Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is the new home to five brave, courageous and inspiring Iranian football players who have had their asylum claim approved by the Albanese Labor government, and Australia welcomes them. To Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh and Mona Hamoudi, you are all welcome in Australia. I'm very confident that, like the majority of migrants who come here, you will make our country better, stronger and safer. In Australia you have a nation that respects you, and you have a hospitable, proud and passionate Australian Iranian community here in Australia to help you settle into your new home.

Even today, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns extended a welcome to these women to settle in Sydney, home to the largest Persian community in New South Wales. Of course, they will be very welcome to settle in Bennelong, being home to the largest Australian Iranian community in the state. On Church and Devlin Streets in Ryde, we have little Persia, where locals can buy their groceries at Paradise or Bahar supermarkets, grab some meat at Persepolis Butchery, and get some fresh noon sangak at 32 BakeHouse. To celebrate, they can have dinner with new friends at Nikan or Surena restaurants and they can go for a dance afterwards at the Persian Basement in Lane Cove, which often has live music and entertainment. If they choose, Bennelong will welcome these five women with open arms.

The ability to seek asylum is a fundamental human right that Labor takes seriously. Those in Australia on a valid visa are able to claim asylum if they are at risk of serious harm if they return home. It is clear that a return home for some of these women was too much to bear. The current Iranian regime are a horrendous, torturous, murderous government that have killed their own citizens, exported terror across the world and targeted the Jewish community here in Australia.

To the other members of the Iranian women's football team who have made the decision to return to Iran, who are on their way to Sydney right now as we speak, we understand whatever decision you need to make and we will support that decision for whatever reason you choose to take it. The situation these women face is unimaginable to so many of us, and it's important that these women are free to make a decision that suits them in the safety that we're able to provide them. But let me be clear, as the Prime Minister has stated, Australia's offer of humanitarian visas stands to all members of this team who choose to claim it.

It goes without saying that events of the past few days wouldn't be possible without the commitment and tireless efforts of many. First and foremost, I praise the allies and supporters of the football team in the Australian-Iranian diaspora and others who have been staying in the hotel from the very start of the tournament. They've kept their eyes on these women, connected them with support and amplified this issue to government. This announcement was a demonstration of freedom and it wouldn't have been possible without journalists like Raha Pourbakhsh and Alireza Mohebi from Iran International TV.

I also recognise the tremendous respect given to these women by the Matildas, who exchanged their jerseys with the players and who used their platform to speak in solidarity with the Iranian Lionesses. To people who have been directly messaging and contacting me like Sam Lewis, Siamak Ghahraman and countless others, I would like to thank them. They have all changed the lives of these five women.

Finally, thank you to the Prime Minister and to the home affairs minister and all departmental staff involved with this operation. As a representative of one of the largest Iranian Australian communities in the country, I can tell you this: this government has made time to hear me when I approach them on matters that the Persian community care about. From listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation and expelling the Australian ambassador to targeted sanctions on over 200 individuals, this government has taken more action against this murderous regime than any government before it. To these five women and to others who choose to stay, I say welcome home.

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