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Tony Abbott to decide on joining fight against Islamic State after US talks Tony Abbott to spend at least a week weighing up Isis Syria campaign
(about 5 hours later)
A final decision on Australia joining the fight against Islamic State in Syria may not be made until late September, after the prime minister, Tony Abbott, meets with US president Barack Obama. The Abbott government will spend at least a week considering whether Australia should join the fight against Islamic State in Syria.
The US has asked Australia to expand its operations in the Middle East to include air strikes on Syria but the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, has told ABC TV the government wants to be sure it has a credible legal basis for taking part.
She says it is complicated but the US believes that because Syria’s border region is effectively “ungoverned space” it has the legal authority necessary to bomb Islamic State extremists there.
Related: Labor cautious over Australia joining air operation against Isis in SyriaRelated: Labor cautious over Australia joining air operation against Isis in Syria
Abbott will go to the US after the September 19 byelection in the West Australian seat of Canning, although Bishop says he may discuss Syria with Obama before his trip. But the prime minister, Tony Abbott, has said that while the legalities of helping with air strikes over Syria were different to Iraq, where the government invited Australia to fight, the moralities were exactly the same.
She confirmed the US had asked Australia to support air strikes as well as carry out intelligence surveillance, reconnaissance and air refuelling in Syria’s border areas. “The terrorists don’t respect the border, so why should we?” he said to reporters in the Kimberley region of Western Australia on Sunday.
The foreign minister took aim at Labor’s deputy leader Tanya Plibersek on the issue, saying while the government had the full support of opposition leader Bill Shorten, his deputy always seemed to take another stance. The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, said that while the US had formally asked Australia to expand its operations in the Middle East to include air strikes on Syria, the government wanted to be sure there was a credible legal basis for such an action.
“What Tanya Plibersek does is she says that she supports the Labor position, the coalition position, but then she always moves a little bit to the left and has a slap at Bill Shorten on the way through,” Bishop said. She indicated a final decision may not be made until late September, after Abbott meets with the US president, Barack Obama and the crucial federal byelection in the WA seat of Canning.
Labor frontbencher Ed Husic voiced concerns about the government effectively workshopping a potential escalation of air combat operations into Syria before receiving the US request. However, Abbott said his government would be carefully considering the US request “in the next week or so” and announce its decision after appropriate consultations.
Bishop said the situation was complicated by the non-recognition of the Assad regime in Syria but the US believes that because the border region is effectively “ungoverned space”, it has the legal authority necessary to bomb Islamic State extremists there.
The US has asked Australia to support air strikes and carry out intelligence surveillance, reconnaissance and air refuelling in Syria’s border areas.
While there has been bipartisanship on tackling terrorism, some cracks are beginning to appear.
Related: Islamic State destroys fifth-century monastery in central SyriaRelated: Islamic State destroys fifth-century monastery in central Syria
The head of the joint intelligence parliamentary committee and Liberal MP Dan Tehan had called for an expansion of operations a week earlier. Bishop took aim at Labor’s deputy leader, Tanya Plibersek, on the issue on Sunday. She said the government had opposition leader Bill Shorten’s full support but his deputy always seemed to take another stance.
“I don’t think that’s the right way to go,” Husic told ABC TV. “She says that she supports the Labor position, the Coalition position, but then she always moves a little bit to the left and has a slap at Bill Shorten on the way through,” Bishop told ABC television.
“It should happen through formal processes and I think that the Abbott government does need to take a hard look at the way these things get discussed in the public space.” Opposition frontbencher Brendan O’Connor said Labor had sought to work with the government on national security at all times.
Fellow opposition frontbencher Brendan O’Connor said Labor had sought to work with the government on national security at all times. “We would like to get a full briefing before making our decision [on Syria],” O’Connor told Sky News.
“We would like to get a full briefing before making our decision [on Syria],” he told Sky News.