Belgian-born cabinet minister Mathias Cormann says there is a sense of defiance in the wake of the latest terrorist attacks in Europe.
Suicide bombing attacks in Brussels have killed at least 34 people and injured more than 100.
Senator Cormann, who grew up in Belgium and has family there, says the attacks are senseless and outrageous and should be condemned.
"People in Belgium are in deep shock but there is a sense of defiance ... (they) don't want to let this sort of atrocity get them down," he told ABC radio on Wednesday.
"They are very determined to press ahead and to enjoy the life that anybody would want to enjoy day to day."
He said his family, who live 120km out of Brussels, are all okay but he has many friends in the capital.
Some years ago he lived a few hundred metres from the Brussels subway station which was attacked.
"I've walked along those streets many times and (the bombing) is quite confronting," he said.
Australia and other members of the international community needed to do what they could to get on top of the threat from Daesh, he said.
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