Hard days ahead ... Tony Abbot attends a mass at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney for the crash victims. Source: News Corp Australia
PRIME Minister Tony Abbott says Australia will do everything in its power to ensure the bodies of 37 Australians killed on Flight MH17 are respected and justice is done.
Mr Abbott attended a national security committee of cabinet meeting on Sunday evening after images emerged of the crash site in eastern Ukraine being "absolutely trampled".
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He told 60 Minutes the discussion at the meeting was dominated by concerns to ensure the bodies were treated with respect and taken to a place where a proper investigation could be carried out. "We owe it to the dead, all the dead, we owe it to the families, all the families to do everything in our power to respect the bodies, to find the truth and to ensure justice is done," Mr Abbott told 60 Minutes.
Chaos ... people leave the scene of the crash as emergency personnel remove the bodies of passengers. Source: Getty Images
Ms Bishop will stay in New York "for as long as needs be," Mr Abbott said.
He said an investigation needed access to the debris, the black box and any person who can shed light on the crash.
His comments come as Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine say they have recovered objects which appear to be the black boxes of the downed airliner and are willing to hand them over to international investigators.
Answers? ... An image believed to show a black box flight recorder being removed from the crash site. Picture: Twitter Source: Supplied
"Jet parts resembling the black boxes were discovered at the crash site," said Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic on Sunday, adding that they would be handed over to "international experts if they arrive".
Probe ... Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has flown to New York to consult security experts. Source: AFP
The rebel's admission came as US Secretary of State John Kerry accused them of being behind the outrage.
US President Obama had earlier said the rebels could not have carried out the attack without Moscow's support but, in an interview with CNN, Mr Kerry went further, accusing Russia directly of handing over the missile system that was used to shoot down the plane.
"It's pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia in the hands of separatists," Mr Kerry told CNN, saying that a sophisticated SA-11 system had been used in Thursday's crash.
"We know with confidence, with confidence that the Ukrainians did not have such a system anywhere near the vicinity at that point in time. So it obviously points a very clear finger at the separatists."
In the 60 Minutes interview Mr Abbott said he was seeking a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin to call for Russia's assistance in repatriating the bodies from eastern Ukraine.
"If he wants to be a friend of Australia, if he wants to be a friend of decency and humanity all assistance that he might be able to offer would be deeply appreciated at this time," Mr Abbott said.
"We are consulting with our friends, we are consulting with our allies because frankly it is simply unacceptable to see what is happening on this site given that 298 innocent people have been murdered," Mr Abbott said.
"We will consult with our friends and allies to ensure that no steps are neglected that can bring the bodies to a place where they will be treated with respect, proper investigations can be carried out and truth can be done."
No backing down ... a separatist fighter speaks to reporters at the scene of the crash. Source: Getty Images
Earlier, Mr Abbott said he held fears of continued interference at the site.
"My fear is that Russia will say the right thing, but that on the ground interference with the site, interference with investigators, interference with the dignified treatment of bodies will continue," he told ABC Television on Sunday morning.
Following the national security committee of cabinet meeting Mr Abbott said if he was able to speak with the Russian president he would put the case for common decency but other options were being considered.
So much sadness ... local women visit the site where the cockpit of MH17 crashed. Source: Getty Images
"There are 37 people who called Australia home who were scattered over the fields of the eastern Ukraine, they deserve respect and dignity, their families deserve justice and it is our duty to do what we humanly can to bring that about."
Britain, France and Germany have warned Russia it could face further EU sanctions if it doesn't press pro-Kremlin separatists in Ukraine to allow unfettered access to the crash site of flight MH17.
David Cameron, Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel held separate phone calls to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine days after a Malaysia Airlines jet crashed, killing 298 people on board after what is believed to have been a strike by a surface-to-air missile.
Concerns have been mounting that the separatists are blocking access to key evidence and to the bodies of the passengers, scores of which were moved from the crash site to a train on Sunday.
"They... agreed that the EU must reconsider its approach to Russia and that foreign ministers should be ready to impose further sanctions on Russia when they meet on Tuesday," a Downing Street spokesman said in a statement on Sunday, adding that Cameron was due to speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin later.
A French presidency statement after the calls similarly warned that "consequences" would be drawn at Tuesday's meeting "if Russia does not immediately take the necessary measures".
It said the three leaders had agreed to call on Putin to pressure the rebels into allowing rescuers and investigators "free and total access to the site of the MH17 flight disaster to accomplish their mission".
"Russia must understand that resolving the Ukrainian crisis is more than ever an imperative after this tragedy which has outraged the entire world," it added.
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