Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Good morning. I can advise that we have now over 3,000 Australians who have returned from the Middle East with a couple more flights on the way. I would emphasise what the Prime Minister said yesterday, which is that if you are in the region and you are able to secure a seat, we strongly suggest you take that seat. We are concerned that this conflict will intensify. I'm speaking primarily to those who are residents in the region. I'm advised by the airlines and the airports that a great deal of the backlog of people in transit from Australia, or to Australia, has been cleared. So now we are dealing with people who are residing in the region. I understand this is a big decision for families, but we really do urge you to consider taking a seat if one is available. There are still flights available, and you can get back to Australia safely. Happy to take questions.
Journalist: Minister, are you worried about what might happen to the Lionesses that are returning to Iran?
Foreign Minister: We all know what the Iranian regime has been like. I'm very conscious of not elevating any risk to particular individuals. I do want to say that Australians have opened their hearts to the Lionesses. Australians have been very moved by what they have seen. I spoke about the swapping of the jerseys and I think that said something about sport and said something about our country. Minister Burke has made this a personal priority to ensure that these players had the opportunity to consider staying in Australia. That opportunity has been provided. I understand he's standing up later and will make some further announcements.
Journalist: Can you confirm that it was an official and a player that were refusing to get on the plane last night in Sydney?
Foreign Minister: I will leave that to Tony, who obviously has been very deeply personally engaged in this. I again emphasise that those people were given an opportunity to speak to Australian officials alone.
Journalist: The Prime Minister suggested yesterday in his press conference that there were other requests made by the UAE in addition to the defence deployment that we've now made. Is there further action that Australia is considering in line with those other requests, and can you tell us about what they might have been?
Foreign Minister: First, I think I made clear a couple of days ago that we had a number of requests and that we were working through them. The request that we responded to was the request from the United Arab Emirates. That has resulted in the defensive deployment, that the Government announced yesterday. I'm not going to go into details of everything partners might have asked us for. Obviously, these are national security decisions, but I want to emphasise two points. We are responding directly to the request from the United Arab Emirates, and what we are deploying is a defensive capability.
Journalist: For how long will Australia provide military assistance?
Foreign Minister: The initial deployment is for four weeks, and obviously we will see what happens as this conflict continues. We hope that the countries of the region can find a way to get to a greater level of stability and calm, obviously, that requires Iran to stop attacking the countries of the region.
Journalist: Do you have any reflections on David Littleproud's resignation and the potential for Matt Canavan to lead the National Party?
Foreign Minister: I saw Matt as I was walking down here and I said g'day. But obviously that's a matter for the National Party. Look, I wish David well. He's always been very decent to me. This is a tough business. I can understand, particularly given what's happened in the Coalition and the National Party, why he feels buggered but I wish him well for the next stage of his career. Thank you.