Outrage grows over ‘VIP treatment’ of ISIS brides after they returned to Australia – as a pizza dinner becomes centre of fresh backlash

The NSW and Albanese governments have been urged to come clean over who paid for a pizza dinner for the ISIS brides and their children after they returned to Sydney, as outrage grows over their ‘VIP treatment’.

The cohort of four women and six children arrived at Sydney Airport on May 26 and were greeted by officials from the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.

Officials are believed to have conducted an almost three-hour health assessment on the group before police assisted them to a line of waiting cars.

AFP officers were then seen shielding the women and children from cameras by forming a line in front of the vehicles.

Media later spotted the women at a nearby hotel, where pizza boxes were delivered to reception as riot police stood guard outside.

A federal government source told the Daily Telegraph it was ‘ridiculous’ the group had received ‘VIP treatment’ on their arrival.

‘It sets a precedent that you can willingly travel to and come back with a red carpet rolled out for you from a side exit,’ they said.

Speaking on claims the ISIS-linked cohort were fed pizza, a police source said they ‘got fed and we didn’t’.

+4
View gallery

Four ISIS-linked women and six children landed in Sydney last week to little fanfare

+4
View gallery

They were greeted by government officials and given a near three-hour health assessment

Pressure is mounting for the NSW and federal governments to disclose who paid for the pizza.

NSW opposition police and counter terrorism spokesman Anthony Roberts said the bill to taxpayers appeared to be piling up.

‘As a former counter terrorism minister, I can tell you this is going to cost a lot more to the taxpayer than pizzas,’ he said.

‘The Minns Labor government should stop treating the people of NSW as mugs; they know how much money is being spent on this group and they should come clean.

‘The NSW Liberals and Nationals have sought answers in parliament, but Labor refuses to be transparent and it’s unacceptable the public is still being kept in the dark.’

Federal Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam demanded answers from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government.

‘The federal government still tries to argue that it has done nothing to help these women and children,’ he said.

‘As if passports, consular assistance, identity checks, transport, police arrangements, health checks, accommodation and other special privileges – including upon their arrival in Australia – have somehow all materialised by magic.’

+4
View gallery

The group were then whisked away to a nearby hotel where media saw pizza being delivered

A NSW government spokesman said these were ‘operational matters being managed by the joint counter terrorism teams and relevant state and commonwealth agencies’.

‘The NSW government has also been clear there will be no special treatment or queue-jumping for this cohort,’ he said.

‘Any access to government services is assessed in line with the same eligibility requirements that apply to other Australian citizens.’

It comes just days after Daily Mail revealed a Sydney man who sat behind them on the plane said the women had received ‘special treatment’.

Lee McCutcheon, who claims he was seated two rows behind them on the Qatar Airways flight from Doha, said he had to wait for the group to be taken off the plane before he could disembark.

‘Welcome home, all that travelling and you’ve got to wait 15 minutes for them to take the ISIS brides off,’ the retired professional bodybuilder, who is known online as Lee Priest, said in an Instagram video.

‘You know the wives that went over to fight with their husbands to kill Australians and Americans. They were on my flight, they kept that quiet.

‘They get special treatment while I get searched by customs. Welcome to Australia, people – we love terrorists here, come on down!’

+4
View gallery

Lee McCutcheon said the women were given special treatment after the plane landed

On the same day as the Sydney brides’ return, two other women and seven children landed in Melbourne.

The cohort was not charged by the Victoria and NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Teams on arrival.

However, police have refused to rule out the prospect of future charges.

A NSW Department of Communities and Justice spokeswoman told Daily Mail last week’s returning cohort were ‘subject to a range of operational responses’ that included ‘the searching of belongings and the downloading of their devices for investigative purposes’.

‘All decisions taken about the movement of the returning cohort were taken at an operational level, based on extensive planning by senior law enforcement officers and Department of Communities and Justice officials,’ she said.

‘Department of Communities and Justice officials provided transport to a staging location in Mascot for health checks and all families departed independently for their homes by 10.15pm following health and security checks.

‘This contact with Government agencies is an important part of the monitoring and engagement work to keep the broader community safe and support re-integration of the families.’

The spokesperson also noted this operational support was ‘less’ than what the government provided in 2022.

Daily Mail has contacted NSW’s Minister of Communities Kate Washington for comment.