Tony Abbott considered ‘military response’ after MH17 downed over Ukraine

Tony Abbott considered deploying Australian troops to Ukraine after the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 by Russian backed forces.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Former prime minister Tony Abbott considered deploying Australian troops to Ukraine after the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 by Russian backed forces.

Then-special envoy to Ukraine Angus Houston has revealed in the ABC’s political documentary Nemesis – chronicling the former Coalition government – that Mr Abbott was leaning towards launching a “military deployment” in the wake of the MH17 tragedy in 2014.

The tell-all series which has interviewed 60 former Coalition MPs, ministers and political observers to the Coalition’s nine years in government, has traversed Mr Abbott’s rise to power, the same sex marriage debate, Bronwyn Bishop’s “Choppergate” expense scandal and the former prime minister’s widely criticised decision to knight Prince Philip.

This was followed by Malcolm Turnbull’s ascension to the leadership and eventual ousting of his rival, Mr Abbott.

Air Chief Marshal Houston said Mr Abbott – who declined to be interviewed for the series – backed down and decided to act on a “police led” option after Air Chief Marshal Houston explained the risks of the situation escalating.

“Well, I got a phone call at 4 o’clock one morning, and it seemed to me it was going to be quite a large military deployment,” Air Chief Marshal Houston told the ABC.

“I was concerned the military option would be provocative, because the crash site was only a short distance from the Russian border.

“Already I was aware of a huge build-up of Russian forces on the border.

“We had a very sensible discussion about all the factors that apply. And at the end of it all, he said, ‘okay, Angus, I’ll accept your advice. It’ll be a police-led option’.”

Mr Turnbull said Mr Abbott was “talked out” of deploying soldiers by the nation’s military leadership, arguing that the incident showed that he was a “dangerous” prime minister.

“Basically this was a thought bubble that was quickly punctured, but it showed, if you like, the elements of Tony that started to make me feel that we had a very dangerous prime minister,” Mr Turnbull said.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The documentary has also covered the events leading up to the leadership spill which saw Mr Turnbull supplant Mr Abbott to assume the leadership.

Mr Turnbull said his eventual predecessor, Australia’s 30th prime minister Scott Morrison, was “keen to get moving against Abbott” and was “very concerned about Abbott’s prospects”.

“I don’t know whether he shared all of my concerns, but look, Scott is a former state director, right?” Mr Turnbull told the ABC.

“He is a very professional political tactician, and he can count.”

But Mr Morrison disputed Mr Turnbull’s recollection of events in the lead up to the spill, saying that he didn’t “agree with the conclusion”.

“People have discussions but can take away different conclusions,” he said.

Mr Morrison also disputed Mr Turnbull’s claims he was “loudly proclaiming his loyalty to Tony Abbott, and at the same time organising his supporters to vote for (Mr Turnbull)” after he made a deal to offer him Treasurer once he became prime minister.

“I don’t recall Malcolm offering me Treasurer before, I don’t recall that,” Mr Morrison said.

“I don’t know where that’s from. I was not a protagonist in this.”

The documentary has also levelled criticism against Mr Abbott from former Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt that he was made to feel like the “token Aboriginal” and was consistently excluded from decision-making.

“What frustrated me is I had all this experience in health, education, land issues and in whole-of-government approaches, including the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and when meetings occurred I was never invited to participate or give feedback into those,” he said.

“Because I was a first-term (MP) … I was on the outer on Indigenous issues.

“And I used to hate the missionary approach in the way that we did things under Tony.

“He couldn’t see the value of doing some things differently, doing things with Aboriginal people, not to them.”