'We found the one piece of frontline under attack': Roy stands firm on 'stupid' Iraq trip
Former Liberal MP Wyatt Roy says he has no regrets about snubbing the government’s warning not to travel to Iraq which left him caught in a battle with Islamic State fighters.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop labelled Roy’s actions as stupid, but the 26-year-old says he’d do it again.
“There is over a thousands kilometres of front line and we found the one piece of the frontline, the two minutes that there was an attack,” Roy told Seven News from Dubai.
“(It was) the biggest attack since the middle of August, that was very unlucky.”
Roy was forced to crouch next to Kurdish soldiers who fended off machine gun fire from IS extremists near the town of Sinjar, while taking part in what he says was a sabbatical to the Middle East.
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“It was stupid, it was foolish of him to ignore the government’s advice,” Mr Turnbull said.
“(Iraq) is not a place that you go to act out some boyhood fantasy,” Labor’s Penny Wong added.
Roy said he wanted to see the realities of Islamic State's brutalities for himself, and stands firm that he has not broken the law.
Experts agree, but the Prime Minister hasn't ruled out an investigation into Roy’s actions.
On Thursday Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Roy had been "irresponsible" in heading to the Middle East without permission, defying government advice.
"He has placed himself at risk of physical harm and capture, and acted in defiance of government advice," she said.
"Mr Roy did not seek nor did he receive assistance from the Australian Government for his travel to Iraq."
