''I think it is hugely damaging for Mr Palmer to make those sort of comments,'' Mr Hockey told reporters on Tuesday. Mr Hockey said Mr Palmer had been a big beneficiary of Chinese investment in Australia. ''He is in a very obvious legal dispute with his Chinese partners but I'd say to Mr Palmer, please don't bring down the rest of Australia because of your biases.'' Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce agrees Mr Palmer's comments were inappropriate. ''You can't just drop your bundle on national television,'' he said.

Ms Bishop described Mr Palmer's outburst as "offensive, unnecessary and unacceptable for a member of Parliament". In a strongly worded statement on Tuesday supporting Mr Palmer for his comments over the military threat of China, Senator Lambie said ‘‘the price of liberty is eternal vigilance’’. ‘‘If anybody thinks that we should have a national security and defence policy, which ignores the threat of a Chinese Communist invasion – you’re delusional and got rocks in your head,’’ her statement said. ‘‘The Communist Chinese military capacity and level of threat to the western world democracies is at an unprecedented and historical high.’’ PUP senator Zhenya Wang defended his party's leader against the criticisms in a statement, saying "From personal experience I have found Clive to be consistently respectful and supportive throughout our relationship in both the private sector and now in the political arena."

"Much of the media comment appears to ignore the context of Mr Palmer's statements which came as a result of persistent and even provocative questioning by the host. Having more than once given an appropriate answer to the questions put to him, Mr Palmer naturally reacted and used expressions that were subsequently taken out of context." China is Australia's largest trading partner, with two-way trade hitting nearly $151 billion in 2013. The PUP leader and billionaire businessman is embroiled in a legal battle with Chinese state-owned company CITIC Pacific, which has accused the mining magnate of siphoning off $12 million in funds. Mr Palmer has strenuously denied accusations that his company Mineralogy misused CITIC Pacific's cash to finance PUP's federal election campaign. He later tweeted that his comments were ''not intended to refer to Chinese people'' but to CITIC Pacific in particular.

In the broad spray on national television, the maverick MP accused the "communist Chinese government" of trying to take over Australia's ports to steal the nation's natural resources. "I don't mind standing up against the Chinese bastards and stopping them from doing it," he said. "I'm saying that because they're communist, because they shoot their own people, they haven't got a justice system and they want to take over this country. "We're not going to let them do it." Opposition Leader Bill Shorten joined the criticism of Mr Palmer on Tuesday.

‘‘Using that kind of language to describe one of Australia’s good friends and neighbours is irresponsible and certainly not in Australia’s best interests,’’ he said in a statement. ‘‘Mr Palmer’s comments don’t reflect the views of Australians or the strength of our friendship. ‘‘China is one of our most important relationships and unwarranted sprays like this are not helpful at all.’’ West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has also criticised Mr Palmer’s comments, calling them ‘‘offensive, abhorrent and damaging’’ to WA and Australia’s long-standing relationship with China. ‘‘CITIC Pacific has paid all royalties owed to the West Australian government on time and in full,’’ he said.

‘‘The royalties Mr Palmer is referring to are payments owed to him and his private companies, not royalties owed to the state government on behalf of the people of Western Australia, which are payments for the iron ore resource. ‘‘His comments are deliberately misleading.’’ Mr Barnett said China was the nation’s biggest trading partner and Mr Palmer’s comments did not reflect the view of the WA government. ‘‘I apologise for any offence caused by Mr Palmer’s remarks,’’ the premier said. Labor's shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said Mr Palmer had rightly received criticism for his comments about China.

''The Chinese-Australia relationship is a vitally important one. I think all Australians understand that,'' he said. ''I think Mr Palmer's comments were unhelpful in that regard and while it's a matter for him they're not comments that could be in any way endorsed or agreed with.'' Loading AAP Follow us on Twitter

