{"id":31306,"date":"2016-03-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/uncategorized\/we-stand-with-belgium-says-malcolm-turnbull\/"},"modified":"2016-03-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T00:00:00","slug":"we-stand-with-belgium-says-malcolm-turnbull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/show\/we-stand-with-belgium-says-malcolm-turnbull\/","title":{"rendered":"We stand with Belgium: Turnbull"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has joined the global condemnation of suicide bombing attacks in Brussels that have killed at least 34 people and injured more than 100.<\/h3>\n

He has been joined by Hafez Kassem, a prominent leader of Australian Muslims, who says the world must stand united and reject all forms of terrorism “with one voice”.<\/p>\n

Mr Turnbull didn’t mince words as he responded to the latest terrorist attacks in Europe.<\/p>\n

“The Australian people absolutely condemn these cowardly terrorist attacks,” he said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

“We are absolutely shoulder to shoulder with Belgium, and the people of Belgium in this fight against terrorism.”<\/p>\n

\"We<\/p>\n

Australians have been told to avoid travelling to Brussels, while those there have been told to be alert and avoid areas around the bomb sites.<\/h3>\n

There are no reports of Australian casualties, although Mr Turnbull said it was still “early days”.<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who is in Indonesia, has spoken to Australia’s ambassador in Brussels Mark Higgie for an assessment of the situation.<\/p>\n

“It proves yet again that no country is immune from terrorism,” she told reporters.<\/p>\n

An Australian embassy spokesman in Brussels told AAP staff are monitoring the situation and trying to determine if any Australians were involved.<\/p>\n

Australian security agency chiefs are meeting on Wednesday to examine what lessons can be learned from the attacks, but the national terror threat is unchanged at probable.<\/p>\n

Mr Turnbull says Australia is in a stronger border security position than Europe which had no internal borders and porous external borders.<\/p>\n

“The reality is, of course, that we have the benefits of geography,” he said.<\/p>\n

CHARLES MIRANDA IN BRUSSELS – LISTEN HERE:<\/h3>\n