But Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he learned of the player’s change of heart about 10am today.
“I would advise that one of the two who had made the decision to stay last night, had spoken to some of the teammates who had left and had changed her mind. In Australia, people are able to change their mind,” Burke said.
“People are able to travel. And so we respect the context in which she has made that decision.”
Burke said the woman unfortunately gave away the location where the players were staying when she contacted the Iranian embassy to be collected, meaning he had to give an order for them to be moved “immediately”.
“For every member of this delegation, they have been shown a respect by Australia that would be unfamiliar to them in Iran,” he said in parliament this afternoon.
“They have been shown a country that is willing to say, ‘The choice is yours’, and I think we’re proud of the Australian Federal Police, my home affairs officials, and everybody who’s been involved in this to make sure that Australia is a country where they can see there is freedom of choice for women as well.
“And a country where those who have made the decision to stay will be very welcome and very much the rest of the Australian people will be wrapping them in our arms.”
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor backed Burke’s comments.
“These women have captured the hearts of so many Australians with the stand they have taken against the despotic regime, and it’s been an incredibly difficult time for them,” he said.
“They were given a chance, each player and each member of the team – with the exception of a small number of people where we had made the decision we did not want to make a direct offer to them,” Burke said.
The players were taken to an interview room with just a member of Home Affairs staff and an interpreter, with Burke confirming they were also given every opportunity to speak to their families.
“We couldn’t take away the pressure of the context of the individuals, of what might have been said beforehand, what pressures they might have felt on other family members,” he said.
“In that situation, what we made sure of there was no rushing, there was no pressure, everything was about ensuring the dignity for those individuals to make a choice.”
The rest of the team flew out overnight to Malaysia, where they were greeted by Tehran’s ambassador before an onward flight expected to take them to Turkey and eventually Iran.
Sydney Morning Herald reporter Amber Schultz was on the flight and spoke to the women, many of whom were seen in tears, before they boarded.
“It was dramatic in the lead up, and it was dramatic up until the moment that they actually stepped onto that plane, with one woman actually walking away and seeming like she might abscond and might take that opportunity to get a visa at the very, very 11th hour before the plane took off,” she told 9News this afternoon.
“So it was a very heightened situation, a lot of tensions running high.”
Schultz said she asked several of the women if they felt safe or wanted to stay and many of them gave the same sort of responses about Iran being home, indicating “perhaps this wasn’t a free and frank discussion”.
Burke confirmed some members of the team were not granted a visa due to their alleged connection to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which is closely connected to the Iranian regime and is designated a terrorist organisation in Australia.
”Not everyone who applied for a visa got one… People who were connected – and we work with security partners on these assessments – people who were connected to the IRGC were not granted visas,” he said.
“There were some people leaving Australia who I am glad are leaving Australia.”
Supporters at Sydney airport had been frantically trying to pass on a message from the family of one of the players saying they wanted her to stay in Australia.
“Her mum just called us right before and asked us to keep her here,” Australian Iranian Patriots Association co-founder Minoo Toussi told reporters at Sydney airport last night.
“She doesn’t want to go. But as much as I know Australian government and AFP, they are responsible to create a safe environment for these girls and also to prevent the returns, because they are under pressure.
“These girls are … they’re inside the two blades of the pair of the scissors. They have to stay here, otherwise, if they turn to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and as soon as they return in Tehran, they will go to the jail.”
Toussi and her husband and fellow co-founder Maani Taghizadeh had been worried the message hadn’t gotten through but Karimi confirmed emerging social media reports that she was among the women who had been able to stay.
Iranian Society of Queensland vice president Hadi Karimi said the result was “amazing”.
Earlier last night, there were distressing scenes as protesters on the Gold Coast attempted to block the bus as it left the hotel.
Supporters lay down on the road and chanted “save our girls” as police attempted to move them along.
Players appeared to pull one of the women towards their bus as they left the hotel, in vision filmed by the Brisbane Times.
They touched down at Sydney’s domestic airport last night and boarded a waiting bus that was expected to take them to the international terminal.
The Sydney Morning Herald spoke to several players flanked by chaperones as they left Australia late last night, many saying they wanted to return to their families despite fears for their safety.
“Iran is home,” one said but the body language of some women reportedly told a different story, with tears streaming down the faces of the last of the women to board.
The team grabbed worldwide attention last week when players refused to sing Iran’s national anthem before a game in the Asia Cup and they were branded “traitors” by the Islamic regime.
They were seen flashing their torches towards the arrivals hall, where supporters were waiting along with Australian Federal Police officers.
Five of the women escaped their handlers at the Gold Coast hotel with assistance from the AFP on Monday night.
Burke said this morning that the women had been “moved to a safe location”, where he met with them and approved their humanitarian visas.
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