Australia has ‘role’ in stopping ISIS: Abbott

Canberra – using six F/A18 combat jets and two support aircraft based in the United Arab Emirates – joined the raids in Iraq but not the strikes on targets in Syria, citing legal concerns.

However, Mr Abbott said his government would be carefully considering the US request “in the next week or so” and announce its decision after appropriate consultations.

“This is an absolutely evil movement, and the question is if they don’t respect the border, why should we?”

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.

A top Syrian official told Rudaw, a news agency in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, that both the Kurdish People’s Protection Units and Syrian government troops had successfully been able to push back ISIS militants from the Syrian town of Hasaka.

“We’ll take our own advice and we’ll assess that against the legal advice that the US and Canada and Jordan and the UAE are relying upon and indeed Turkey”, Ms Bishop said.

Asked directly if she believed the government was getting the adequate support from Labor which is the standard practice on issues of national security and defence, Ms Bishop said it was not.

Mr Shorten backed this up, saying he too would be looking for how the strikes are legal.

When Ms Plibersek instead suggested a humanitarian approach earlier in the week, the Coalition went on the attack. “A terrorists’ picnic”.

The US request, which local media reported was sent to the Australian embassy in Washington, DC, on Thursday, came as the Australian government said that it had stopped seven young suspected extremists from leaving the country this month to fight for militant groups in the Middle East.

Defence’s Joint Chief of Operations David Johnston has said the move would expose Australia to a “significantly” more hard environment and said Australia’s involvement in Syria would not be a “game-changer” in the fight. The United States has made a formal appeal to Australia to play an extended part in the coalition forces attack in Syria.