A leader who is respected at home and abroad is what we would all surely hope for from a prime minister, and yet it's questionable whether he meets that definition.

On Wednesday night, in the first leaders' debate of this campaign, the PM demonstrated how and why his government has failed us on the foreign relations front.

When questioned on China's security deal with the Solomon Islands, which Labor has rightly called a policy failure, Mr Morrison went on the attack.

He wasn't mindful of how his comments might be perceived among our neighbours, or in Beijing. He likely wouldn't care.

The Coalition has, of course, been playing the national security card for a while, but accusing Anthony Albanese of taking "China's side" was, as the Labor leader said, an outrageous slur. Frankly, it's pathetic.

Mr Morrison wants credit for standing up to China, and he wants voters to believe Mr Albanese would be weak in this regard.

But what has he actually achieved other than deepening the rift with China?

The AUKUS deal with the US and the UK promises to, eventually, facilitate our acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.

So badly handled was the announcement though that it came at the immediate cost of upsetting the French.

Now we have a near-neighbour entering a security deal with the country Mr Morrison has been warning us about, and our government is not even sure what it could mean.

It's fair to question how it came to this; how our diplomatic efforts failed to keep the Solomon Islands firmly in our camp.

Mr Albanese called it a "Pacific stuff-up".

Former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop said the deal was "deeply disturbing", and that the incumbent minister "should be on the next plane to Solomon Islands to talk with the government to see what's actually being agreed".

Typically, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was hardly helpful to the government's cause with his comment referencing a "little Cuba off our coast".

It is more than disappointing to see our government seeking to play politics with national security while failing at diplomacy.