Najib (left) and Abbott looking over Putrajaya in the Prime Minister's office.
PUTRAJAYA: Australia has offered to erect a memorial on its western coastline in memory of the lives lost in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 tragedy.
However, Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said this move would be guided by the wishes of the Malaysian Government and the families of those on board the ill-fated flight, which went missing on March 8.
“It would be the intention of the Australian government to erect a fitting monument for those who perished at a suitable place on the Western Australian coastline.
“But this intention must be with the wishes of the Malaysian Government and families of the victims.
“To the families, you will find in Australia a welcome comfort and hopefully, closure and peace,” he said in a joint press conference with Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the Perdana Putra building Saturday.
In his first official visit to Malaysia, Abbott praised his Malaysian counterpart as having the wisdom, strength and leadership in responding to the MH370 and MH17 tragedies that have befallen the country this year.
“Malaysia suffered two very heavy blows within four months of each other.
“No country, government or prime minister should be so subjected to the twists of cruel fate.
“But I must say that Malaysia has responded to the tragedy of MH370 and the atrocity of MH17 with strength and resilience,” he said.
Abbott said he could not have asked for a stronger friend than Najib in such testing times.
He said a new phase of the search for the MH370 will take place after a fortnight and will continue until all humanly possible efforts were taken to scour the probable impact zone.
“Malaysia and Australia will contribute A$60mil (RM179mil) each to the cost of the search.
“This is roughly half of the estimated total cost,” he added.
On the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), Abbott described it as a “death cult” and thanked Najib for his strong statement against the movement.
“Najib said it is against God, Islam and humanity and I share his view.
“Australia has yet to receive any requests to join a military response but we will do what we can, as part of a large international team,” he said.
On the Australia-Malaysia economic relationship, Abbott said it has grown by 15% over the last three years.
“The relationship between our two nations is a good story that is getting better. I can’t think of a better colleague and friendship than our two countries as we advance together,” he said.
