Aussie leaders take Canada's step to welcome Iraqi refugees on Harmony Day

Australian leaders have taken a leaf out of Canada's book in welcoming a family of Iraqi refugees to Australia over tea and scones as the nation celebrates Harmony day.

Australia has pledged to resettle 12,000 additional Syrian and Iraqi refugees displaced from middle east conflicts stemming from the Syrian civil war that saw the rise of IS, despite the numbers of refugees attempting to reach Europe towering above 800,000.

However, unlike Canada which as expedited refugee resettlement, -- more than 26,100 since December -- Australia has only resettled 124 of 12,000 pledged, though 9,000 are under"active assessment,"Australian minister for Social Services Christian Porter told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

Porter made no apologies for slow process due to "level of rigour"needed for security, health and background checks.

"This policy is first and foremost about compassion, but part of that process is about caution and the two are running simultaneously together," Porter said, refusing to comment on the security checks in place for refugees arriving into Canada, but added Australia's mechanisms are similar to its close military ally the United States.

"To have the level of rigour that we think is absolutely necessary (in Australia), this is as quick as we can possibly do things at the moment."

A draft policy document leaked to media in February suggests Australia is undertaking more stringent character and security checks to minimise the risk of "extremist infiltration."

Porter joined New South Wales state Premier Mike Baird to welcome a family of refugees who arrived in Australia last week -- after fleeing war-torn Iraq in July 2014 when IS was seizing control to the north -- spending a"very difficult" two years in Lebanon, over tea and scones.

"We are very happy to be in Australia and are looking forward to a new life," father Ayad, a former art teacher said via a translator, standing alongside his wife Iptesam and two young children.

"We are looking forward to leave our past behind and... open a new blank page of our life."

The Australian decision to accept an additional 12,000 refugees came in response to both domestic and international pressure from the UN for nations involved in the Syrian conflict to develop a cohesive action to aid those flooding into Europe via smuggling routes through Turkey.

NSW state has taken the majority of the 124 resettled refugees and is expected to accommodate up to 7,000.

"We've got an obligation to respond when you see a humanitarian crisis like you are seeing across the world," Baird said.

Though the number of asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia's mainland from the conflict zone pales in comparison, the Australian government maintains harsh policies stipulating asylum seekers trying to arrive via boat will never be eligible for resettlement.

Instead, they are controversially transferred to one of two offshore immigration detention and processing centers on Nauru or Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.

The policy was adopted in mid-2013 to stop people smuggling operations following a spate of tragic deaths at sea from unseaworthy vessels from Indonesia to Australia.

Baird welcomed the family as Australia celebrated Harmony Day, a day marking the nation's cultural diversity, reinforcing the importance of inclusiveness.

"It is more important than ever that we come together to celebrate our cultural diversity, and recognise the benefits that diversity brings to us as individuals, as communities and as a country," Australian Assistant Minister for Cultural Affairs Craig Laundy said in a statement. Endit