PRIME MINISTER:
The Defence Minister and I are here at the Department of Defence to meet with the Chief of the Defence Force, other Defence chiefs, intelligence and foreign policy experts to receive briefings on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Once again, we call on the North Korean regime to stop its illegal, reckless, provocative conduct which is putting the peace and the stability of the region at risk and indeed, the peace and stability of the whole world at risk.
We join with the global community in enforcing sanctions, economic sanctions, against the North Korean regime to bring it to its senses.
We welcome the decision of the UN Security Council, recently supported by China and Russia, to impose harsher sanctions on North Korea.
As I discussed with Vice President Pence last night, both the United States and Australia are committed to resolving this situation on the Korean Peninsula, to bringing the North Korean regime to its senses through diplomatic and economic means.
We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States.
The ANZUS Treaty means that if America is attacked we will come to their aid. If Australia is attacked, the Americans will come to our aid. We are joined at the hip.
The American Alliance is the bedrock of our national security.
[ENDS]