Anthony Albanese is slammed for ‘delaying’ the release of details about Australian Navy accident that injured divers

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has come under heavy fire after Royal Australian Navy divers were injured in an incident involving a Chinese warship off the coast of Japan.

The federal government confirmed that Navy personnel were injured Tuesday while conducting a mission in support of the enforcement of United Nations sanctions.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said HMAS Toowoomba was operating in international waters when a People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) destroyer approached, despite communicating with Toowoomba.

The Chinese ship activated its sonar, forcing the Navy divers to leave the water.

“Medical examinations conducted after the divers left the water revealed that they suffered minor injuries, likely due to exposure to the Chinese destroyer’s sonar pulses,” Marles said in a statement.

Mr Marles said the PLA-N ship’s maneuver was “unsafe and unprofessional”.

“Australia expects all countries, including China, to operate their militaries in a professional and safe manner,” he said.

Opposition defense spokesman Andrew Hastie accused the government of concealing the incident from the public.

“The coalition condemns the actions of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) in which Royal Australian Navy divers on HMAS Toowoomba were injured in international waters last Tuesday,” Hastie said in a statement.

“Although the responsibility lies solely with the Chinese PLA Navy, the Albanian government also has some serious questions to answer.

“Reports that the Prime Minister was aware of this incident and deliberately withheld information until after his departure for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, if true, are outrageous and unacceptable.”

Mr Hastie said the Prime Minister “must explain” why he chose to wait after leaving the country to make the information public and whether it was raised directly with President Xi Jinping at APEC.

“What we continue to see from the Prime Minister and his Labor government is a lack of leadership and a lack of action,” Hastie said.

“In a week in which the government has failed in its most fundamental role – protecting Australians – the Albanian government has once again proven that it cannot be trusted in matters of national security.

“We have always said that we will judge the Chinese Communist Party by their actions rather than their words, and this provocative behavior contradicts the government’s belief that they are witnessing a stabilization of relations with China.

“This incident is proof to the contrary. The Prime Minister should immediately reveal whether he has raised this issue with President Xi or whether it has been withheld for opportunistic political purposes.

“Any failure to do so would rightly raise questions about Anthony Albanese’s ability to lead our nation.”

Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the act was “deliberate” and contradicted China’s “nice boy rhetoric” surrounding Mr Albanese’s visit to Beijing.

“I think when it comes to our very complex and bilateral relationship with the People’s Republic of China, we need to look at the actions of the Chinese government, not just their words,” he told ABC’s Insiders.

“It’s very easy to get caught up in the platitudes and praise, the rhetoric of pretty boys, but this kind of thing, an active decision by the People’s Liberation Army-Navy to endanger and harm Australian Navy personnel that we should actually judge the Chinese government.’

He also said he wanted answers on whether Mr. Albanese had raised the issue with Mr. Xi or other officials.

While the frigate was in international waters, it fell within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Toowoomba is an ANZAC-class frigate with long-range capabilities, capable of conducting defense against air, surface and submarine targets.

The incident comes after Mr Albanese made the first official visit to Beijing by an Australian prime minister in seven years earlier this month.

During the visit, the Prime Minister met with President Xi Jinping, who as a leader praised Mr Albanese for “working to stabilize and improve relations with China”.

Xi said Albanese’s visit was “very important as it builds on the past and heralds the future.”

Tensions between the two countries’ naval forces rose last year when a Chinese spy ship was spotted in the waters off Western Australia.

The General Intelligence auxiliary vessel was followed by the ADF passing the Harold E Holt Naval Station in Exmouth.

Then-Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the incident was “unprecedented” and “very strange”.

“It was located in close proximity to military and intelligence installations on the west coast of Australia,” Dutton said at the time.

Chinese spy ships were also present in the Coral Sea during AUKUS naval exercises held off Australia’s east coast in July.

Mr. Marles said at the time that he was not concerned because the Chinese have sent a spy ship to monitor the exercises every time they have been held since 2013.