polls showed about 1/2 of all australians supported the war back in 2003. hindsight is a wonderful thing for those who oppose it now and then. relying on UN approval to go to war is a very restrictive option. Kosovo showed how ineffective the UN is with dealing with these type of situations. also i believe UN approval of war requires approval by the 5 permament UN council members which includes China, US, UK, France and Russia who each have their own political agendas. Hypothetically if the situation in Tibet worsens and there is even worse abuse of human rights then the UN is powerless to act in any way because China is a powerful member of the UN. this appears to me to be another political spin tactic from Rudd to gain further popularity which i hope for Australians is a bit better thought out than all the other things he has come out with.
