National pride matters. And symbols or displays of national pride carry huge significance. That is the lesson of the brave young Iranian footballers, the Lionesses, and their refusal to sing the Iranian national anthem. This led to them being condemned on Iranian television and had they been forced to return to Iran a fate as bad if not worse than death no doubt awaited them, as Rebecca Weisser writes. Terrified for their families, and no doubt threatened, they then chose to sing the anthem at the following match.

Prime Minister Albanese is to be applauded for his (belated) decision to grant the Lionesses asylum in Australia, despite having had to be shamed into swift action by President Donald Trump who was, in turn, prompted into commenting by none other than Aussie social media activist Drew Pavlou.

Now, the brave young women will become Australians, but not before proudly sporting the Persian Lion and Sun flag, the symbol of resistance to the vile Islamist regime of the ayatollahs.

As new Australians, the footballers will no doubt pledge loyalty to the Australian flag and heartily sing our own anthem when the opportunity arises. But how long will it be before the poisonous woke leftist ideology of Labor and the Greens is introduced into their daily lives? How long before they are being told that this new homeland they have joined is an illegitimate entity; that it ‘always was and always will be’ Aboriginal land; that the generous people who have offered them sanctuary are themselves evil colonial imperialists, and the houses they inhabit are sitting on ‘stolen, unceded’ land? How long before justifiable pride in their new homeland is replaced by a creeping sense of shame and hostility towards it?

Hopefully never, but if so it will be no thanks to this government and its supporters. From the moment he became Prime Minister, and indeed long before, Mr Albanese has played fast and loose with not only our national symbols but also our national alliances and allies. The idiocy of standing in front of three flags – two of them completely unrecognisable to the rest of the world – at every opportunity, even on overseas trips, has hugely diminished our sense of being one nation, let alone a nation to be proud of. The recognition of Palestine was a cruel slap in the face of not only Jewish Australians and the victims of 7 October, but also of our long-standing bi-partisan support for our ally Israel. In London, Labor’s High Commissioner Stephen Smith refused to celebrate Australia Day, as do any number of local councils.

The Lionesses refused to sing the anthem of the terrorist regime that murders its own people. That took guts. That took commitment. That took, indeed, the courage of lionesses protecting their cubs. But here in Australia, players in the Indigenous All Stars and the Kangaroos NRL team have refused to sing ‘Advance Australia Fair’, an anthem that has already been amended (some would say butchered) to change the word ‘young’ to ‘one’ for infantile reasons of political correctness. Perhaps those recalcitrant footballers might like to go and spend some time playing for the ayatollahs and living in Iran in order to discover the more precise meaning of words like ‘genocide’, ‘dispossession’ and ‘oppression’. And perhaps they might then get some insights into just how insulting to mainstream Australia their petulant and risible ‘protests’ are.

But the rot goes much further than just sporting teams. The pathetic comments by the Prime Minister concerning the three Australian submariners who were supposedly ‘excused’ from partaking in the torpedoing of the Iranian warship off Sri Lanka is a national embarrassment. Reports say that the submariners were humiliatingly sent to their bunks, like naughty schoolkids, instead of joining their colleagues in a crucial attack. What a disgrace. And if their ‘participation’ was not required in the single most significant and dangerous action a submarine can undertake, what on earth were they doing on board? The whole idea is a travesty and the Prime Minister has diminished this nation’s military reputation, certainly as far as Aukus is concerned. Surely the Americans will now be asking themselves what’s the point of having Australian service men and women serving alongside if they’re not going to fight? Worse, how can you be certain they will perform when you need them to?

The entire philosophy of this Labor government is to do the very barest minimum to show national pride or even spirit, whilst doing anything and everything to denigrate our colonial history – including selling off historical military buildings. The Aussie flag is barely tolerated, ditto the anthem, but ridiculous smoking ceremonies are de rigeur. Any excuse to pander to alternative loyalties, whether they be indigenous, Islamic or anything not white, Christian or Anglo, is eagerly embraced.

The Iranian lionesses are to be welcomed with open arms. They have escaped a vile regime and hopefully will get to enjoy and love their new lives in Australia. But only if they are kept well away from the woke lefties who loathe everything about this once-proud nation.