Julie Bishop says Australia will decide on upping the Syrian refugee intake in days

TONY Abbott told parliament the government will announce its response to the Syrian refugee crisis within 24 hours, as Pauline Hanson warned of a backlash.

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has told parliament the government will announce its response to the Syrian refugee crisis within 24 hours.

Labor leader Bill Shorten asked Mr Abbott whether the government would support the opposition’s call for 10,000 places to be added to the refugee and humanitarian intake.

“We do need to be prudent, we do need to plan ... and I expect that within 24 hours, the government will have much more to say on this matter,” Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott said that in the last full year of the Labor government only 98 people from the Syrian conflict were resettled. “In the first full year we took 1000 and in the second full year, the last financial year, we took 2200 from the Syrian conflict,” he said.

However Mr Abbott acknowledged the Labor government had provided a “considerable amount of money”, supported by the coalition. Australia would be doing more to ensure the people of Syria are no longer “caught between the mass executions of the (Islamic State) death cult and the chemical weapons of the Assad regime”. “It will be a decent and a compassionate response but it will also be a strong response,” he said.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie moved to suspend question time and debate a motion calling for the government to resettle 30,000 Syrians.

“The scale of this humanitarian crisis cannot be underestimated,” he said.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the government was still considering its options, including agreeing to an emergency Syrian intake as suggested by Labor yesterday.

Ms Bishop made her comments as Pauline Hanson, on Sunrise, warned that Tony Abbott faced a backlash if the government increased its refugee intake.

“On a per capita basis we take in more refugees than any other country throughout the world,” she said.

“When we see the photos ... yes our hearts go out to these people, but let’s step back and ask where is the money coming from?”

The former One Nation leader claimed that refugee children in Rockhamption high schools were abusing and making death threats to their teachers, while their parents were taking jobs off local residents.

“If you want to have peace and harmony in this country you cannot keep increasing the Muslims, Islam, in Australia ... we will have huge problems down the track,” she said.

“There are millions of Australians that are concerned about this, so go and speak to the Australian people because that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.

“And I warn Tony Abbott, he will have a backlash if he takes a lot of these people in at the next election, so he better prepared for it.”

‘Where’s the money coming from?’ ... Pauline Hanson has stirred the pot again.

The security committee of cabinet meets today and is almost certain to sign off on Australia joining air strikes in Syria against Islamic State.

“There are a number of issues that need to be determined. When you resettle people permanently you have to make sure you have facilities in place, housing, facilities, education, health facilities. So these are matters we are working through,” Ms Bishop told the Nine Network’s Today program.

“Because of this crisis, we are reconsidering (refugee intake) figures and we will do what we can. But the Prime Minister will announce this once Peter Dutton reports back to him on the detail.”

The Foreign Minister said Australia was mostly looking at the plight of those minorities who wanted to flee Syria permanently.

She said there were a number of people currently fleeing Syria that would want to return home once the conflict was over.

“We are focusing on women and children and families of persecuted minorities who are currently in camps on the borders between Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq,” Ms Bishop said.

“When the conflict is over people will want to return (to Syria). But there are some persecuted ethnic and religious minorities who will not want to go home so they are the ones we are focusing on as other countries are as well.”

Ms Bishop said personally it was “heartbreaking” to see the plight of those fleeing their homeland.

She said a decision on whether or not Australia would join in air strikes over Syria would also be made this week.

“It is a complex set of circumstances but we will play our part to ensure the conflict ends,” Ms Bishop said.

“There must not only be a military but political solution.”

The Prime Minister has only agreed to accepting more Syrian refugees within the existing pool of refugees, however Immigration Minister Peter Dutton is in meetings in Geneva with the UNHCR and the government has indicated it may shift its position following those talks.