Australia politics live: two more Iranian reportedly seek asylum; NSW hospitals see record emergency attendances

Key events

Wong won’t confirm reports more Iranian women’s football players have sought asylum

The government is keeping mum on reports of two more women on the Iranian football team seeking asylum in Australia.

Foreign minister Penny Wong is doing the media rounds this morning, and tells the Today Show she’ll leave any updates to the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, who will hold a press conference later this morning.

Wong says the women were given the opportunity to speak with department officials alone, without their minders.

Asked whether she’s concerned about their welfare and what will happen to those who are returning to Iran, Wong says:

I am reluctant to add to speculation about the response when they get home, because obviously we I’m concerned for their safety. We know this regime has engaged in brutal treatment of women and girls but of its citizens, and we’ve seen that over the years, which is why the government put us so much effort into making sure that people did get given the choice, and as I said, they were offered an opportunity, and had the opportunity, I should say, to talk to Australian officials alone.

Government reassures fuel supply in ‘excess’ in Australia

Labor is facing pressure from the opposition over panic buying and some fuel shortages being felt across the country, while it tries to reassure the public there is enough supply.

The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, and shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, were sparring on Sunrise this morning.

O’Neil said Australians should feel confident, and again (for the billionth time) tells everyone to stop panic buying.

We have an excess of fuel in the country that’s in excess of the legal requirement. The reason that we are seeing issues [across the] country is because people are buying more fuel than they need. We are managing this on a daily basis, and people should feel confident in our system of fuel security as a country and buy what they need.

And we will work through these issues with petrol stations around the country.

Cash said it wasn’t good enough to blame families and farmers for the shortages, and said the government should be doing more to address supply shortfalls.

It’s everybody else’s fault. Let’s blame mum and dad Australia, let’s [blame] farmers. Let’s blame the small businesses, let’s blame the truckies. How about the government actually start governing?

Empty fuel pumps at a service station in Essendon, Melbourne on Tuesday. Photograph: Jay Kogler/AAP

More than 3,000 Australians return from Middle East

As of this morning, 3,003 Australians have arrived back home from the Middle East on 21 flights since 4 March.

There are currently two flights on en route to Melbourne and Sydney and there are three additional flights scheduled to depart from the region today:

EK406 from Dubai to Melbourne
EK412 from Dubai to Sydney
QR988 From Doha to Melbourne

Krishani Dhanji

Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you ahead of another big sitting day, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.

As conflict in the Middle East and members of the Iranian women’s football team seeking asylum in Australia remain the focus of the morning, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, will be doing the media rounds.

The government says more than 3,000 Australians have now arrived back home from the Middle East as limited flights – we’ll bring you more on that shortly.

I’ve got my coffee, I hope you’ve got yours, let’s get cracking!

Naplan tests to roll out today

Caitlin Cassidy

Around 1.4m students are set to sit down for Naplan tests today, the annual national assessment loved by statisticians and loathed by many education experts

Naplan measures how students in years 3, 5, 6 and 9 are progressing in literacy and numeracy, with this year marking the second cycle since the test was brought forward from May to March with new proficiency levels.
The head of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara), Stephen Gniel, said his organisation had worked with the Islamic Schools Association of Australia, as the test window coincides with Ramadan, to help schools and teachers support affected students.

“We’re encouraging schools to schedule their tests as soon as possible in the test window and to run Naplan tests first thing in the morning to ensure fasting students’ energy levels are at their highest.”

Gniel assured students that there was no need to study for the tests.

The best preparation that kids can do is make sure they go to school regularly … This is about knowing where each student is up to.

Schools and education authorities will receive preliminary results early in Term 2, with full results to be published in early August.

Martin Farrer

Two more Iranians seek asylum in Australia after football team flies out – reports

Two more members of the Iranian women’s football team have reportedly sought asylum in Australia after competing in the Women’s Asian Cup tournament.

According to multiple reports, a plane left Sydney airport on Tuesday night local time for Malaysia with players and staff, ending a dramatic two days during which five players were granted asylum after refusing to return home.

That number rose to seven on Tuesday night, according to several media outlets, when two more members of the group decided to remain in Australia.

Reports said the squad left Sydney at 10.43pm local time on Malaysia Airlines flight MH140 bound for Kulala Lumpur but it was not clear what route they would take back to Iran after that because the country’s airspace is closed due to the Middle East conflict.

Full story here:

NSW public health system experiencing record demand, data shows

Natasha May

NSW public hospital and ambulance services saw “record numbers” of emergency department attendances, admitted patient episodes and ambulance responses, latest government data shows.

The Bureau of Health Information (BHI) today released its latest quarterly report for public health services in NSW from October to December 2025. The numbers showed despite this unprecedented demand across the system, “performance remained stable in key areas”, according to BHI chief executive, adjunct Prof Heiko Spallek said.

The 820,009 attendances at emergency departments was the highest since BHI began reporting in 2010, with an increase in presentations for more urgent conditions and fewer patients presenting with less urgent conditions.

The percentage of patients starting their treatment on time (66.3%) was relatively stable compared with the same quarter a year earlier, the report found.

A record number of patients (79,004) left emergency departments without, or before completing, treatment – up by 10,846 (15.9%) from the same quarter a year earlier.

Ambulance services also saw the highest number of calls and incidents since 2010, and while the number of ambulance responses was relatively stable (up 0.6%) compared with the same quarter a year earlier, it was also a record high, the BHI found.

The number of patients admitted during the quarter (518,436) was the highest of any October to December quarter since 2010.

The average length of stay for overnight non-acute episodes (such as rehabilitation, geriatric evaluation and management) was 19.3 days – the highest of any October to December quarter.

The number of elective surgeries (58,922) was up 7.2%, with more surgeries performed across all urgency categories.

At the end of December 2025, there were 92,812 patients on the waiting list, down 7.4% from the same time a year earlier. Of those patients, 3,845 had waited longer than clinically recommended, down 43.8% from the same time in 2024.