Ex-PM Tony Abbott calls for more troop carriers to help Ukraine

Former prime minister Tony ­Abbott wants the Morrison government to send “at least” 100 Australian Bushmaster vehicles to Ukraine.

Former prime minister Tony ­Abbott is calling on the Morrison government to send “at least” 100 Australian Bushmaster vehicles to Ukraine to help in its fight against Russia.

Mr Abbott’s urging follows a historic address to the Australian parliament by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last Thursday where he requested Australia increase its military support, including the provision of Australian Bushmaster armoured vehicles and expanded economic sanctions.

The request was swiftly ­accepted by Scott Morrison, who pledged to send a number of Australian Bushmasters via a C17 aircraft.

Writing in The Australian on Monday, Mr Abbott calls on the Morrison government to increase its military support for Ukraine further, warning it would be “unconscionable” to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to prevail.

Mr Abbott served as prime minister when Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in 2014, killing 283 people including 38 Australians, and has previously strongly denounced Mr Putin in international forums.

He says the arrival of the Bushmasters will be a “morale-booster”, and that they will do more for freedom in Ukraine than “mouldering away” in a yard near Brisbane airport.

“In my judgment, the Ukrainians should be helped further to improve their position on the battlefield with more anti-tank, anti-aircraft and anti-ship weapons,” Mr Abbott says.

“In all this, there’s no doubt that the arrival of Bushmasters from Australia will be a huge morale-booster for the Ukrainians – the more, the bigger – so I hope we’re planning to send at least a hundred of the just over a thousand that we have.”

The Bushmaster is an Australian-built troop carrier that has ­received international recognition for protecting soldiers. It is understood a C17 aircraft can carry about three to four vehicles and it remains unclear how many vehicles are logistically feasible for Australia to send.

Mr Morrison last week said the nation was “not just sending our prayers, we are sending our guns, our munitions, humanitarian aid, all of this, our body armour”.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton also last week conceded there were logistical challenges to how many Bushmasters could be sent to Ukraine and how quickly the vehicles could be delivered.

Mr Abbott says Australia should be prepared to “buttress our allies” on the vulnerable eastern flank.

He says NATO is hamstrung by the threat of nuclear war, which has prevented the organisation from coming down strongly enough on Russia.

“It’s this prospect of nuclear ­escalation that’s held back NATO from providing more assistance to their embattled fellow democrats,” Mr Abbott says.

“No one wants to provide the trigger for World War Three, even if the consequent devastation were to be all Vladimir Putin’s fault; yet without more ­assistance, it’s hard to see the Ukrainians long maintaining their current battlefield ascendancy nor avoiding slow pulverisation in a vicious war of attrition.

“As a NATO partner, we should be prepared to consider helping to buttress our allies’ ­vulnerable eastern flank, were a contribution of tanks and jets to be requested; because if Putin eventually prevails in his current war of conquest, there’s little doubt that the Baltic states and Poland would be the next targets of his quest to recreate Greater Russia.”

Mr Abbott also reflects on comments he made to parliament a few hours after the MH17 flight was destroyed.

“Back in 2014, a few hours after the destruction of MH17, I told our parliament that “the bullying of small nations by big ones, the trampling of justice and decency in the pursuit of national ­aggrandisement, and reckless indifference to human life, should have no place in our world,” he says.

“There can only be one satisfactory ending to Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine and that’s its comprehensive failure.

“The challenge is to bring this about without providing him with the excuse he may be seeking to wreak further mayhem.”