Australia's navy and airforce should be "fully authorised" to conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea, including within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands built by China, according to Labor defence spokesman Richard Marles.
Mr Marles also warned that China should not declare an "ADIZ", or Air Defence Identification Zone, that would require aircraft to identify themselves when flying over the man-made islands in the South China Sea.
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Australia's former ambassador to the United States, Kim Beazley, said Australia had an historical right to operate in the area and that it should conduct freedom of navigation exercises.
Speaking to Fairfax Media on the sidelines of the Australian-American Leadership dialogue in Honolulu, Mr Marles backed previous Labor defence spokesman Stephen Conroy's controversial suggestion in July that the Turnbull government should challenge Beijing and conduct a freedom of navigation naval exercise within the 12-nautical-mile zone claimed by China.
![Labor defence spokesman Richard Marles says Australia should assert its rights to navigate the high seas under ...](/web/20161009125408im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/f/k/q/x/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grx553.png/1475851824961.jpg)
It suggests a growing gulf in the traditionally bipartisan areas of foreign and security affairs between the two major parties and goes further than Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and former foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek, who in July emphasised the need to de-escalate tensions and respect the decision of a July court ruling in the Hague that found China had no claim to large tracts of the South China Sea within the so-called nine-dash line and had violated The Philippines' sovereignty by building artificial islands.
Mr Marles said it was up to politicians and governments to authorise Australia's military to conduct a freedom of navigation exercise, or FONOP, in the South China Sea.
"Our view is very clearly that the ADF, the navy should be fully authorised to engage in freedom of navigation operations. It's important that we are asserting our rights to navigate the high seas under international law," he said.
"The significance of the Court of Arbitration is very real, and it's important that in supporting the rule of law internationally and the rules-based order that we do everything we can to assert that, that's what a freedom of navigation operation would mean."
Asked directly if that extended to the 12-nautical-mile zone, Mr Marles said: "In our view, there should be full authorisation to engage in freedom of navigation operations which are entirely consistent with international law, and entirely consistent with the Court of Arbitration's ruling."
Mr Marles said the prospect of China declaring an ADIZ in the South China Sea - as it did in the East China Sea in 2013, ratcheting up tensions with Japan and which some in the defence establishment believe could happen in the next six months - would be a "very unhelpful step on the part of China".
Mr Beazley told Fairfax Media on the sidelines of the dialogue that free passage through the region was in Australia's national interest.
"Our ship deployments in the area are occasional, generally they are done on the way somewhere else. We should do it with our aircraft. You could do boats, but we only have 12 of them and one of them is permanently in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf," he said.
The United States has flown and sailed within this 12-mile zone but Australia has not.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has stressed Australia does not take sides in the South China Sea dispute, called on China to comply with the Permanent Court's ruling and emphasised the need to de-escalate tensions in the region. She was highly critical of Mr Conroy's comments.
In July, Mr Shorten said: "The international tribunal's decision should be the final ruling in the matter and therefore we should be authorising our defence forces to engage in freedom of navigation operations in international waters."