Mr Morrison said he would be “very happy” to enter into a dialogue with China’s leadership if he was victorious on polling day, though it was an opportunity that “hasn’t been extended” to the Coalition at the moment.
Speaking to SBS Radio on Monday, Mr Morrison thanked the Chinese Australian community for its “amazing contribution” to the country’s economic recovery during the pandemic but took aim at Beijing for what he called “unfair” trade sanctions and “coercion”.
The ongoing diplomatic stoush flared up last week after a Chinese warship entered Australian waters, .
Saturday’s poll will mark the end of a six-week election campaign, in which both Labor and the Coalition have outlined how each would handle relations with China.
It comes as Chinese-Australian community members say the language used by the Coalition and Labor towards the Chinese government during the .
“The people-to-people relations between Australia and China, I think are very strong ... there's a great desire and interest in Chinese people to be able to come to Australia (and) have a holiday, study here, have great connections, (including) cultural connections, and ensure, of course, business connections and trade," Mr Morrison said.
“And this is what we want to see happen in the future but at the same time, Australia will always stand up for liberties and the freedoms and the things that are very important to us. We can't have a situation where any other government from any other country, including the Chinese government, would seek to coerce Australia.”
Relations soured in 2020 when the Morrison government called for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
China responded with sanctions on Australian exports, including barley, wine, rock lobster and beef.
“I look forward to a time when we can be engaging again, (and) we will continue to work towards that goal,” the prime minister said.
“But that will never happen at the expense of Australian sovereignty, or our important liberties and freedoms and the things that we believe in as Australians, they're not things we can ever trade away.”
Mr Morrison said Australians of Chinese heritage were among the "most patriotic" migrant groups in the country.
"During the pandemic, Australians of Chinese heritage did an incredible job, particularly in those early months of the pandemic, when the virus had begun in Wuhan," he said.
"People were returning to Australia from China, (and) the care they took, and the precautions they took played an enormously important role in Australia having such great success relative to other countries, with the pandemic."
During the campaign, Mr Morrison and Labor Leader Anthony Albanese visited multicultural communities across the country, highlighting the growing significance placed on securing the migrant vote.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese shake hands at the start of the final leaders' debate. Source: AAP
“The reason that multiculturalism works so successfully in Australia is not that it keeps people separate, it's because it brings people together, our values that we share across so many different ethnic languages and faith groups,” Mr Morrison said.
If elected, Mr Albanese would become the first Italian-Australian prime minister.
When asked about the prospect while campaigning with Queensland senator Murray Watt, Labor's candidate for Flynn, Matt Burnett, and Australia's first Muslim frontbencher, Ed Husic, in Gladstone on May 12, Mr Albanese said he’d been “heartened” by the response he had received, especially from the Italian community.
“There are members of the Italian community saying to me that they are going to vote Labor for the first time in their life because they want an Australia that reflects modern Australia,” he said.
“Modern Australia is made up of people called Husic and Albanese. But it’s also made up of people like Watt and Matt.”
Labor leader Anthony Albanese and Minister Ed Husic (left) speak to the media during a press conference after touring the Northern Oil Refinery. Source: AAP
Humanitarian efforts for the Ukraine war
In its response to the war in Ukraine, the Australian government in March announced it would prioritise the processing of visa applications from Ukraine, a stance that remains in place.
Mr Morrison said more than 7500 visas had been granted to Ukrainians fleeing the war.
“We know from my discussions with many other leaders that some will want to return home hopefully, that once the war is over, they'll be able to return to their homeland, and there are many who are in other parts of Europe who are hoping for the same,” he said.
“Australia has one of the highest levels of support for Ukraine anywhere in the world throughout this conflict.”
Mr Morrison is attempting to win a second term in office after claiming an upset victory in the 2019 election.
He was appointed as prime minister in 2018 after toppling then Coalition leader Malcolm Turnbull in a party vote.
Mr Albanese was the only person nominated in a Labor leadership vote following the party's loss in the 2019 poll.
He was subsequently elected unopposed as the leader of the Labor Party.