Editor's note: Hamzah Rifaat Hussain, a former visiting fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and former assistant researcher at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, is a TV anchor at Indus News in Pakistan. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

With just months to go before the Australian Federal Election of 2022, the Labor Party's foreign affairs spokesperson Penny Wong admitted that the Scott Morrison administration is pursuing pre-electoral weaponization of national security for political gains. Nothing could be further from the truth, as Australia's entire disposition toward China under Morrison's Liberal-National Coalition has been of utter defiance and provocation. Whether it is jeopardizing security in the Indo-Pacific or censuring China unjustifiably over vaccine diplomacy, the Morrison administration continues to implode as it now finds itself scrambling for survival amid declining approval ratings and significant challenges at home.

The truth is that persistence with touting the AUKUS alliance to contain China and calling attention to Beijing's stance on the Ukraine crisis has only been self-destructive despite Chinese Ambassador Xiao Qian calling for developing friendship and cooperation amid tensions.

The Coalition, however, has other priorities. Prior to Ambassador Qian's call for amiable diplomatic relations, Prime Minister Morrison baselessly accused Beijing of an "act of intimidation" over the shining of a laser at an Australian aircraft by a Chinese warship despite the Coalition itself adopting multilayered strategies amounting to provocations. This includes partaking in the controversial AUKUS alliance and employing surveillance techniques aimed at China from afar in Antarctica and elsewhere around Australia. To solidify its domestic political clout amid waning public support, the administration has also sought to pressurize China unjustifiably over Ukraine although the latter has repeatedly called for peace talks between the Ukrainian and Russia sides. The contradictions are clear.  

By February 2022, only a quarter of all Australians had any confidence in the Morrison government with the Coalition's primary vote standing at an abysmal 34 percent just months before the 2022 Federal Elections in May. As per the Poll Bludger in March 2022, the Labor Party continues to retain a lead of 55-45 on voting intention.

The reasons for such widespread dissatisfaction are mentioned in an Australian National University study which examined views of 3,400 Australians. A co-author of the study, Nicholas Biddle, mentioned how dysfunctional state institutions and the inability to deal with the COVID-19 internally were contributing factors for the low approval ratings. This reveals a glaring contradiction of Australia's inability to curb the pandemic at home while touting vaccine diplomacy at the Pacific islands and simultaneously demonizing China.

Such rhetoric does little in addressing inconvenient facts, which are not limited to COVID-19. The Liberal Party also witnessed considerable political opposition in the lead up to the passage of the Religious discrimination bill at the parliament in Canberra after five members of parliament crossed the floor to join the Labor Party over amendments to protect transgender students. The truth is that not much is working in favor of Morrison at home on any front, and chances of re-election remain grim.

In light of such gloomy realities, weaponizing national security to deflect heated domestic criticism at home is not the right strategy. So far the Morrison administration has resorted to tactics such as arming the country by building a nuclear submarine base, which comes only two months after Australia signed the Indo-Pacific security pact as an effort to counter China.

The nuclear base also costs 10 billion Australian dollars with three preferred locations as per the Prime Minister, which demonstrates the disproportionate attention paid by the government to military build ups amid a sea of chaos and discontent at home.

However, the attempt to deflect attention of the largely disgruntled Australian public and close confidantes from domestic criticism will be a futile exercise, as two years after the Liberal Party was elected in 2018, many ministers complained of lack of direct interaction with their Chinese counterparts.

Numerous Western publications have also acknowledged that Morrison's bravado toward China is more to do with allaying political challenges such as incompetence and lack of performance. Hence, to brandish the containment of China card in the lead up to the May 2022 elections will only expose this government's numerous failings.

This provides important lessons for upcoming governments in Australia to shelve confrontation with China for good. Only then can peace truly prevail. 

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on Twitter to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)