on Monday, in which she declared that the strategic contest in Asia was about much more than the US and China, and said Australia wanted "strategic equilibrium" in the region.
Mr McGowan and Mr Hastie have long been at odds over their views on China.
In 2019, Mr Hastie was condemned by China after he used an opinion piece in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald to link the West's handling of China's rise to a failure to contain the advance of Nazi Germany.
Later that year he was blocked from a study tour to China, with an embassy spokesperson saying the country would not "welcome those who make unwarranted attacks" on their nation, and calling on him and fellow Liberal senator James Paterson to "repent" for their criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.
Just under half of all of WA's trade is with China, worth an estimated $146.3 billion annually.
Mr Hastie said while it was "good" to trade with China, "that doesn't mean that we ignore the strategic realities that we're facing".
"Being a good policymaker is actually understanding that trade and national security are linked, you have to balance those things and that's why you can't focus on one to the exclusion of the other," he said.
"I don't think Mark McGowan appreciates that, which is why I've said he's out of his intellectual depth and he needs to read Penny Wong's speech and learn that he is part of 'Team Australia' and he should act accordingly when he's overseas."
In a statement, Mr McGowan's office described Mr Hastie's previous comments about potential armed conflict with China as "irresponsible, immature and dangerous".
"Australians don't want or need inflammatory commentary like that," a spokesperson said.
"It is widely acknowledged that the former Liberal government damaged our economic relationship with our biggest trading partner.
"The state government is committed to strengthening the relationship to benefit the local WA economy and local jobs into the future."
Last month the premier apologised to the state's parliament after a microphone captured a private conversation with Deputy Premier Roger Cook in which he described issues with gold the Perth Mint sent to China as a "storm in a f***ing tea cup".
