France is said to be considering carrying out air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria, joining the global coalition led by the United States, the website for Le Monde newspaper said on Saturday.

“This is not a radical departure from what we are doing now”.

That is where diplomatic efforts should be focused, in the hope that restoration of a credible Syrian government would enable a stabilisation of the country and the beginning of efforts to get on top of an unspeakable refugee problem. Churches want 10,000.

France has already participated in the attacks staged by the US-led alliance against purported Daesh positions in Iraq, but had ruled out any such operations in Syria.

The Australian Syrian Association’s Victoria chapter says the government should spend money on supplying the Free Syrian Army with weapons so they can “do the job themselves”.

But he hinted there could be room for more.

“We will obviously be more effective if we are able to fly those missions into eastern Syria”.

He said bombing Syria would be extremely costly, and “not that fruitful”.

He said now was the time for Mr Abbott to show compassion and leadership, as former Prime Minister John Howard did during the Kosovo and East Timor crises.

About half Syria’s pre-war population of 22 million have either become internal refugees, or have spilt across its frontiers into Jordan and Lebanon and are now finding their way to Europe. “To welcome 20,000 of them into our community would be such an honourable and dignified response from Australia”, Senator Di Natale said.

Labor frontbencher Ed Husic said no matter what Australia did, the humanitarian intake would always be oversubscribed regardless of what limit was applied.

Several government MPs, including Mr Laundy, Barnaby Joyce and Russell Broadbent, are supporting an increase in the intake as well as a skewing of the existing intake toward Syrian refugees.