James Glenday reported this story on Wednesday, August 13, 2014 12:10:00

ELEANOR HALL: The Prime Minister has refused to rule out Australian military action in northern Iraq to protect people from Islamic extremists.



Tens of thousands of Iraqis from the Yazidi religious minority are still trapped on a barren mountaintop by Islamic State fighters who have overrun the region.



Several other western countries are also flagging further military and humanitarian aid.



As James Glenday reports from Canberra.



JAMES GLENDAY: They're trapped on Mt Sinjar, exposed to the searing summer sun with little food and water.



Up to 30,000 people from the Yazidi sect face a bleak choice - hardline Islamic State militants have told them they must convert or be killed.



TONY ABBOTT: We all know that there is a continuing humanitarian catastrophe in and around Mt Sinjar.



We all know that the murderous hoards of ISIL, now the Islamic State, are on the march.



JAMES GLENDAY: In London, the Prime Minister Tony Abbott met with the British foreign and defence secretaries, and spoke with leader David Cameron about what western countries can do to prevent a potential genocide.



At a media conference, he was asked if military action involving Australian forces was on the table.



TONY ABBOTT: Well, we certainly don't rule that out.



We're talking to our partners - and our partners in this instance are certainly much wider than simply the United States and the United Kingdom - but we are talking to our security partners about what we can usefully do to help.



JAMES GLENDAY: Yesterday US secretary of state John Kerry ruled out putting American combat troops on the ground in Iraq, while the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she didn't envisage Australian soldiers would return to the war torn country.



Labor's Chris Bowen says the Government must make its position crystal clear.



CHRIS BOWEN: I must say, there has been I think some difference in public announcements between David Johnston, Julie Bishop and the Prime Minister.



JAMES GLENDAY: And Green's spokesman Adam Bandt says he's concerned about the Prime Minister's statement.



ADAM BANDT: The Greens are very concerned that Tony Abbott is considering deploying Australian troops on the ground.



It is absolutely crystal clear now for us that military intervention, especially in Iraq, does not always make things better. It can contribute to the problem worsening.



JAMES GLENDAY: But Tony Abbott says he's only interested in a humanitarian mission and preventing what he calls the "murderous hoards" of the Islamic State from killing thousands of innocent people.



TONY ABBOTT: No-one wants to stand aside in the face of the potential genocide.



There is a world of difference between getting involved to prevent genocide and the kind of involvement that we've seen in recent years by western countries in the Middle East. Just a world of difference. And no-one should conflate the two.



JAMES GLENDAY: Kurdish and Iraqi forces are continuing the operation to get the refugees off Mt Sinjar.



There was a setback last night when a helicopter packed with refugees crashed during takeoff, killing the pilot.



Australian planes will soon join other western aircraft in dropping aid and supplies.



The British are increasing their involvement in sending more helicopters, Germany is open to despatching military aid, and in addition to United States drone strikes on Islamic State fighters near the mountains, defence secretary Chuck Hagel has put new military assessors on the ground to investigate ways of providing more humanitarian help.



CHUCK HAGEL: I recommended to the president and the president has authorised me to go ahead and send about 130 new assessment team members up to northern Iraq in the Erbil area.



JAMES GLENDAY: The United Nations is urging the international community to do more. Secretary general Ban Ki-moon says the plight of the Yazidis is harrowing.



BAN KI-MOON: UN humanitarian personnel are in the area freeing all what we can, but the situation on the mountain is dire.



JAMES GLENDAY: While the UN's refugee agency says the situation across the north of Iraq is worsening by the day.



ADRIAN EDWARDS: In terms of what we can do, it's still extremely limited.



JAMES GLENDAY: UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards says thousands of people are flooding into the country's northern Kurdish region.



ADRIAN EDWARDS: The people who've fled Sinjar are arriving in worsening conditions by the day.



They've been exposed to this environment, lack of water, immense difficulties of simply existing up there for some time now, and their needs are very great indeed.



ELEANOR HALL: That's Adrian Edwards from the UN's Refugee Agency, ending that report from James Glenday.