Former prime minister Tony Abbott has called for Australia to join the US in its war against Iran, sparking a divide among politicians.
Abbott said Australia risked being seen as a “weak country” for not joining the conflict and said it “wasn’t too late” for the government to contact the White House and offer support.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Politicians split on Abbott’s call for Australian support in Iran
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“That’s what I think every previous Australian prime minister would’ve done,” he told Sky News.
“I can’t understand why we haven’t picked up the phone to the White House … There are many things we could do to help.”
The federal government has knocked back the suggestion, with Health Minister Mark Butler saying Australia had already provided appropriate support.
“With the greatest of respect, I just don’t think this is a particularly serious contribution,” Butler told Sunrise.
“We’ve been asked to provide defensive support, particularly to the UAE, where there are thousands of Australian expats living. We’ve done that, the Wedgetail aircraft, air-to-air missiles.”
Butler emphasised the conflict was “not a war of our making” and Australia was not consulted on it.
“It’s the other side of the world and we want to see it end,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s any sense in the community that we want to see Australian Defence Force personnel deployed to offensive operations in the way that Tony Abbott has outlined.”
Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume said Australia “always stands up for our national interests” but criticised the government for unclear messaging.
“The problem, of course, has been in this conflict that the messages have been so unclear from the government,” she said
“The Prime Minister has prevaricated and equivocated as to whether he supports the US in its endeavours or not.”
She noted Defence Force Chief, Admiral David Johnson, confirmed Australia had the capacity to send a ship if requested.
Hume backed Abbott’s commitment to defending Australian values but stopped short of explicitly supporting troop deployment, instead calling for an increase to defence spending.
“We want to see our defence spending increase to 3 per cent of GDP so that we have the capacity to defend ourselves when we need to do so,” she said.