Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to reports of the brutal murder of American journalist Steven Sotloff. Can the Prime Minister provide the Australian people with an update on the situation in Iraq?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians awoke this morning to yet another decapitation at the hands of this hideous movement, which I do not refer to as a state because it is a death cult. The ISIL movement is a threat not just to the people of Iraq and Syria; it is a threat to the entire Middle East and ultimately a threat to the wider world as well.

I have no reason to doubt that this atrocity has indeed been carried out by ISIL. I have no reason to doubt that there has not been involvement of people from several countries in this latest atrocity committed by ISIL. The extraordinary thing about this movement is that it does not simply do evil; it boasts of evil, it is proud of evil and it advertises its evil in a way almost never before seen at any time in the modern world. You have to go back to the Middle Ages to see this arrogance in atrocity which we have seen from the ISIL movement in recent months.

So, along with our allies and partners, Australia will do what it can to respond to this developing situation. As the House knows, Australian aircraft have twice delivered humanitarian airdrops, first, to the besieged people on Mt Sinjar and subsequently to the besieged town of Amirli in northern Iraq. We are in the process of airlifting equipment, including military equipment, at the request of the Americans and with the support of the Iraqi government to the Kurdish forces in Erbil. We have received no specific request to engage in actual military action against ISIL. Nevertheless, we have received a general request and we are considering what we may be able to make available. But I stress: no specific request has been received and no specific decision has been made. Any request would be judged against the criteria that I have previously laid before the House: is there a clear overall objective; is there a specific role for Australian forces; have all the risks specific and general been considered and is there an overall humanitarian objective that is consistent with Australia's national interest? Any decision would be made by cabinet. Obviously there would be consultation with the opposition as well. We will do what we can, Madam Speaker, to defend our national interest, support our citizens, advance our values and build a safer and more secure world.