Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declared Australia would invoke the ANZUS security treaty for only the second time in its history in response to any attack by North Korea against the United States.
Mr Turnbull also pushed back against calls - including from former prime ministers Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd - for Australia to develop a missile defence shield to protect the mainland from the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons and long-range missile program.
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PM urges North Korea to stop 'provocative conduct'
Any North Korean attack on the United States will be met by aid and support from Australia, says Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The Prime Minister's commitment to assist the US caps off days of escalating tensions, with US President Donald Trump threatening to unleash "fire and fury" on the rogue state and the North Korean regime warning it would attack the US Pacific territory of Guam.
"The United States has no stronger ally than Australia. We have an ANZUS agreement and if there is an attack on Australia or the United States ... each of us will come to the other's aid," Mr Turnbull told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Friday.
"So let's be very clear about that. If there is an attack on the United States by North Korea, then the ANZUS treaty will be invoked and Australia will come to the aid of the United States."
Former prime minister John Howard invoked the ANZUS treaty for the first time after the September 11 attacks against New York and Washington.
Mr Turnbull's declaration marks a strengthening of the government's position after Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said on Wednesday that, under the ANZUS alliance, Australia only had an "obligation to consult".
Mr Turnbull spoke to US Vice-President Mike Pence on Thursday night and said everyone understood Australia's commitment to the ally was "absolutely rock-solid".
His predecessor, Mr Abbott, has told Fairfax Media that Australia "should be urgently investing in upgraded missile defences".
Mr Turnbull said: "The current advice from Defence to the government is that they do not consider that there is a benefit to deploy a system such as the THAAD system - that is terminal high altitude area defence, bit of a mouthful - for defence of Australian territory.
"And the reason for that is that THAAD is designed to provide protection for relatively small areas against short to intermediate range missiles. So it is deployed in Israel. It is deployed in South Korea. And it is not designed to provide protection against long range intercontinental ballistic missiles of the sort North Korea has recently tested."
The Prime Minister expressed confidence that diplomatic pressures and sanctions would "bring the [North Korean] regime to its senses in a peaceful manner".
The ANZUS collective security treaty - signed in 1951 by Australia, the US and New Zealand - compels its parties to "consult together" and "act to meet the common danger".
New Zealand withdrew from the treaty in the 1980s following disputes over nuclear weapons and its refusal to host US warships in ports and harbours.
Since it was struck, ANZUS has underpinned Australia's defence policy, providing Australia's relatively small defence forces with the back-up of the world's leading military superpower.
After invoking ANZUS in 2001, Mr Howard said Australia would consult with the US and consider any requests "within the limits of its capability".
A month later, the government committed Australian troops to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Opponents have criticised the treaty, arguing it unnecessarily places Australia's security at risk.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale said: "The last thing we need here is a Prime Minister backing an unhinged and paranoid leader into a conflict that could potentially end life on Earth as we know it."
He accused Mr Turnbull of putting a target on Australia's back and called on him to tell the US President to "back off".
"If there was ever a clearer example of why Australia needs to ditch the US alliance and forge an independent, non-aligned foreign policy, this is it. Malcolm Turnbull now needs to pick up the phone, he needs to talk to Donald Trump and urge him to de-eascalate."
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