Painful weeks ahead, Abbott says (AAP)

View CommentsPainful weeks ahead, Abbott says (clone 1405741344)

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Australia should brace themselves for painful weeks ahead as world leaders push for an independent investigation of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Mr Abbott said his thoughts were with the families of the 28 Australian victims who were among the almost 300 people on board flight MH17 when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

"Yesterday we saw the smouldering wreckage on our screens, today we have seen some of the faces of the dead," he told reporters on Saturday.

"I don't believe any Australian, any human being, could fail to be be moved by what we've seen.

"I have to say that as a nation we need to prepare ourselves for difficult and painful weeks ahead as we strive to find out precisely what has happened and who was responsible."

Mr Abbott said the priority was for an independent investigation into the crash and for experts to gain access to the site where MH17 came down in a rebel-held area near the Russian boarder in eastern Ukraine.

"Right now for all we know because this site is controlled by Russian-backed rebels, right now for all we know bodies remain strewn over the fields of the eastern Ukraine and armed rebels are trampling the site," he said.

"So it is absolutely vital that an independent, international investigation begin as a soon as possible so that we can identify and recover the remains of all the Australians on board."

Mr Abbott said he had spoken with several heads of state since the disaster, including US President Barack Obama.

All had expressed shock and indignation at what had happened and were determined that an independent investigation be carried out, he said.

Mr Abbott said a monitoring mission for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe did gain temporary access to the site of the crash overnight, but was driven off by gunfire.

"Presumably from the Russian-backed rebels," he said.

"This does highlight, though, the difficulty and the danger of this situation."

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will be heading to the US to champion Australia's campaign at the UN Security Council for an independent comprehensive international investigation with access to the site, debris, black box and any possible witnesses.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have deployed six officers to Kiev and more are on their way, including a five-member emergency response team, the prime minister said.

Australian Federal Police investigators are also on their way, and more are ready to be deployed as the situation develops.

Contingency arrangements have been put in place to repatriate the bodies, he added.

"Although I must caution this is likely to be weeks, rather than days ahead."

Australia will do whatever it can to ensure the incident was thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Ms Bishop said she had been reaching out to her foreign minister counterparts.

The Ukraine government had said it would give Australia all the support it needed to access the site to retrieve bodies and protect evidence.

Australia's calls for a binding resolution for a UN-backed, independent, impartial, investigation into the incident would be debated at the United Nations in New York next week.

Ms Bishop noted that for the investigation to proceed, a cease fire around the crash site would be required.

From New York she will head to Washington to meet intelligence experts to ensure Australia was fully briefed.

DFAT was in contact with the victims' families, who don't want the names of their loved ones to be officially released, although Ms Bishop recognised some family members had already gone public by speaking to the media.

When the time came, the government would support families who wanted to travel to the crash site and Ms Bishop said she had already spoken to Qantas and Virgin Australia about this.

Ms Bishop also said she had been trying to contact the Russian foreign minister.

Mr Abbott said he would be meeting Russia's trade minister, who's in Sydney for a G20-related trade ministers gathering, on Saturday to convey Australia's position on the shooting down of the plane and other concerns.

"It's clear that all the evidence at this stage suggests the aircraft was shot down," he said.

Australia is very concerned about the crash site being contaminated by local militia or other people in the area.

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