Security stepped up at Parliament after Canada attack

Security has been stepped up at parliaments and Canadian diplomatic missions around Australia, a day after a gunman opened fire at parliament in that country killing one soldier, according to a media report.

Speaker Bronwyn Bishop, however assured that the nation's politicians were safe in the Parliament house and they won't need to barricade their doors as their counterparts in Ottawa did.

"Our parliament and its perimeter are very different to the design of the Canadian parliament and we have appropriate measures to prevent such an attack from succeeding here. We have a number of layers of security measures designed to protect building occupants," the Australian quoted Bishop as saying.

The images of members barricading themselves in the chamber in Canadian parliament were concerning, but could not be replicated here, she said.

"As a result of the enhanced security arrangements we have already put in place, the president (of the Senate) and I are confident based on security agency advice that the parliament is a safe environment," Bishop said.

She said the security was enhanced in September including introduction of long-armed weapons "to protect us against threats of this very nature."

"The range of armed response, security and lockdown arrangements that we have in place means this type of action will not be necessary here," she said.

Bishop, however, asked staff to be vigilant and to report any suspicious behaviour.

In Wednesday's attack a gunman shot and killed a Canadian soldier who was mounting a ceremonial guard at a war memorial and stormed the parliament building nearby, before being shot dead in turn by the assembly's sergeant-at-arms.

Image: Armed RCMP officers approach Centre Block on Parliament Hilll following a shooting incident in Ottawa. Photograph: Chris Wattie/Reuters