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Did the Government fib about ISIS brides? · The Front

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Today's biggest News from The Australian. I'm Claire Harvey with
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the Front's afternoon headlines. The Coalition is accusing Home Affairs
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Minister Tony Burke of misleading Australians about the return of
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  Speaker 1: so called ISIS brides from the Middle East. In September,
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  Speaker 1: The Australian revealed a group of families, including women who
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  Speaker 1: married fighters with the Islamic State terror movement and children
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  Speaker 1: born in the war zone, were preparing to return from
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  Speaker 1: camps in Syria where they'd been languishing. The Prime Minister
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  Speaker 1: denied the reports.
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  Speaker 2: Go to the promistant those reports are not accurate.
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  Speaker 1: But then a senior New South Wales Police officer, Dave Hudson,
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  Speaker 1: said his force would be assisting the families once they
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  Speaker 1: got here, and they did in fact arrive on October three.
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  Speaker 2: New South Wales government have a huge role, with justice
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  Speaker 2: and health and education and everyone else in the reintegration
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  Speaker 2: of these individuals back into New South Wales society, as
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  Speaker 2: we have done previously.
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  Speaker 1: Australians revealing in fact Tony Burke held meetings with charity
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  Speaker 1: Save the Children and advocates for the families, and asked
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  Speaker 1: a public servant to leave the room so participants in
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  Speaker 1: the meeting could speak frankly. A typed account of the
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  Speaker 1: meeting by that public servant reported Burke saying that the
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  Speaker 1: government didn't want to be perceived to be paying to
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  Speaker 1: have the families smuggled out of the camp. Eventually, the
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  Speaker 1: families got out of the camp under their own steam
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  Speaker 1: and made their way to Leberton, where they were issued
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  Speaker 1: with Australian passports and flown home. A very senior public servant,
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  Speaker 1: Department of Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster, was also at
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  Speaker 1: the meeting and took notes now obtained by The Australian,
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  Speaker 1: which under the initials TB, include phrases like public pressure
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  Speaker 1: makes a lot harder. Tony Burke says the notes show
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  Speaker 1: the government has told the truth. It didn't offer assistance
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  Speaker 1: to the families. Burke said there was a request from
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  Speaker 1: Save the Children to conduct a repatriation operation and it
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  Speaker 1: was refused. There was no repatriation and no assistance. Opposition
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: leader Susan Lee says this is a national security issue
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  Speaker 1: and the notes give rise to perceptions of a secret deal.
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  Speaker 1: That story is live now at the Australian dot Com
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: dot a U and come back to the front first
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: thing in the morning for our close look at an
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: investigative podcast that took Australia by storm and is now
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: the subject of a new twist, Shadow of Doubt.