Australia Not Considering Cost In Missing MH370 Search, Says PM Abbott
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- Published on Saturday, 29 March 2014 15:21
PIC: mD FileCANBERRA: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said today that at this stage, Australia is not considering the cost of the search operation of the missing Malaysia Airline MH370, saying Australia will do what needs to be done.
Abbott said at a press conference earlier today that the search operation continues today after five aircraft spotted multiple objects on Friday in a revised search area 1,850 kilometres west of Perth, reports China's Xinhua news agency.
About the ongoing search operation involving six countries, including China, the US, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, Abbott said every country bears its own cost.
“We aren't counting the cost; we're just doing what needs to be done to try to get to the bottom of this mystery and that will go on. I think we owe it to the people who were on board that plane, I think we owe it to their families, I think we owe it to the countries which have a stake in all of this to do what we can to get to the bottom of it,” he said.
“This is Australia being a good international citizen and I think that's what people expect of us. I think that's what we expect of ourselves,” he added.
Abbott emphasised that the legal responsibilities of the search and investigation rest with Malaysia, where the missing aircraft was registered. But other countries also have legal stakes in the operation, the Americans as the manufacturer of the aircraft, the British as the manufacturer of the engines, the French as the supplier of the avionics and the Chinese as the country of most of the citizens who perished in MH370.
Australia itself has six nationals on that ill-fated plane.
Australia itself has six nationals on that ill-fated plane.
Abbott said Australia will do its best in conjunction with other countries in recovering debris or wreckage.
He mentioned that the US towed pinger locator has arrived in Australia and is about to be loaded onto an Australian naval vessel. It will be taken to the most prospective search area and be deployed when there's a good reason to do so.
―Bernama
