PM borrows line from Howard's playbook

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has borrowed a line from the John Howard playbook to reinforce the government's position on foreign investment in Australia.

Mr Turnbull could face questions from Beijing over the government's decision to reject two Chinese bids for Australia's largest electricity network when he attends the G20 summit in Hangzhou.

"The Chinese absolutely respect and understand that we have the total sovereign right to determine who invests in Australia and the terms on what they invest," he told Neil Mitchell on 3AW Radio, channelling the former Liberal prime minister's 2001 stance that Australia would decide who came to this country and the circumstances in which they come.