Australia is heading towards the type of humane response our community expects ... The decision to join US-led air strikes against Islamic State terrorists on Syrian territory, though, raises questions of legality, efficiency and potential consequences.
Editorial, Page 16
The Abbott government believes it can fill all of a special 12,000-place Syrian refugee resettlement allocation this financial year, and is also moving swiftly on the military front, with RAAF bombing of Islamic State forces in Syria set to begin within a week. 
In a stunning change of heart announced on Wednesday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott stared down anti-immigration hardliners in his own party room and reversed his steadfast opposition to granting extra places to displaced Syrian nationals.
The intake will prioritise "women, children, and families" within persecuted minorities - in other words, no single men.
The change came despite some government MPs complaining of "too much compassion" and one, Queensland hardliner George Christensen, warning that refugees would take Australian jobs.
The increase, which is in addition to the 4400 Syrian places reserved from the present 13,750 humanitarian program, will cost an additional $700 million over four years to be spent on housing, education, healthcare and trauma counselling. Extra funds will also be needed for processing.
The one-off intake has been applauded by the federal opposition, which had itself called for 10,000 places.
"I want to begin by welcoming the Prime Minister's decision to accept an additional 12,000 refugees displaced by the humanitarian crisis in Syria," Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told Parliament. "Importantly, these places are being offered on the basis of need and no other consideration."
The lucky ones will be selected mainly from camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, while some 240,000 others will benefit from an Australian commitment to "directly fund" basic needs in the camps including food, water, blankets and cash. That will cost $44 million, taking Australia's financial humanitarian commitment to the Iraq/Syria conflict to $230 million.
World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello told Fairfax Media it was a "good day" because although the funding was well short of what was required, Australia's overall refugee intake this year was "in the ball park of the 30,000 places we asked for".
The resettlement and assistance initiatives came as Mr Abbott, flanked by Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, Defence Minister Kevin Andrews, and Chief of Defence Forces Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, also confirmed Australian planes would take part in US-led bombing runs against Islamic State targets and supply lines in Syria, with those missions to be commenced within a week.
That involvement inevitably broadens the Australian mission and widens its risks too, but will not initially see any extra assets deployed above the present six strike aircraft and two support planes.
However, Mr Abbott declined to expressly rule out an escalation at a later point, including the possibility of ground troops. He acknowledged that although the target in Syria was Islamic State, the Assad regime in Damascus was also "evil", having engaged in genocide against its own people.
The double-barrel lunchtime announcement followed a series of special meetings of cabinet, the national security committee and the Coalition party room over the preceding 48 hours, in which the results of discussions with the United Nations and other refugee agencies were fed back by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.
Mr Abbott denied suggestions from some critics that the selection criteria to be used for filling the 12,000 places would discriminate against Muslims.
"I do want to stress, women children and families, the most vulnerable of all ... it's those who can never go back that we're focused on," he said.
However, he acknowledged that Syrian Christians were among the most persecuted, as he said the intake would also include other religious and ethnic minorities such as Shiite Muslims, Turkmens, Jews and Armenians.
The 12,000 places will be permanent residencies rather than the temporary protection visa class that has been used in the past, with the government arguing the people being chosen will come from communities whose hopes of returning to their ancestral homelands are non-existent.
NSW and Victoria have already indicated they will take 4000 Syrians each and Western Australia has put its hand up for 1000.
NSW Premier Mike Baird praised the move as a "bold and generous decision".