THE yet sworn in Abbott Government has left open the option of using Australia's presidency of the United Nations Security Council to back a US military strike on Syria even if the Council vetoed such a move.
Coalition foreign minister-elect Julie Bishop also warmly welcomed the deal struck by the US and Russia for the destruction of the entire stockpile of Syria's chemical weapons by mid-2014.
This is a tricky issue for both countries as the US has an estimated 3000 tonnes of chemical warfare agents and Russia a massive 40,000 tonnes of deadly chemical munitions.
By comparison tiny Syria is number three with an estimated stockpile of 1100 tonnes of deadly Sarin, Mustard and VX gas.
Ms Bishop said the agreement, that gives Syria a week to provide full details of its arsenal of terror weapons and complete access to UN weapons inspectors, was a positive step in the right direction.
"It is as a result, I believe, of the United States making it quite clear that they would use military force if need be," she said.
The US Navy has a fleet of cruise missile armed warships off the Syrian coast and an aircraft carrier battle group in waters nearby.
"We haven't made any changes to our force posture at this point," said Pentagon spokesman George Little.
"The credible threat of military force has been key to driving diplomatic progress."
Ms Bishop told Network Ten's Meet The Press that the Security Council President, a role that Australia occupies until the end of September, had in the past released a statement on behalf of the majority of the 15-member Council in defiance of the veto powers of the five permanent members - the US, Britain, France, China and Russia.
"First things first, we want to see how this agreement between the US and Russia plays out," she said.
The deal was also welcomed by British Foreign Secretary William Hague whose government suffered a humiliating defeat in the House of Commons over British military intervention in Syria.
Two of the five permanent members of the Security Council - Russia and China - have said they would veto any UN resolution that involves military strikes against the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
China welcomed the new deal describing it as a "significant step forward".
Ms Bishop would not be drawn on the role of US President Barack Obama who has been widely criticised for lacking leadership on the Syrian question.
"Well this is a significant and very important step overnight," she said.
Even with total cooperation from Damascus there will be huge technical challenges involved in trying to eliminate chemical agents, production facilities, precursor chemicals and munitions across at least 40 sites during a protracted civil war that has left more than 100,000 people dead.
According to US officials a secret Syrian military squad, known as Unit 450 that answers directly to Assad, controls the production, storage and use of the regime's chemical weapons.
The issue erupted after a gas attack on August 21, and since verified by UN inspectors, in rebel-held neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the capital Damascus reportedly killing up to 1400 people including children.
