MALCOLM Turnbull has described the chemical weapons attack on Syria as “a horrific crime against international law, against the rules of war, against humanity itself”.

The United States has not asked Australia for extra military support after launching a tit for tat missile strike on a Syrian air base following a deadly chemical weapons attack on civilians.

The Prime Minister voiced his support for the US strike on a Syrian airfield but rejected suggestions it will lead to an escalation of our involvement in the region.

“It is a proportionate and calibrated response to stop that airfield being used to deliver chemical weapons again, but we are not at war with the Assad regime and the US has made that clear also,” he said.

“As a coalition partner we were advised shortly before the attack and we support the US in that action.

“The use of those weapons under any circumstances is illegal and abhorrent and a blatant contravention of the basic principles of humanity.

“Australian was not involved but we remain committed to our ongoing military operations in Iraq and Syria.

“This was a single strike designed to send the strongest possible signal that this conduct will not be tolerated.

“It was shocking and horrific even by the standards of this brutal war.”

“We have a role to play in the eastern part of the country in our effort to defend Iraq against Daesh or ISIL. That is the role we have been playing. The whole world is crying out for a settlement in Syria and this is a time now when the United States have shown that

they will not tolerate these crimes, when the United States has shown its full force in response to this shocking chemical attack, surely now is the time when the nations of the world and the great powers engaged in the Syrian conflict zone can come together and bring this war to an

end.”

ANALYSIS: Chemical attack demanded a military response

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses media following attack on Syria U.S. President Donald Trump addresses media following attack on Syria

Earlier today, Defence Minister Marise Payne said the Turnbull government would consider whether or not to join the US in action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The strike came after US Vice President Mike Pence upped criticism of the Assad regime in the wake of this week’s deadly gas attack in northern Syria, telling US media “all options are on the table”.







Asked if Australia would join any US action without UN backing, Defence Minister Marise Payne told ABC radio this morning: “We’ll make decisions in regard to those sorts of issues as they are brought to us. ”Senator Payne said the most important thing now is to condemn the attack.

“We have to be clear with Russia, we have to be clear with those who support the regime that this is totally unacceptable,” she said.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told reporters that he expected the refugee situation to deteriorate.

“We know that in Syria already there were 6.5 million people who had been displaced by the civil conflict, and we know that the situation deteriorates when people are experiencing the sort of outcomes from chemical weapons or from attacks,” he told reporters in Perth.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said federal Labor supported the US military strike against the Syrian airfield, describing it as an appropriate and proportionate response to the deadly gas attack against civilians.

“We support the US sending a strong signal that these gas attacks should have never occurred — and they should never occur again,” the Opposition Leader said in a joint statement today, with his foreign affairs and defence spokespeople Penny Wong and Richard Marles.

“The illegal and abhorrent use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime against its own people demanded a strong response.”

The opposition renewed calls for the United Nations to take strong and appropriate action.

It also urged nations with influence on the Assad regime — namely Russia and Iran — to prevent it from conducting further crimes.

Mr Marles said the opposition was seeking a briefing on the strikes.