00:01Two more people from the Iranian women's soccer team have been granted humanitarian
00:06visas, bringing the total to seven, after five players were granted asylum yesterday
00:11morning.
00:12Let's bring in political reporter Isabel Rowe from Parliament House in Canberra.
00:16Isabel, those appeals made to these individuals right to the last moment.
00:20The Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, has been able to step us through this morning
00:24how this unfolded.
00:26We know that five women were granted humanitarian visas in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
00:32What then happened was the team was put on a bus on the Gold Coast, they were sent to
00:37Brisbane Airport to catch a flight to Sydney, and it was in Brisbane where the Home Affairs
00:42Minister met with the team and two more people sought asylum.
00:47So that is one other player and one of the staff members, so not a player but someone
00:51connected to the team.
00:53At that point, the rest of the team went on to Sydney and the Minister said, in Sydney,
01:00each player was taken aside, spoken to by Home Affairs officials away from their handlers,
01:07and they were given the opportunity to call their family and to make a decision about whether
01:12or not they wanted to stay.
01:13Now, the Minister was clear that there were some people who were not offered a humanitarian
01:19visa, they were not offered asylum, and that is because he was concerned about their connections
01:24back home.
01:25Have a listen.
01:26People who were connected, and we obviously work with security partners on these assessments,
01:33people who were connected to the IRGC were not granted visas in terms of that sort of connection.
01:40Now, that doesn't mean that that automatically means you are a great person.
01:46And there is a reason why some people were not made a direct offer.
01:50There were some people leaving Australia who I am glad they are no longer in Australia.
01:55So in terms of the rest of the team who did not take up the offer, that plane has left.
02:02They have gone home.
02:03For the seven that remain here, the Minister says there is support in place to allow them
02:09to transition their life into Australia.
02:12Isabel Rowe there in Canberra, thank you.
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