‘The right thing to do’: Downer defends Australia’s momentous response to 9/11

Former foreign minister Alexander Downer says Australia’s decision to invoke the ANZUS Treaty after the shocking September 11 attacks was symbolically and politically the right thing to do. “It wasn’t the only thing to do, but I thought it was the right thing to do,” Mr Downer told News24 host Caleb Bond. “We were determined to help the Americans in their struggle against terrorism in the wake of the 9/11 shocking events. “I think symbolically, and if you like, more broadly politically, it was the right thing to do.”