A decision on expanding Australia’s military role against the Islamic State insurgency will be made by the end of the week, the prime minister says.
As parliament resumes on Monday, the government will again shift its focus to how Australia can help combat the events leading to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
“This week the government will be considering whether to extend our air strikes into Syria,” Tony Abbott said, adding that a decision would be reached by the end of the week.
“We are taking the request from the United States very seriously indeed.
“We are very determined to play our part in the international campaign against the death cult which isn’t just horribly persecuting people in the Middle East but reaching out to this country and has already inspired two terrorist incidents and several luckily-prevented attacks here in Australia.”
The defence minister, Kevin Andrews, told the Weekend Australian his “inclination is to do this” although he says it was ultimately a decision for cabinet’s national security committee to make.
“This is not a radical departure from what we are doing now; it is simply widening our area of operation,” he said.
Government frontbencher Mitch Fifield said the Coalition party room would support an increased military commitment.
“We know that IS don’t observe the borders that they travel from Iraq into Syria, and at the moment we’ve been prevented from continuing a mission across that border,” Fifield told Sky News. “I think my colleagues in the party room would be very comfortable with doing more to seek to defeat IS.”
Andrews said Iraq would remain the focus of Australia’s military commitment. Six Australian F/A-18 Hornets now conduct combat missions over Iraq, along with a E-7A Wedgetail airborne warning and control aircraft and a KC-30A airborne refuelling aircraft.
Andrews has previously said the safety of RAAF pilots and aircrew would be foremost in the government’s mind as it considered extending existing air operations over Iraq to include Syria.
The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has already signalled his support, saying “while there is a little difference between the legalities of air strikes on either side of the border, there’s no difference in the morality”.
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
