In 1989, as tanks rolled into central Beijing to crush the pro-democracy protest in Tiananmen Square, Australia’s then prime minister, Bob Hawke, spontaneously offered asylum to all Chinese citizens who happened to be in Australia. Thousands took up his offer and made lasting contributions to the country that gave them shelter.

Last Tuesday, the women showed personal courage by taking a silent but very public stand against a regime that stops at nothing to punish open disloyalty

Last Tuesday, the women showed personal courage by taking a silent but very public stand against a regime that stops at nothing to punish open disloyalty

On Tuesday, Hawke’s successor, Anthony Albanese, granted five women of Iran’s national football team asylum, and offered it to all those in the team’s party. Unlike Hawke, however, Albanese did the right thing only after being pressured by Australian public opinion and, if you accept his version of events, US president Donald Trump.

The footballers were in Australia to play in the regional Asian Women’s Cup tournament on Queensland’s Gold Coast. They didn’t expect their presence would coincide with the US-Israeli Operation Epic Fury but, last Tuesday, the women showed personal courage by taking a silent but very public stand against a regime that stops at nothing to punish open disloyalty: they remained stonily silent during the regime’s anthem when it was played before their first match. Australians applauded the footballers as the team’s burly minders, thought to be linked to the........

© The Spectator