Australia would join N Korea fight
AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declared that Australia would invoke the Anzus security treaty for only the second time in its history in response to any attack by North Korea against the United States.
Turnbull also pushed back yesterday against calls - including from former prime ministers Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd - for Australia to develop a missile defence shield to protect it from the threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and long-range missile programme.
The prime minister’s commitment to assist the US capped off days of escalating tensions, with US President Donald Trump threatening to unleash ‘‘fire and fury’’ on the rogue state and the North Korean regime warning Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Wednesday that under the Anzus alliance, Australia only had an ‘‘obligation to consult’’.
Turnbull spoke with US VicePresident Mike Pence and said everyone understood that Australia’s commitment to its ally was ‘‘absolutely rock-solid’’.
His predecessor, Abbott, has told Fairfax Media that Australia ‘‘should be urgently investing in upgraded missile defences’’.
Turnbull responded: ‘‘The current advice from Defence to the government is that they do not consider that there is a benefit to deploy a system such as the THAAD system - terminal highaltitude area defence, bit of a mouthful - for defence of Australian territory.
‘‘The reason for that is that THAAD is designed to provide protection for relatively small areas against short- to intermediaterange missiles.’’
He expressed confidence that diplomatic pressure and sanctions would ‘‘bring the [North Korean] regime to its senses in a peaceful manner’’.
The Anzus collective security treaty, signed in 1951 by Australia, the US and New Zealand, compels its parties to ‘‘consult together’’ and ‘‘act to meet the common danger’’. Since it was signed, the treaty has underpinned Australia’s defence policy, providing the country’s relatively small defence forces with the backup of the world’s leading military superpower. Opponents argue that it unnecessarily places Australia’s security at risk. - Fairfax