Canadian Parliament Attack: The Identical Terror Threat Facing Canada and Australia

An armed AFP officer stands guard outside
Parliament House [Canberra]

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Canada and Australia have both featured prominently in the Islamic State's online diatribes, in which the group urges its global followers to kill.

But the similarities don't end there.

They are both parliamentary democracies whose leaders have vocally and materially backed international action against the Islamic State, with small but devoted extremist networks at home and some dozens of citizens currently fighting with jihadist groups in the Middle East. They both have tight gun laws and have ramped up security at their parliaments and government buildings in response to the current heightened threat.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's response to the assault overnight on Canada's war memorial and parliament in Ottawa highlighted the likenesses.

"For quite some time, these murderous, brutal terrorist organisations have been speaking about attacks on those sorts of institutions and in those sorts of countries, including Canada, Australia, the United States, any country that opposes their ideology, any country that embraces freedom and tolerance," she told the ABC. (+ video) » | David Wroe | National security correspondent | Thursday, October 23, 2014