Barnaby Joyce says the Biloela girls would be treated differently if their names were “Jane and Sally”, as internal pressure mounts on the federal government to keep the family in Australia.
Acting-Prime Minister Michael McCormack has confirmed a decision over the family’s future would be made by the end of the week, almost three years after they were detained on Christmas Island.
The federal government has spent $6.7m detaining the family since August 2019, when an 11th-hour court injunction prevented their deportation to Sri Lanka.
But Mr Joyce said the two girls “didn’t buy their tickets” and had a right to stay in Australia “despite what the allegations might be about their parents or their father”.
“Tharnicaa and Kopika were born in Australia. Maybe if their names were Jane and Sally we’d think twice about sending them back to another country which they’re not from,” the Nationals MP told Sunrise on Monday.
RELATED: Taxpayers spent $6.7m detaining Biloela family between August 2019 and January 2021
“Why not send them to Southern Sudan, why not send them to Rwanda to Belarus? They’re also countries they were never born in.”
Parents Nades and Priya were employed in Biloela before their detention, and Mr Joyce said regional Australia was in need of migrants to fill unemployment gaps.
Mr Joyce was one of several Coalition MPs calling for the family to remain in Australia but conceded the intervention would “leave me off-side with other people in my party”.
Mr McCormack revealed Immigration Minister Alex Hawke would announce a decision on the family’s fate by the end of the week.
“I appreciate that many people have a view on this matter, but we will decide our view through Alex Hawke … with the proper oversight of this decision,” he told reporters on Monday.
“He will make that announcement this week, and he will base it on humanitarian considerations, on health outcomes and on legal advice.”
The acting-prime minister insisted “we’re all compassionate, whether we’re in power on not”, but agreed public policy should not be dictated by public campaigns.
The government had flagged the prospect of the family being sent to the US or New Zealand, but their status as non-refugees quickly put an end to the idea.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed alternative options, which include the family remaining in Australia, were being discussed with the Home Affairs Department.
“Those issues are always carefully considered in all of these sensitive cases,” he said.
But he flatly rejected suggestions the family could be offered a pathway to permanent settlement, which was “not the government’s policy”.
The comments apparently indicated one option for the family was remaining via a skilled migrant visa.
The Coalition has argued granting permanent residency for a family deemed not to be refugees would reignite the people-smuggling trade.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the family enjoyed strong support from the community before being “rounded up in the middle of the night” despite posing no threat to Australian sovereignty.
“How long does it take?” he told reporters on Monday.
“Enough is enough; this family need to be settled. We’re a better country than this … They’re Australian citizens, these two little girls, or they should be. They should be looked after here.”
It comes after former Liberal MP Julia Banks claimed she was “silenced” for speaking out on refugee rights within the Coalition.
“It’s like these MPs (including a paediatrician) have been watching the cruelty, harm and torture and suddenly said: OK enough now … stop it, we’ve got an election to win. Disgusting,” she tweeted.
The issue was brought to a head when the family’s three-year old daughter, Tharnicaa, was rushed to hospital fighting a blood infection, more than a week after supporters said her condition began to deteriorate.
https://news.google.com/__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?oc=5
2021-06-14 00:18:35Z
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